Last Thursday the city of Glasgow had a buzz in the air ready for the TRNSMT weekend however, we had the absolute pleasure of getting the party started beforehand as rock icons and legends Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe took Glasgow Green by storm as part of their world tour! And what a night it was especially as this was the last day of their UK tour!
On what felt like the rainiest day of 2023 this was an incredible night with two phenomenal bands who were supported by another iconic band, Mammoth WVH whose frontman is no other than Wolfgang Van Halen – yes, that is right, the legend that is Eddie Van Halen’s son!
If you haven’t checked them out then make sure you do as I really think these guys are going somewhere. I first saw them last year as they supported Alter Bridge on their tour, they have hit up many festivals this summer including Download’s 20th Anniversary and will also be travelling and touring with Metallica!
They have an inspiration taken from Van Halen that you can hear in their sound, but they have added their own unique flair. There is an energetic power that Wolfgang puts into his vocals with the band’s top and extremely impressive riffs (check out ‘Another Celebration at The End of The World’ for a riff that will bring out your air guitar vibes)! They had an impressive set covering their latest material including ‘Like A Pastime’ and my personal favourite ‘Don’t Back Down’ which was clearly a fan favourite as they closed their set with this.
I’m really excited to see what the future holds for these guys as they bring something new, fresh and exciting to us!
Next up the sea of ponchos gathered to find out who would be on first out of the two legendary bands – and of course, it was our British rockers, Def Leppard. 45 years ago, they started their journey and now they are touring worldwide ending their UK tour in Scotland and it is fantastic to hear that 45 years on these guys are still making new music as they opened with one of their newer tracks ‘Take What You Want.’
Frontman and lead singer Joe Elliot came out into the rain and embraced the ecstatic crowd with the best welcome and opener to the popular hit:
“Good evening, Glasgow! How you doing? – Welcome to the last night of our British and Irish tour and the last night of the European tour – this is it! Thanks for such a great welcome.
How you doing?? I said how you doing!?…
I have one more question for you do you wanna get rocked …”
…as the riff kicked in for ‘Let’s Get Rocked.
The crowd was loving hearing the throwbacks and absolute tunes that we still hear today from ‘Animal’, ‘Love Bites’, and ‘Rocket’.
It was also amazing to hear Joe share that the last time they came to Glasgow was back in 2019 and that covid changed their plans to come back sooner, however in that time they were able to create new music for us which they also included in this dynamite set as they played ‘Kick’, and a beautiful semi-acoustic version of ‘This Guitar’.
It wouldn’t be Def Leppard without having a 10/10 solo performance from Rick Allen as he impressively smashed (literally) his drum solo! His musicianship is seriously inspiring!
Don’t tell me you can’t party in the rain as the atmosphere was on a high due to these guys and they did not disappoint as they wrapped up their night with the popular ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, ‘Rock of Ages’ and they finally closed with my own personal favour Def Leppard song ‘Photograph’.
This set was incredible, the atmosphere electric (and a bit wet), and as the British Rockers closed for their final night I was left feeling with a sense of sadness and desperation that it better not be another 4 years until they visit Glasgow again!
Cred: Ryan Sebastyan / Def Leppard Facebook
Now that feeling of sadness soon left as next up was the hugely famous and entertaining Hollywood rockers Mötley Crüe. Kicking us off with ‘Wild Side’ these guys did not disappoint and got the crowd WILD!
Famous bassist Nikki Sixx braved the rain and came out to greet the crowd with the Scottish Flag waving it proudly and expressing his love and gratitude. (Shout out to the lucky fan who he invited on the stage for a selfie)!
: @lucasenglund / Mötley Crüe Facebook
It was also amazing to see a new face of the band as guitarist Mick Mars has unfortunately had to retire from touring for health reasons, and was replaced by the talented John 5 who was remarkable as he had big shoes to fill (or should it be big riffs to fill) – but he understood the assignment and was outstanding!
CC: @lucasenglund / Mötley Crüe Facebook
These guys have written and come up with memorable and truly fun rock n roll sounds as they blasted out their hits ‘Shout At The Devil’, ‘Live Wire’ and ‘Same Ol Situation (S.O.S).’
While lead singer Vince Neil sang out these classics they also included one of their most recent hits ‘The Dirt’, and while these guys have been rocking around the world for over 40 years they haven’t lost their musical creativity and the boldness to do something new and fresh as they performed a melody of the classics: ‘Rock and Roll, Part 2 / Smoking’ in the Boys Room / Heater Skelter / Anarchy in the U.K. / Blitzkrieg Bop / (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)‘
CC: @lucasenglund / Mötley Crüe Facebook
Now the crowd were well and truly soaked by this point but it wouldn’t be a Mötley gig without a personal welcome and greeting from drummer legend Tommy Lee, who impressed us with his kilt attire including a special surprise… a sporran! In true Tommy fashion, he entertained the crowd looking for beers (and more) which got the crowd hyped for the end of their iconic set which included hits like ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’, ‘Primal Scream‘ and ending on ‘Kickstart My Heart‘!
CC: @lucasenglund / Mötley Crüe Facebook
As they emotionally took their bow and waved into the crowd, Tommy walked off the stage chanting when I say Mötley, you say Crüe’ ending with a heartfelt response where he shared his love for the dedicated and extremely soggy fans!
The rockers were fully embracing the rain throughout with the crowd and were dedicated to giving us a night we won’t forget and it was truly evident that Glasgow come rain or shine was ready for this night!
: @lucasenglund / Mötley Crüe Facebook