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Def Leppard Tour History Fan Archive.
29 Years Ago Def Leppard Create Hysteria In Nottingham (Photos/Reviews)

Thursday, 1st September 2016





Def Leppard September 1987.
Nottingham 1987

Def Leppard played a Hysteria world tour show in Nottingham, England 29 years ago on this day in 1987.

The show took place at Nottingham Royal Centre.

The fifth show of the Hysteria world tour.

The first show in Nottingham since early December 1983 on the Pyromania tour (which had been rescheduled from March).

Joe was still suffering from his back injury sustained in Belfast a few days before.

View some photos including one legendary shot of Steve Clark in a classic guitar pose.

Read some excerpts from various concert reviews published in local and national media at the time.

Hystery in the Making (Kerrang!) - Concert Review Excerpts

What else could possibly go wrong for this band? Doomed ain't the word! But once again, disaster strikes, leaving vocalist Joe Elliott with a trapped nerve in his back following an enthusiastic leap from the drum riser in Belfast.

The man is in pain. He looks it, a face the colour of clay. But this is their most important UK tour to date, so Joe has to grin and bear it, before being rushed away to the attentions of an Osteopath. Again the show goes on...

And what a show, even with poor 'ole Joe lacking in the mobility stakes. An understandably stilted start came with openers 'Stagefright' and 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)', the band obviously yet to click into full 'tour' mode. By 'Another Hit and Run', Joe's guitarists Steve Clark and Phil Collen pelted around the stage to compensate, Clark in particular spinning and kicking as if in the throes of a severe electric shock.

Rick Savage did some serious board travellin too (all the band are freed from the trip-over-the-lead syndrome by hi-tech gadgetry), a wonderfully cool exterior often cracking into a grin of pure glee at Nottingham's rapturous response. And Rick Allen? The biggest compliment I can pay him is to say that I had forgotten. Yep, so vicious was the drumming that Rick, using both feet at a furious pace, became 'just' another drummer, which must be an improvement on the 'Def-Leppard-the-band-with-the-one-armed-drummer' story.

'Too Late For Love' (ace lightshow!) and 'Billy's Got a Gun' led into the immaculate 'Hysteria', which sounded a little rusty tonight, but should smooth out further into the tour. Next up was the fab 'Gods of War', followed by 'Die Hard The Hunter', all adding to the Hysteria (sorry, just had to!) which was causing the walls to dampen, and the hair to flop (i.e. it was hot!).

Def Leppard September 1987.
Pic 1st Sep 1987 by Greg Freeman.

Sugar On The Rocks (Sounds) - Concert Review Excerpts

Four nights into a tour that'll stretch from here to God knows when (late '88, probably) and Def Leppard are just beginning to hit their stride. Tonight, by their own admission, it was still all a little shaky. Slow starters they may be, but Leppard have enough kick at the finish to see off just about any competition.

Producing records of the scale, depth and polish of 'Pyromania' and 'Hysteria' is one thing; reproducing them on a stage is a different proposition altogether, and it's been said of Leppard on a number of occassions that their live performances simply don't come up to stratch. And no, this show wasn't perfect. Will great do?

Leppard aren't Ben Johnson off the blocks; opener 'Stagefright' began messy and overloud, plenty of noise and colour but not much to grab hold of. By 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)' they'd picked up more momentum and, to his credit, it was only as that second song climaxed that I really paid any attention to Rick 'Thundergod!' Allen.

What can you say about a guy who loses an arm and comes back sounding better than ever? Obviously the new drum kit (lightweight and surprisingly small) cuts a few corners, but he still has to work his ass off. Rick earned Nottingham's generous cheers.

Def Leppard September 1987.
Nottingham 1987.

Leppard Are Spot On (Nottingham Post) - Concert Review Excerpts

Nowhere is this more evident than the current single - Animal. A supersonic pop song brimful of soaring harmonies and more hooks than a butcher's backshop.

No Mistakes

If Animal is their most successful single to date, then on last night's showing there could well be some more.

Live, the airbrushed FM fodder, geared unashamedly for the American market, makes the transition from record to stage as easily as one-armed drummer Rick Allen plays his computerised drum kit.

There were no mistakes and, thankfully, none of the patronising patter beloved of every aspiring HM band, from frontman Joe Elliott.

(Read the full reviews on the show page).

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