1988 def leppard tour

2 Loud 2 Old Music

Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria U.S. Tour 1988’ – Tour Book

It has been awhile since we’ve gone through a Tour Book and this time around, we have a three set series on Def Leppard Tour Books. Only 3 because that is all I have at this time. And we are kicking it off with the band’s biggest tour, Hysteria. The Tour ran from 1987-1988 and I saw it 3 times. Yep, three times. Twice in Atlanta, one of which I won on a Radio call-in show, and once in Chattanooga, TN because we had to see them again.

Looking back, what was great about these shows is that I got to see Steve Clark play as he passed a few years later. The band was Joe Elliott, Rick Allen, Rick Savage, Steve Clark and Phil Collen and the album Hysteria was their biggest selling album of all time going Diamond with well over 12 million copies. It spawned an impressive 7 singles and they were the biggest band in the world at that time. They are still one of my favorite bands of all time and why I didn’t buy a tour book back then is beyond me…probably because I was a broke high school student…we will go with that. So, here is the book in all its glory…

The cover is above as the header and if you notice the triangle cut out. When you open it, you get to see the same concert shot wrapped by the Hysteria album cover.

Unlike a lot of Tour books, we don’t get an individual band member page talking about each member. Basically every page has all the members as it is a band…

This next page give us a little history on the band from the release of the ‘Hysteria’ album up to the 1988 leg of the tour. It is a nice long essay that is a must read.

More and more band shots…

This next one has a little flap on the right side…

And when folded out, changes the picture to this…

Now we are to the page where the band thanks the road crew. This time they take it a step further and give you pictures of the road crew which I think is an awesome touch!!

And lastly is the Merch page and one last band photo…

Oh yeah, can’t forge the back cover…

And that is everything. I hope you enjoyed the walk through the book and we have two more Tour Books to go through over the next couple weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks for hanging around.

Here is a list of all the Tour Books we have reviewed over the years. Links are provided so you can go see some history.

Alice Cooper:

• Welcome To My Nightmare Tour (1975)
• Guilty Tour (1977)

Kiss Tour Book Series:

• Animalize Tour (1984)
• Asylum Tour (1985)
• Alive / Worldwide Tour (1996-1997)
• Alive / Worldwide Tour Special Edition (1997)
• World Domination Tour (2003-2004
• 40th Anniversary Tour – Decades of Decibels (2014)
• End of the Road Tour (2019) – Coming Soon
• Bon Jovi – New Jersey Tour / Brotherhood Tour (1988)
• Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi Tour (2011)
• Rush – Power Windows Tour (1985)
• Rush – Roll The Bones Tour (1991)
• Rush – Counterparts Tour (1994)
• Rush – Test For Echos Tour (1996)

Def Leppard:

• Def Leppard – Hysteria U.S. Tour (1988)

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35 Years Ago: Def Leppard’s Hysteria Tour Hits the United States

Def Leppard 's tour cycle to promote their fourth album, Hysteria , started on Aug. 27, 1987, in Dublin. But an argument could be made that the Hysteria tour did not begin until Oct. 1, when the group unveiled its " In the Round" stage at the Civic Center in Glens Falls, N.Y.

The setup – actually more of a rectangle than a circular stage like Yes used from 1978-80 – was the brainchild of Def Leppard's manager Peter Mensch, who had seen Frank Sinatra do a 360-degree show. The appeal was two-fold: not a bad seat, or at least fewer, in the house; and the ability to sell more tickets than in a normal configuration with the stage on one end of the arena.

And not necessarily in that order. "It's a totally different way to play the show," singer  Joe Elliott told this writer a few weeks into the tour. "It's like you have four front rows to play to. You have people all around you, screaming from every direction. It's pretty wild. ... I think it's great for the band and for the fans."

The setup "made for a spectacular show once we got the feel for it – and it totally affected how we were as performers," guitarist Phil Collen added in his 2015 memoir Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard and Beyond . "Everyone does it nowadays, but back then it was a novel thing."

The stage was designed by Def Leppard lighting director Phay MacMahon, incorporating a massive rig above the stage that included lasers, a rotating and rising drum riser for Rick Allen and a network of ramps and slopes for Elliot, Collen, guitarist Steve Clark and bassist Rick Savage to navigate. The Hysteria album art was painted on the floor of the stage, while the band emerged at the start of the show from behind a four-sided curtain, also featuring the album art, which disappeared cyclone-like as they kicked into "Stagefright."

Watch Def Leppard Perform 'Stagefright'

"It truly was state-of-the-art," MacMahon said in Collen's book. "It also had a very uncluttered look and feel to it, because all of the guitar techs worked underneath the stage, and all of the guitar amps were also located offstage." The lighting rig, according to MacMahon, "featured many movable parts and lasers that had never been used for concerts before."

The group came to Glens Falls for eight days of rehearsals, following 17 shows at smaller venues in the U.K. and Ireland, and three European festival dates back in June before Hysteria 's release. But working into the new stage wasn't just press-and-play: "It took a minute for us to get used to the set-up," Elliott acknowledged back in 1987. "We'd never done anything like that before. Not many rock bands had. So the first few shows we were trying to fill the stage too much. We were just exhausted. We're really learning how to pace ourselves and not feel like, 'I have to be over there. ... Wait, no, I have to be over there!'"

It was also the first chance for North American audiences to see the new model Allen in action after losing his left arm in a car crash on New Year's Eve 1984. He had taught himself to play on a hybrid drum kit that allowed him to trigger sounds via electronics that would have been created with his left arm with his left foot instead. The kit had wowed European audiences and his bandmates, and would be a focal point for the Hysteria shows in the U.S.

The center-arena staging created one major logistical problem: how to get the band to the stage. The solution was oversized laundry-style carts that Def Leppard's crew would use to move gear belonging to opening acts Tesla and Queensryche off stage. The band members would get into them backstage — Elliott and Clark in one, Collen and Savage in another — and be wheeled to the under-stage area past unsuspecting fans. Allen, who had to warm up before the show, would walk through the crowd in disguise, including a fake left arm holding a beer. In his memoir, Collen recalls that Robert Plant came to check out one of the Chicago concerts in 1988 and volunteered to wheel Collen and Savage's cart that night. "We played extra hard that night, knowing that Robert Plant was watching us," Collen wrote.

Watch Def Leppard Perform 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'

The under-stage area, meanwhile, became something of a bacchanal as the tour went on. Part of Def Leppard's schtick was a 20-minute section of "Rock of Ages" during which Allen would be playing while Elliott hyped the crowds through a call-and-response of the " What do you want? / I want rock 'n' roll " refrain. Collen, Clark and Savage would then retire to below deck, where a party was raging with women who were invited by crew members into the netherworld — if they were willing to disrobe.

"Under the stage, it would be like Sodom and Gomorrah," photographer Ross Halfin said in VH1's " Behind the Music " episode on Def Leppard. "There would be 60 naked girls, and I mean nothing on. They really were the party band. All the bands, Metallica , Motley Crue , think they're so tough. You couldn't touch Def Leppard for it. It's just the fact they hid it really, really well."

All of that was what lay ahead on that first night in Glens Falls. Hysteria endured sluggish performance out of the box so the concert was not sold out, like many of their first-leg shows. Some 5,786 fans turned up in the 7,500-capacity arena. The group nevertheless powered through 15 songs, including five from Hysteria and seven from its predecessor, 1983's multi-platinum Pyromania  — but nothing from the group's 1980 debut, On Through the Night . The ratios would, of course, change as " Pour Some Sugar on Me " rocket-fueled Hysteria 's performance and made Def Leppard shows a hot ticket during 1988 in Europe and North America.

The entire tour played more than 100 dates in North America alone, and the production was preserved on the home video Live: In the Round, In Your Face , filmed at a pair of February 1988 shows in Denver, released in March of 1989 and again in 2001 on DVD. The Hysteria tour wrapped up on Oct. 27, 1988, at the Tacoma Dome in Washington state. That would also be Clark's final performance with the band; the guitarist died  on Jan. 3, 1991, at the age of 30, while on a leave of absence from the band to deal with alcoholism. The cause of death was ruled respiratory failure caused by a mix of alcohol and prescription drugs.

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• August 6, 1988 Setlist

Def Leppard Setlist at Buckeye Lake Music Center, Thornville, OH, USA

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Tour: Hysteria Tour Tour statistics Add setlist

• Stagefright Play Video
• Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) Play Video
• Women Play Video
• Too Late for Love Play Video
• Hysteria Play Video
• Guitar Solo Play Video
• Gods of War Play Video
• Die Hard the Hunter Play Video
• Bringin' On the Heartbreak Play Video
• Foolin' Play Video
• Animal Play Video
• Pour Some Sugar on Me Play Video
• Rock of Ages Play Video
• Love Bites Play Video
• Photograph Play Video

Edits and Comments

5 activities (last edit by joerocks91 , 26 Sep 2022, 03:34 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Die Hard the Hunter
• Foolin'
• Rock of Ages
• Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
• Stagefright
• Too Late for Love
• Gods of War
• Pour Some Sugar on Me
• Bringin' On the Heartbreak
• Guitar Solo

Complete Album stats

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• Artist Statistics
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Buckeye lake music center.

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Def Leppard Gig Timeline

• Aug 03 1988 Castle Farms Music Theater Charlevoix, MI, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 05 1988 Starwood Amphitheatre Antioch, TN, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 06 1988 Buckeye Lake Music Center This Setlist Thornville, OH, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 07 1988 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 09 1988 Sandstone Amphitheater Bonner Springs, KS, USA Add time Add time

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• about / contact
• Location / Toledo, OH, USA
• Venue / Toledo Sports Arena

The first show by the band in this city since July 1983 on the Pyromania tour.

The third time at this venue.

The venue was located in the city centre near the Main Street bridge and beside the Maumee River.

It was opened in 1947.

By 2007 the venue was closed and demolished.

The new 8,000 capacity Huntington Center arena opened in 2009 stands nearby on the opposite side of the Maumee River.

Toledo was added to the tour after a petition by local radio station WIOT-FM for the band to play the Sports Arena.

• SUBMIT - Reviews / Photos
• Fan Reviews - 0
• Media Links - News / Photos - 0
• Photo Galleries - 01
• Online Reviews - 01
• 00 - Dirty Harry/Excitable Intro
• 01 - Stagefright
• 02 - Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
• 04 - Too Late For Love
• 05 - Hysteria
• 00 - Steve Clark Guitar Solo
• 06 - Gods Of War
• 07 - Die Hard The Hunter
• 09 - Foolin'
• 10 - Animal
• 11 - Pour Some Sugar On Me
• 00 - Phil Collen Guitar Solo
• 12 - Rock Of Ages (Sing-a-Long/Extended Version)
• 13 - Love Bites
• 14 - Photograph
• View - All Songs Played 1988 / PA Music Info

songs by album

• 1987 - Hysteria - 6
• 1983 - Pyromania - 7
• 1981 - High 'n' Dry - 1
• Tour - Def Leppard Hysteria Tour 1987/1988
• Staging - In The Round
• Fan Recorded - none yet
• Venue - No Website
• Venue Address - 1 Main Street, Toledo, OH 43605
• US State - Ohio
• Area Map - Google
• Last Show Here - 7th July 1983
• Capacity - 7,500
• In The Round Show Capacity - 7,500
• Attendance - 7,500
• Total Gross - n/a
• Ticket Price - n/a
• Show Time - n/a
• Promoter - Belkin Productions.
• Headliner - Def Leppard
• Support Act - Queensryche

band members

• 01 - Joe Elliott - Lead Vocals
• 02 - Phil Collen - Guitars
• 03 - Steve Clark - Guitars
• 04 - Rick Savage - Bass
• 05 - Rick Allen - Drums

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venue street view

A view looking towards where the venue used to stand which is now housing.

An older view looking back towards the first one before the housing was built on the old arena site.

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