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39 Years Ago RICK SAVAGE Injures Knee On DEF LEPPARD's Pyromania Tour

Def Leppard 1983. Rick Savage 1983

Def Leppard played a show on the Pyromania tour in East Troy, WI on 10th July 1983 and an archive tour story is available to read.

Rick Savage was involved in an incident which resulted in him getting a knee injury in East Troy, Wisconsin.

The incident happened before the show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.

This was their first visit to East Troy since August 1981.

The incident occurred when an angry Gary Moore, who was playing his last support show on the tour, threw a bottle which then broke and cut Sav's knee.

He had to visit the local hospital for stitches after the show.

As of 1989 he still had a scar which he explained in an interview at the time which expanded on the story first told in the 1987 'Animal Instinct' biography.


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Animal Instinct 1987 Biography - Quotes

"Even so, there were problems."

"Backstage at Alpine Valley, an outdoor amphitheatre outside of Milwaukee, Gary Moore - a temperamental Irishman at the best of times - got pissed off about some small matter and threw an empty Heineken bottle on to the floor."

"Unfortunately for Sav, who happened to be standing nearby, a few pieces of the broken bottle bounced up off the floor and into his leg."

"He received eight stitches after the show."

Def Leppard 2016. By Chele Drappel

East Troy, WI 1983 - Rick Savage 1989 Interview Quotes

Has there ever been a crowd disaster at a def Leppard show?. We're all aware of the Donington tragedy last year, where two kids lost their lives.

Once, in '83, we were playing Alpine Valley.

I had a nasty cut on my knee that needed stitches, so an ambulance took me straight from the gig to the local hospital.

There, I saw all these kids who were injured at our show.

Some were in right bloody messes.

Again in '88, in Biloxi, Mississippi, I cut my leg open on the stage - same knee and I saw lots of kids messed up at that hospital too.

What's with the injuries?. Are you accident prone?

Not really. I really shouldn't tell you this because it'll cast a bad light on Gary Moore - oh well, that injury in '93, here's what happened.

We were playing Apline Valley with Gary Moore.

He's just finished his set and wanted to get from the side of the stage into the dressing room area with these two girls.

The girls didn't have the proper passes, so security stopped them.

Gary got angry.

He happened to have a Heineken beer bottle in his hand at the time.

I was standing around the corridor, talking to a fan.

All of a sudden this beer bottle comes flying around the corner and catches me flush on the knee, cutting a big hole in my leather pants.

This is 20 minutes before we're supposed to go onstage!.

Gary felt so bad - he's really a very nice guy.

Whenever I see him, eh always asks, "How's the knee>"..

I still got a scar.


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