Snakes and Leppards Rock The Arena

12:38am Saturday 21st June 2008

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The Premier League of British Heavy Metal was on show at the MEN Arena as metal monsters Whitesnake and Def Leppard shook the very foundations of the building.

First up (after guests Black Stone Cherry) were Whitesnake, and they really kicked the night off straight away with Best Years' and Fool For Your Loving'. The massive crowd lapped it up and frontman David Coverdale was in his element; after 30 years of fronting his own band following his departure from Deep Purple, he knows how to work an audience.

The voice was as strong as ever as the band ripped through their repertoire of classics. 'Ain't No Love In the Heart of The City', Is This Love', Love Ain't No Stranger', and Here I Go Again' to name but four had the crowd in ecstasy and the tracks from the new album were also well received.

Aside from Coverdale, what a rock band need is a good guitarist, Whitesnake has two and one of the highlights of their set was the duel between their twin axemen Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach.

After they had gone we had hardly drawn breath when Def Leppard crashed onto the stage, and if anything, were louder and rockier than the Snakes! They too played tracks from their new album, the pick being Nine Lives'.

Singer Joe Elliott is every bit as good a frontman as Coverdale as their cannon was given a good airing, from tracks like Hysteria', Armageddon It', When Love And Hate Collide' to Two Steps Behind' and Rock Of Ages'.

The highlight for many was a solo from bassist Rick Savage, whose mind-blowing solo immediately preceded the Lepps' version of Rock On' from their album of covers called Yeah!'.

The volume of the music was almost physical as the band received the adulation they thoroughly warranted.

Many of the audience were first-generation fans, who were - in some cases - a little long in the tooth, but that didn't stop them rocking the Arena to the rafters.

Both bands may be celebrating 30 years of rocking, but they certainly ain't gonna go away anytime soon.

And we should be thankful for that.