WINNIPEG - It wasn't quite mass hysteria that greeted hard rock legends Def Leppard last night, but it still came pretty close.

Actually, it came even closer to Hysteria -- the landmark 1987 album that spawned seven consecutive hits for the Brit-rockers, six of which were scheduled to be squeezed into last night's set list.

The sequencing strategy was shrewd, given the quintet is already on record as confirming they sometimes have trouble with live shows, since fans -- particularly the casual ones -- don't always go crazy for their lesser-known tracks.

But that wasn't a problem with last night's crowd of 8,000-plus, most of whom seemed just as content to rock out to the new stuff as they did the proven hits.

It helped that the band -- fronted by arena-rock veteran Joe Elliott -- kicked things off with the one-two punch of Rocket and Animal (both from Hysteria, natch), before testing the waters with C'Mon C'Mon (from this year's Songs from the Sparkle Lounge disc) and the power-ballad Foolin', from their breakthrough '83 album Pyromania.

Follow-up Make Love Like a Man gave Elliott a chance to strut around the unadorned stage while guitarists Phil Collen, Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) recreated Def Leppard's trademark multi-layered sound. And the singer practically beamed with pride while introducing Nine Lives, the group's new crossover attempt with country star Tim McGraw.

Now so far, the song hasn't exactly caught fire on either country or rock radio, but last night's crowd received it warmly, as they did more recognizable gems like Love Bites, Two Steps Behind, Armageddon It, Photograph and Pour Some Sugar On Me.

Opening act Billy Idol was clearly also paying attention in class when they went over how to pull off a kickass concert, as his 70-minute set was heavy on crowd-pleasing hits.

A fellow survivor of the MTV-era, Idol might seem an unlikely candidate for aging gracefully, given how much of his stage shtick relies on goofy horndog innuendo.

But even at 52, he managed to pull off all the old tricks -- the fist-pumping, the snarling, and the crazy-eye-making -- plus it helps that his songs still carry the same punky heft as they did when he was younger.

Though Idol looked and sounded a bit bored on opening tracks Cradle of Love and Dancing With Myself, he came alive with a ferocious version of Flesh for Fantasy, replete with spooky/spacey guitars (courtesy of longtime axeman Steve Stevens) and crashing keyboard runs.

And while he began '80s anthem White Wedding as an unplugged number, he signalled a return to the rockin' by unleashing a bloodcurdling howl midway through, following up up with appropriately animalistic versions of Mony Mony (the X-rated version), Eyes Without A Face, The Doors' L.A. Woman and his de facto theme song Rebel Yell.