Def Leppard and Billy Idol

We had actually purchased tickets to see Def Leppard, Styx, and REO Speedwagon back in April. But the lead singer of Def Leppard was sick and the show had to be cancelled. It was rescheduled for August 15th at Van Andel Arena except Billy Idol was now the opener instead of Styx and REO. This was Nathan's first real concert (besides Drake Bell at the Muskegon Summer Celebration last year). Billy Idol was decent although he took awhile to warm up the vocal cords. Heidi thought his first song (Cradle of Love) sounded a little too much like a lounge act. Nathan didn't care much for him because he only knew one of the songs (Mony Mony). But Dancin' With Myself and Rebel Yell were pretty cool. As always, Def Leppard put on a GREAT show. They've got so many hit songs they could probably play for 3 hours straight if they were so inclined. But Pour Some Sugar On Me defnitely brought down the house. A guy in front of us was laughing at Nathan because he knew the words and was singing along with EVERY song. He goes to sleep at night listening to either Def Leppard or Poison's greatest hits album... go figure. It makes me laugh to think back and remember when I first heard a Def Leppard song back in 5th grade when Ms. Jacobs (a student teacher at the time from CMU) played some songs off the Pyromania album for the class. Don't ask me why she did or why I remember. But I remember thinking she was the coolest teacher ever and loving that music. Now Nathan is going into 4th grade and he's listening to the same band... Crazy.

Here's a picture of Nathan in front of the band's tour buses after the show behind Van Andel Arena... Mom splurged on a shirt for him. (And get a load of the jeans. Those were decorated last Halloween when he dressed up as a rock star... very appropriate for the evening!)