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by Gerri Miller
Def Leppard is back in live action after four years underground, and they deliver a kickass concert that makes the wait worthwhile. Rocking America with a spectacular stage show that combines amazing musicianship, high-voltage energy, and a dazzling display of lights and lasers, the five Brits are Hysteria In motion as they play in the round on a double-size, day-glo platform that duplicates their album cover's graphics.
"It's such a buzz playing on that stage," guitarist Phil Collen enthused as we talked before the seventh show of the tour in Hartford, CT "You can spin around like an idiot and wherever you end up you're facing kids. We're a lot closer—you can actually see faces." "There are four front rows," points out singer Joe Elliott, who has trouble "figuring out what end of the building is where" just before the curtain drops at the start of the show. The set up requires the Leps to move around constantly. "You should have seen us after the first show," groans guitarist Steve Clark. "We were all absolutely f.cked." Adds Joe, "We were panting after four songs. We've got more used to it now."
With nearly four years since their last concert trip, touring itself has required acclimation. "Just being out of the studio is so strange," says Phil. "We're still getting used to the fact that there are people out there. We've been away so long, and it's a totally different concept, playing in the round, but we really took to it easily," he adds, and Joe agrees: "It's getting better every night."
In Hartford, the nearly two-hour set opened with "Stage Fright," closed with "Rock of Ages" (which included an oldies medley of "Not Fade Away," "Come Together," and "Whole Lotta Love") and covered most of Leppard's past and present hits before the double encore ("photograph" and "Good Golly Miss Molly"). "We've been changing the set around all the time," says Phil, noting that so far they'd performed all Hysteria songs except "Rocket" and "Love Bites." "We're gonna be out for 18 months," Steve points out. "lt keeps everyone on the ball."
It also lets the band see what songs work best. "Tear It Down" ("Women" 's B-side) followed last tour's "Action Not Words" example and sank "like a lead balloon," says Phil, but fortunately, most of the new material receives rave response, especially "Animal," "Women, " and "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Joe surprises the crowd by strapping on a six-string during "Hysteria" (the latest single/video). "He gets a bit wild so we only let him do 20 seconds," laughs Phil, who plays acoustic guitar while Steve strums a double-neck on "Bringing On the Heartbreak." Bassist Rick Savage picks that number as his favorite because he's off stage for most of it: "It's the first break I get," he says. For Phil, the show highlights are "Sugar" and the encore, while Joe and skinsman Rick pick the opening: "You feel a tingle up your spine," says Joe. Adds Rick with a smile, "l also like it when Joe introduces me as the Thunder God."
Rick’s thunder was temporarily silenced during the first gig of the U.K. tour (in the band’s hometown of Sheffield, no less) when his electronic kit shut down during "Rock of Ages," forcing him to keep time with a high hat alone. Thankfully there have been no breakdowns since. "We bought a power stabilizer. It works fine now," Rick assures, but there have been other glitches. At first, their eight semis full of equipment took so long to unload, the first two U.S. gigs started at 10:30, and the Baltimore show had to be postponed due to a disabled P.A. truck. Shades of Spinal Tap, "We got lost trying to find the stage one night," offers Steve. Traveling in winter for the first time, the Leps need more suitcases of clothes, and are subject to the weather's whims—snow made them miss a plane connection their first week out. "I f.ckin' hate airports. You sit around for hours," complains Phil, who prefers the bus, which is stocked with axes and CDs (current fave Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation). On short between-city hops, the band travels by day instead of overnight. "We have a fining system if anyone is late" says Phil, and the chief offender is Rick Allen. "$27 yesterday, a dollar a minute," Steve adds. "It all goes into a plastic cup and at the end of the tour we have a party and Rick pays for it."
As for present revelries, "We had a great party after the London gigs, they had to drag me out at seven in the morning. I didn't want to go home," Joe recalls, but he's not drinking now. In the interest of peak performance, "I'm on one of my annual get-clean campaigns," he says, thinking of the long road ahead. While they're already working on new songs (a dozen so far, beyond the seven post Hysteria B-side compositions), the Leps won't re-enter the studio until '89. Next time they won't take four years to finish. "We were well aware it was taking too long,', says Phil, "but on the other hand you can't release an album if you're not behind it. We weren't ready and we carried on until we were, until we thought it was great." Of course, there were extenuating circumstances: well documented producer problems and the car accident that claimed Rick Allen's left arm, but they brought the band closer together. "It got obsessive. We had to finish it," says Phil, and Steve adds, "It could have ground to a halt, but we're thankful it didn't."
Indeed. Hysteria rocketed into the top five, and by tour's end could eclipse the sextuple platinum Pyromania. Except for a brief January break, Def Leppard will tour straight through March, head to Europe for six weeks then resume their U.S. concert trip. A crowded road means more competition for fan dollars, but "We don't think about it because we honestly think we have the best show going," says Joe. "If people don't come to see it, it's their loss." He's absolutely right.