Def Leppard: 5 must watch performances

Sometimes, let’s be honest, you really could do with that introduction. But not in the case of Def Leppard. The band who began rehearsing in a Sheffield spoon factory in the late 1970s and went on to sell-out stadiums around the world were one of the biggest artists on the planet in the 1980s and 1990s, and continue to pack crowds into arenas to this day.

They’re a band who are no strangers to tragedy, to overcoming adversity, and to hard-earned success. Which means they’re sure to have some incredible stories to tell. And they do, and not only that, but in May 2023 they came to the Southbank Centre to tell some of them. On the eve of the European leg of their latest world tour, the band – Rick Allen, Vivian Campbell, Phil Collen, Joe Elliott and Rick Savage – appear in our Royal Festival Hall to introduce their first ever anthology, Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard.

So to get you, and us, in the mood to hear the band’s first hand accounts of their remarkable career, we thought we’d take a look back at some of their most notable gigs and performances that are committed to film. Go put on your best stone-washed denim and get yourself comfortable as we run through five must-watch Def Leppard performances, starting almost seven years into the band’s journey.

‘Rock Rock (Till You Drop)’ and more, Rock Pop Festival, Dortmund 1983

After mixed reactions to their first two albums, Def Leppard released their third album Pyromania in January 1983, kickstarting a monumental year for the band. The album challenged Michael Jackson’s Thriller for number one spot in the USA, and lead single ‘Photograph’ became the most requested track on MTV, overtaking Jackson’s ‘Beat It’. The band spent pretty much the entire year on the road, touring the album around the globe on an extensive schedule that included 116 dates in North America. Come the tour’s final night and the band were back in Europe, wrapping up an exhausting year at Dortmund’s Rock Pop Festival in December. Not that there’s any hint of exhaustion in this performance. Wonder how many Union Jack t-shirts they got through over those 12 months?

‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, 1988

Hysteria is a key album for Def Leppard; the first since drummer Rick Allen had lost his left arm in a road accident; the last before the tragic death of guitarist Steve Clark. It is also their biggest selling album, and once again it led to a sizable world tour that began in November 1987 and lasted until June 1988. With ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ from this album often considered the band’s signature song, ranking at number two in VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s, it seems only right to share a live performance of this track. This comes from one of their final USA dates of the tour in February 1988.

‘Let’s Get Rocked’, MTV Awards, Los Angeles, 1992

In the 1980s and 1990s the MTV Awards earned the nickname ‘the Super Bowl for Youth’ in the US media, such was the event’s seismic reputation. And you only need look at the live performance bill for the 1992 ceremony to see how they earned that moniker; Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Guns n’ Roses, U2, Pearl Jam, not to mention Elton John and Eric Clapton, and right there among them as one of the certified biggest music names on the planet, Def Leppard. We’re not completely sold on Joe Elliot’s stage outfit, a look perhaps best titled Curiosity Killed Mr Motivator, but that doesn’t detract from a performance that highlighted just how huge the band had become.

‘When Love and Hate Collide’, Much Music TV, Toronto, 1995

Some things in this world are intrinsically linked to a time and place. For example, if we wanted to put you in mind of the mid-1990s we only really need to say; Hooch, Dennis Pennis, Tamagotchis, and heavy rock bands doing stripped-back performances. Def Leppard were no strangers to the latter, and that is absolutely no bad thing. Though known for their high-energy stage and stadium performances, the band weren’t averse to proving they could do intimate. In October 1995 they’d performed a much-acclaimed acoustic set at Sheffield’s Wapentake Club, and the following month came this gig, an 80 minute special for Toronto-based Much Music TV from which we’ve picked out this performance of ‘When Love and Hate Collide’.

‘Another Hit and Run’, Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, 1993

Speak to anyone from Sheffield over the age of 40 and they’ll all claim to have been at two events in 1993. The first is Wembley on 3 April for the FA Cup semi-final between the city’s two football clubs United and Wednesday; the second is Don Valley Stadium, 6 June, for Def Leppard’s homecoming gig. The only UK date on their Adrenalize European tour, it’s been acknowledged by the band several times since as their best ever show, and it’s easy to see why; a huge crowd in their home town bouncing in unison to their music in the South Yorkshire sunshine. ‘I was pretty overwhelmed by the whole thing,’ said Rick Allen in a later interview. ‘The fact there was so many people I knew in the audience, and they were all really rooting for us really gave me a sense that we’d really sort of made it’.