Def Leppard Grantham, England 23rd December 1978 Setlist The Early Years Tour

home > tour history > 1978 > Grantham, England

Saturday, 23rd December 1978

Prev | Next

Location / Grantham, England
Venue / Grantham Guildhall / The Guildhall
Event / Christmas End Of Term Dance

The first show by the band in this market town.

The first time at this venue.

The venue is located in the town centre.

It was opened in 1869.

In 1991 it became known as the Guildhall Arts Centre.

The second show Rick Allen played with Def Leppard after joining the band on 27th November 1978.

The band line-up was now - Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Steve Clark, Pete Willis and Rick Allen.

The show was a Christmas End Of Term Dance for the nearby Grantham College headlined by The Next Band featuring drummer Frank Noon.

Frank played on The Def Leppard E.P. and almost joined the band but opted to stay with his own.

Lep supported them and the event also featured a disco. Thanks to Lee Gauntlett (show info) and John Medd (poster photo)

Joe Elliott mentioned on his 31st March 2012 Planet Rock radio show that the band played Sex Pistols song 'Pretty Vacant' at 1978 Christmas show with this gig (and the one in Rotherham) being the likely ones.

This song would later be played during the mid section of 'Another Hit And Run' at two club shows in England and Argentina during the 1996/1997 'Slang' world tour.

The setlist also reportedly included a couple of Thin Lizzy covers.

Read more about this show and view photos.