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Thursday, 2nd September 1999
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Du Quoin, IL - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - Curt Taft

It was a little over three years between my first and second Def Leppard concerts.

The break wouldn’t be so long for number three.

Shortly after my second concert had come and gone on August 17, 1999, a second was brought to my attention. I remember it vividly, as I was sitting in my mom’s van in the parking lot of Hollywood Video, where we had gone to return to some video tapes.

My mom mentioned having seen in the paper that Def Leppard was playing the Du Quoin State Fair on September 2. I had never even heard of Du Quoin, which was a small town about two and a half hours (150 miles) south of where I live. I was also confused as to why they were calling their fair a ‘State Fair,’ since the actual Illinois State Fair (where I had seen Def Leppard on August 17) was just a few miles down the road from my house in the state capital of Springfield.

Anyway, the show was just over a week away and my mom asked me if I was interested in going. She said if I wanted to, she would get tickets for me for my birthday, which was on September 16. I jumped at the chance to see the band again, so she bought seats and I was all set.

Finally the day came, I left school (seventh grade!) a little early, and we began the long drive south to Du Quoin. At the time, it was the farthest we had traveled to see the band. My first show was in St. Louis in 1996, the second in my hometown right down the road. But it was a fun experience that would set the tone for many future concert trips, as we got lost in the middle of nowhere (since there was no GPS to turn to) and my mom uttered the phrase “what is that dam thing?” referring to an actual dam, which greatly amused me as a 12 year old.

We arrived in Du Quoin and walked around the fairgrounds, which was smaller than what I was used to since the fair in Springfield is the actual, legitimate STATE fair. But the party atmosphere was alive and well, as there were rides blasting Def Leppard music.

We got there early enough that I was able to stand inside the entrance of the grandstand and listen to the band soundcheck for the first time. They ran through “Promises,” and then “Love Bites.” I stood there listening, with my excitement growing by the minute since I could hear them playing live.

After a bit, we made our way to a merchandise stand, where I bought the Def Leppard soccer jersey that I had first seen at the show in Springfield. The shirt was $60, so I wasn’t able to get it when I saw them the first time. But this time, I’d gotten some early birthday money and decided I had to have that jersey. So I bought it!

Eventually the doors opened and we made our way in to take our seats. They were similar to where we sat in Springfield; the upper part of the grandstand, straight away from the stage. The big difference between the grandstand in Du Quoin and the one in Springfield is that Du Quoin did not have a track separating the stage and the reserved seats. So that meant we were quite a bit closer despite being in the upper grandstand.

The other change from Springfield is that there was no opening band in Du Quoin. So it was just a matter of waiting for the normal run of songs (Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Coma,” Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” and Gary Glitter’s “Rock And Roll Part 2”) to come and go.

Near the end of “Rock And Roll Part 2,” the lights went down, and then Def Leppard blasted their way on stage with “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop).” I couldn’t believe that I was seeing the band for a second time in such a short time period, and knowing what the set was ahead of time was a new experience.

“Demolition Man” and “Women” followed, before they returned to the Pyromania album to play “Too Late For Love.” It was once again a highlight of the show for me, being one of my favorite songs.

“Hysteria” once again resulted in a massive sing-a-long from the crowd, as did “Animal.” It was a good thing too, as by this point in the show, there were so many bugs flying around the brightly lit stage that Joe could barely open his mouth.

Which might explain why he jumped down off the stage and ran through the crowd, something he couldn’t do in Springfield thanks to the general admission track. Once Joe got back on stage, he was out of breath and said he just remembered why he doesn’t do that anymore.

“Foolin’” followed before Joe introduced the Euphoria album, which got a really good response. Once again, “Paper Sun” was played and went down really well since it has been a big rock radio hit, nearly cracking the top 10 on Billboard.

Next up was “Slang” before the last two Euphoria songs, first single “Promises” and most recent single “Goodbye,” were played.

The rest of the set was the same, as they plowed through hit after hit ("Love Bites," "Armageddon It," "Photograph," "Rocket," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," and "Rock Of Ages") until the encore that started with "Let's Get Rocked." This time, I wasn’t caught so off guard by “Let It Go.” I sang every word, which made my mom cringe a little for reasons I didn’t understand at the time.

It was another amazing show with the same set as the Springfield show a couple of weeks earlier. And thankfully, it once again wouldn’t be another three years until my next show.

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