X Marks the Spot for a Night of Rock with Tesla, REO Speedwagon and Def Leppard

Last night Tesla, REO Speedwagon and Def Leppard rocked the Xcel Energy Center in varying degrees of awesomeness.

Starting the night, Tesla played to an auditorium about half-full. Partway through their set they were joined onstage by Def Leppard's Phil Collen for "Save That Goodness," which Collen wrote for Tesla's new Mechanical Resonance album. Singer Jeff Keith's famously rough voice was harsher than usual, and the band just couldn't get the early crowd pumped up, even for the hits "Signs" and "Love Song." It probably didn't help that Keith kept doing shoutouts to Minneapolis, and we were in St. Paul.

REO Speedwagon took the stage next, and this is a band that is clearly comfortable with their rock-star status, and knows how to bring what the fans want. With easy banter between songs and stories of original band member Neal Doughty's Minnesota ties, REO knows how to connect with the crowd. They cycled energetically through their hits, including "Take it on the Run," "Time for Me to Fly," "Ridin' the Storm Out" and "Keep on Loving You," and all sounded fresh and not at all four decades old. Tossing guitar picks left and right and bouncing all around the stage, REO Speedwagon performs like a band half their age.

Opening with "Let's Go" from their newest album, Def Leppard, the main attraction performed a good mix of their classics and new tunes. Singer Joe Elliott's voice held up pretty well through the evening, with only the lack of his trademark high-pitched screams and letting the band take over during many of the chorus lines an indication that he struggled with some vocal issues earlier this year. Guitarist Vivian Campbell showed no signs of fatigue despite his ongoing battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma. And drummer Rick Allen proved that he can do more with one arm than many drummers can with two in a fantastically powerful solo during "Switch 625," an instrumental showcase, after which the band had to stop for a bit to let the audience's appreciation die down before guitarists Campbell, Rick Savage and a gloriously shirtless Phil Collen rejoined and finished the song.

Def Leppard finished off their set with a burst of energy for "Let's Get Rocked" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me," which brought the remaining seated fans to their feet. After a brief wait, the band came back out to end the evening's with an encore of "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph." The background visuals with "Photograph" included images of former guitarist Steve Clark, who died of alcohol poisoning in 1991.

While the crowd's energy waned during the performances of their newest songs, and then ramped back up for the old favorites, Def Leppard never let their levels drop. It was a fantastic evening of rock.