Thursday, 31st December 2020
Prev  |  Next

33 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Arrested By The FUN POLICE In Tampa, FL (Photos)

Def Leppard 1987. Screenshot

Def Leppard played a show in Tampa, FL on 31st December 1987 during the Hysteria tour and things got interesting at midnight.

The show took place at the USF Sun Dome at the University Of South Florida.

The show was sold out and attended by 9,219 fans with a total gross of $152,114.

As with all other shows on this first leg of the US Hysteria tour it was opened by Tesla.

The band's second time playing in this city after a show with Ozzy Osbourne in September 1981 on the High 'n' Dry tour.

The show was notable for many reasons including being their first ever New Year's Eve concert.

As explained below by Joe from a 1999 interview the band started the show at 10pm in order to be on stage at midnight.

During the regular encore closing song 'Travellin' Band' there was a stage invasion of sorts. But rather than fans it turned out to be the band's own girlfriends.

Lorelei (Steve), Miriam (Rick), Liz (Phil) and Karla (Joe) took to the stage to surprise the band dressed as the "Fun Police". A joke nickname given to the band girlfriends (as described in 'Animal Instinct').

Not only did Rick get a surprise from Miriam, he also got the shock of his own mother Kath coming out on the stage dressed in the same outfit.

His reaction can be seen in the photos below. Miriam also talked about this "incident" during a book tour about ten years ago. View the video.


Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).


Def Leppard 1987. Screenshot

Tampa 1987 Photos


Lorelei Shellist - Video Quotes

"There were only four girlfriends and five band members, but guess who else happened to be there. We had the pleasure of the company of Kath, Rick Allen's Mum who is with us tonight. Stand up Kath come here."

"So Kath was brave enough to put on everything we had on and we just gave her everything we could find. So Kath I just wondered if you'd like to come up on the stage and share your memory of that night. This is Rick's Mum now talk about living through a lot of things. This is a survivor."

Lorelei Shellist.

Kath Daly (Rick's Mother) - Video Quotes

"I remember this night vividly because all the girls were getting ready to go on stage to do this wonderful thing which I knew nothing about. But they asked me if I would join them because Sav didn't have a girlfriend at the time. And I said well I will do it but I'm definitely not going to the front of the stage. If you let me pretend to be Rick's girlfriend. I'll drag him off the stage because he's at the back of the stage."

"And then I remember going on and we pulled this dress up, made me up with all this lipstick and eye make-up, everything. And I walked on stage and Joe, the singer, he turned round and he said 'Well you've got better legs than your son'. And that was my recollection of that night. But it was all fun and I loved it."

Joe Elliott - Chicago, IL December 1999 Interview Quotes

"The last time we did a gig on New Year's Eve was in Tampa. We purposefully went onstage at 10 p.m. so we could be onstage at midnight. It was sold out; there must have been 10,000 in there. We did "Auld Lang Syne" and about five people sang."

"I thought they were the most miserable bunch of (expletive) in North America. Then I was informed that in actual fact not that many Americans know the words to "Auld Lang Syne." It's much more of a British thing. So maybe we can get them to whistle it."



Def Leppard 2020.

Def Leppard / Latest Release


Def Leppard / Latest Tour

Def Leppard World Tour 2021


Related News - 21 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Enter The 21st Century In CHICAGO (Audio)

Related News - DEF LEPPARD And RICK ALLEN Recall His 1984 Car Accident (Videos)

Related News - The Story Of DEF LEPPARD Drummer RICK ALLEN's 1984 Car Accident

Related News - 21 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Bring EUPHORIA To Peoria, IL (Videos)

Related News - 33 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD's HYSTERIA Tour In Hollywood, FL (Video)

Related News - 42 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Support THE NEXT BAND In Grantham, England


share this story:





get def leppard news

Stay in touch with the latest updates.


explore def leppard tour history
All News
Tour News
Album News
All Tours