Rock now comes in combos. Given the transformation that the music market has undergone due to both the passage of time and the emergence of the internet, streaming platforms and even the pandemic, producers of major shows around the world have discovered that when the viewer is offered a dish with garnish, is willing to pay more for it. This was the case with Mötley Crue and Def Leppard at Parque Sarmiento.
If any of the two main acts who performed so successfully last night at Parque Sarmiento in the city of Buenos Aires had announced a world tour on their own, they would not have achieved the same volume of ticket sales as the team formed by Def Leppard and Motley Crudo .
Adding produces better numbers than simply adding forces. Especially when it is well coupled.
This is why the joint tour between the British and the Americans, to which the local condiment Rata Blanca, a strong spice loved by the Argentine public, was added in Buenos Aires, was a complete success.
Resource optimisation
The resources of both sides are optimized; by the organizing company, Fénix in this case, which also has a radio dedicated to style (Rock and Pop), and also on the public side which if it had two separate shows would have to choose between one or the other because the price of the seats it’s not cheap.
Or maybe because he’s interested in one band more than another he wouldn’t go see. With the combo you can enjoy everything at a price that would seem more reasonable, judging by the call that has filled the facilities of the Parque Sarmiento, which could be a good option for shows of this magnitude.
The problem lies in the exit: infrequent buses at midnight and jackal taxi drivers who only make long journeys.
The White Mouse Show
The punctuality of Rata Blanca, who opened the festivities with just to love you of his first album at 7.30pm marked the penalty of the day. To characterize them as a support band (even if they were referred to as a “guest band”), even if their show lasted 40 minutes, would be unfair because they sounded as good as international numbers.
With more than three decades of existence, Rata Blanca has acquired a relief that goes beyond the borders of Argentinaand which is unjustly ignored: an undervalued export, such as Los Enanitos Verdes, Vilma Palma e Vampiro and Miguel Mateos/Zas.
With Walter Giardino in front, so far that the singer Adrián Barilari was a few meters behind, Rata Blanca confirmed the quality it has always had with a solid and seamless show. It gave the impression that the public was trying to arrive early so as not to lose them and they responded with their usual professionalism and a cohesion that has not cracked despite the passage of time and the change of components.
After his acclaimed presentation with abundant solos by Giardino, who continues to ride all the curves of the 180 kilometres, the countdown has begun.
Def Leppard, successes and a lot of class
It’s not a figure of speech: after some commercials where Def Leppard announced the forthcoming release of their album Diamond star halosand his biography Decidedlydiamond-shaped diamonds framed a fifteen-minute countdown on the screens.
And with historic British punctuality, Def Leppard released their first chord, with the public unable to find the common thread of the transition.
Def Leppard were the group with the popest side of what was then called the New Wave of British Metal; They sold millions and millions of copies with their hit albums in the 80s, and evolved towards a dry rock and roll band format.
But on the night of Thursday 9 March they recovered all that magic that had transformed them into mega-sellers and showcased not only a cascade of hits, but also a class that elevates them to another category.
Def Leppard enhanced their melodies, enveloped in otherworldly vocal harmonies and a carefully designed visual show that provided a beautiful aesthetic show.
Joe Elliott hides his gray hair under a bleached blond, but not his experience: He knew how to connect with the public without demagoguerywithout too much screeching, channeling the group’s energy and projecting it as only those with a lot of craft can do.
It also doesn’t cease to impress Rick Allen, the drummer who lost his arm in an accident, and who is not afraid to show themselves; he seems sheltered behind his own ‘iron curtain’, in a flood of drums, stands and cymbals, but when it comes to soloing he displays an ability that another instrumentalist with his full weapons would desire.
The secret is that he designed a system that helps you play with your feet, barefoot for warmth, comfort, or just habit.
Mötley Crue, straight to the heart
The windy night brought about another further miracle: a certain feeling of freshness which made the evening more bearable for the 25,000 spectators who were calmly awaiting the arrival of the group which, it was clear, more swollen had: Mötley Crüe.
Survivors of the fury of the 80s in Los Angeles, the missing link between the guitar charm generated by Van Halen and Californian glam-metal, they proposed a more direct show and less refined than Def Leppard’s, and with a gothic touch, which they achieved with fluorescent javelins on the ground and inverted crosses on three coffins, which hung from the upper structure of the stage.
Mötley Crüe founded their legend also thanks to several successes, his unbridled use of leather, studs and mascara, and above all to its excesses. Yesterday Vince Neil, their lead singer, asked if the audience had seen the movie that was on Netflix: The dirt (The dirt).
As if complementary to the harmonious whole displayed by Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe contributed strength, brutality and a certain nostalgia.
There were two generously proportioned girls who danced and occasionally backed up; at one point in the show they appeared as if in chains, trying to evoke an image of the uncontrolled Sunset Strip they inhabited as young people. Some feminist will grit their teeth, but she was part of the little theater set up by the California gang.
Replacing Mick Mars, legendary guitarist of the group who preferred to retire for John 5a “young” (he is 52 years old compared to the average of +60 of his peers) virtuoso who has brought new life to Mötley Crüe.
His arsenal of shots has been carefully dosed Wild sidewhich caused the classic headbanging (shaking of the head) until the end Girls, girls, girls AND set my heart in motiongoing through flawless versions of Yell at the devil, Doctor Feel good AND Same old situation.
Involuntarily, Nikki Sixx, the bassist who survived his death, showed the alleged anomaly in the age composition of the audience, when he went down the catwalk and invited a teenager to come up, who stammered some words excitedly when the musician brought the microphone close to she .
At Parque Sarmiento there were a good number of the musicians’ peers, people in their 60s, but also large audience under 25.
Beyond this heterogeneity, what became clear was that in the shows of the two bands the deployment of what are now called “visuals” was fundamental. Although it has been like this for more than a quarter of a century (remember the first visits of the Rolling Stones), the visual aspect has become increasingly important, also defining the personality of the band.
Def Leppard used refined editing resources, almost like an artistic video clip, while Mötley Crüe sought more affinity with the sensationalist aesthetic of the tabloids which themselves reported their outrages.
Source: Clarin
