Crowd 'Gets Rocked' At The Prudential Center

I spent the better part of my teen years taping posters of glam metal bands to my walls and ceiling and joining in the destruction of the ozone layer by teasing my tresses with enough hairspray to sustain hurricane-force winds, so there was no way I was gonna miss out on a chance to see two of my favorte bands ever - Def Leppard and Poison - perform a mere 20 minutes from where I live.

The two bands - while they both enjoyed popularity in the 80s and 90s - are different in a multitude of ways, right down to the continent from which they hail. Still, pairing the two groups for the Rock of Ages tour works. Posion - a 90s glam metal band and Def Leppard - which was part of the new wave of British heavy metal in the 70s and 80s - know how to work an arena crowd. The audience of former metal heads that showed up to bang their heads at the Prudential Center in Newark on July 11 was no exception.

These bands know what their audiences want - we want to sing along loudly to every song; we want loud guitars and emotional power ballads; we want crowd interaction, we want our ears to be ringing by the end of the night. Both Def Leppard and Poison delivered, but Poison's set was a little more entertaining, with Bret Michaels and C.C. DeVille hammering out one hit after another and really working the crowd.

Speaking of the crowd - it was hard not to notice that the fishnets, fringe jackets and tight leather pants that were required attire for such a show years ago, were (thankfully) absent. This time around, concert-goers were decked out in concert tees and flip-flops, many of them with their kids in tow. I guess "Unskinny Bop" knows no age barrier.

The show started with a set by Lita Ford - best known for her duet of "Close My Eyes Forever" with Ozzy Osborne. Her performance of the song featured a band member singing with her, but lacked the dark edge that Ozzy brought to the original version. Her performance was still solid, her voice strong as she belted out a mix of old and new tunes. Ford embodies the same bad-ass persona that garnered her respect of both male and female rockers in the 90s. She closed her set with another song that made her popular - "Kiss Me Deadly." It was an obvious favorite among members of an audience that knew almost every word of every song that the bands would play throughout the evening.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I anxiously awaited Poison's set to begin. I wondered if it would be hard to watch Bret Michaels belt out "Talk Dirty to Me" after seeing him sitting at a table with Donald Trump during the TV show "The Apprentice." Would he still have the same energy and sex appeal he had when I first saw Poison perform at the PNC Bank Arts center almost two decades ago? In short - yes. Not gonna lie - I screamed like a 16-year-old girl when C.C. DeVille played the first chords of "Look What the Cat Dragged In." The band - Michaels especially - had the same energy I remember from the 90s. This time around, though - there was less glam and more rock. And that's not a bad thing.

There's no doubt that Poison still knows how to please their fans after 26 years of performing together. It's something they've always been good at doing. From their cover of Grand Funk Railroad's Song "We're An American Band" which Michaels said was a tribute to U.S. troops, to the obligatory guitar and drum solos - which were shorter and less edgy than the raucus perfomances of the 90s, Poison rocked the crowd. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was another highight that would be the first of several power ballads throughout the show.

Predictibly - but again, not in a bad way - Poison ended their set with "Nothing But A Good Time," which seemed fitting considering the enthusiasm of the crowd.

A relatively quick set change brought on Def Leppard, who headlined the Rock of Ages tour, which derived its name from one of the band's most popular songs and is subsequently now the name of both a Broadway musical and a movie featuring music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. The stage - much more elaborate than Poison's set with a backdrop of movie screens and near seizure-inducing lighting effects - initially featured a giant British flag. There was no mistaking who the headliners were on this tour, and after more than 30 years, Def Leppard undoubtedly earned the spotlight. In facr, July 11 marked guitarist Phil Collen's 30th year in the band, and just to make true fans feel even older, it's been 25 years since the album "Hysteria" was released. Yeah, ponder that while you count your gray hairs.

Opening with "Undefeated" before moving on to their single "Rocket," Def Leppard is an arena act. They know their way around big sets and pyrotechnics. Unlike Poison, though, the band's performance seemed decidedly more rehearsed. Every move, comment by lead man Joe Elliott and wild guitar riff seemed planned. No matter, though, a rock was definitely not "out of the question" for the Newark crowd who enjoyed every minute of it.

One of the highlights of the night was an acoustic medley of power ballads during which the band members sat together on a trunk near the front of the stage. As the band seemlessly intertwined "Now," "Where Does Love Go When It Dies," "When Love and Hate Collide," "Two Steps Behind" and "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" a sea of cell phones lit up the arena. Two decades ago, flickering lighters would have brightened the venue, but the effect was still pretty much the same as the crowd sang along.

Getting the crowd jacked up again wasn't too difficult as the band launched into another string of popular singles beginning with "Women" and ending with "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and, of course, "Rock of Ages," which was appropriate given the nickname of the venue (The Rock, for those who are unfamiliar with the arena).

In the end, the crowd definitey got what they came for - a loud, ear-splitting, head-banging, fists-in-the-air trip back to the 80s and 90s that was "Nothing But a Good Time" from beginning to end.