Simon RushworthIn 1993 Def Leppard performed a legendary hometown show inside a red hot Don Valley Stadium. Three decades down the line and South Yorkshire’s finest were back with a new stadium-sized set primed for Bramall Lane. Rushonrock editor Simon Rushworth was there for both…
I’m often asked why I chose to make Sheffield my home for three years after wrapping up school in the North East of England. Sure, the city’s university had a gold-plated reputation for world class education. As a budding sports journalist I’d marvelled at Sheffield’s hosting of 1991’s World Student Games — a commitment which included the construction of a slew of state-of-the-art venues (more on that later) — and the Steel City boasted two top flight football clubs at the time. Plus, I’ve always loved a tram… although the thrill of being based in the home of the futuristic Supertram swiftly wore off as the city centre became a permanent building site.
All of the above made Sheffield a deeply attractive prospect. In the interest of full transparency, I’d also been accepted into Broomhill halls of residence where the ratio of women to men was four to one. But the clincher? A band from Crookes who’d become my number one musical obsession after I caught Animal on ITV’s short-lived Top Of The Pops rival The Roxy in the summer of 1987. From the moment I learned Def Leppard hailed from Sheffield I knew it would be my home from home one day. I’d manifested it even before anyone knew that was a thing.
I’d stayed overnight when the Lepps played Sheffield Arena on the Seven Day Weekend Tour and couldn’t wait to get back. During Freshers’ Week 1992, while my fellow newbies drank themselves silly down West Street, I headed to a local museum housing an early iteration of Rick Allen’s drum kit. The day after I made the first of many (possibly hundreds) trips to Record Collector — the vinyl emporium where a teenage Joe Elliott tried to flog Leppard’s first single. After that I ticked off just about every hometown hostelry the band had talked about when referencing their early years in the city. I never did find the famous spoon factory…
But safe to say I felt like I truly belonged in Leppard’s town after just a few weeks walking in the shadows of my idols. And it mustn’t have been too long after I’d settled in Sheffield that news of a brand new show filtered through. The rumour was that Leppard were taking over Don Valley Stadium — home to the World Student Game athletics programme — in the summer of ’93 and they were bringing a few mates along for the ride. Sure enough The Star exclusively revealed a supporting cast of Thunder, Terrorvision and Ugly Kid Joe and the date was set for June 6.
Come the weekend of the show it was sweltering. I rocked up to the Don Valley sporting my trademark pale white hue and rolled in 12 hours later looking like I’d spent all day strapped to a sun bed. But what a gig. Let’s Get Rocked set the tone but a personal treat was Another Hit And Run — reintroduced to the set for the first time in five years. I might have been sweating, thirsty and badly burnt but it was the best fucking day of my life. By the time Photograph drifted off into the South Yorkshire night I began to wonder whether the Lepps would ever be that good again. Ever.
Turns out they were pretty special at Sweden Rock in 2015. And I was lucky to catch the lads up close and personal at their ‘secret’ club gig in Islington’s O2 Academy promoting Songs From The Sparkle Lounge a few years before that. In 2023 I squeezed into Sheffield’s Leadmill for what turned out to be the band’s vain attempt to keep the historic independent music venue alive. But the next best gig to Don Valley Stadium 1993 happened just four days later, half a mile down the road, at the home of Sheffield United.
That stunning example of hard rock’s consummate pros at their compelling best finally gets its long-awaited release on a plethora of formats this week. And it’s well worth a watch or a listen. How do I know? I was there.
I’d caught up with Elliott’s Down N Outz band mate Paul Guerin for a few frothy ones prior to kick off. Suitably oiled we headed to Bramall Lane in time to watch the Crüe — Paul joined the queue for the Golden Circle and I found my seat at the back of the stadium. The nerves had well and truly kicked in by the time Vince and the boys had raced through a back catalogue of familiar Sunset Strip sleaze.
Unlike Don Valley Stadium 30 years earlier Let’s Get Rocked was second up. Take What You Want, the opening track from 2022’s Diamond Star Halos, announced Elliott and co. but what we wanted were the hits. Every single one of them. And with the odd exception, a career-spanning set delivered.
Back to back versions of Love Bites, Promises, This Guitar and When Love And Hate Collide reminded the masses that for all their northern grit, Leppard remain at their very best rolling out radio friendly ballads. The mid set slackening of pace worked perfectly — ushering in another run of bombastic hits including Pour Some Sugar On Me, Rock Of Ages and, of course, Photograph.
With Pyromania, Hysteria and Adrenalize, the Lepps were always ahead of the game when it came to technological wizardry and pin-sharp production. Three decades down the line and what’s available within the world’s biggest stadia and arenas is finally a match for Sheffield’s trailblazing rockers. Don Valley Stadium was a dream show just a year after I upped sticks and landed in Sheffield — Bramall Lane was living the dream. Nothing will ever beat the experience of a Def Leppard gig in their home town. See you at the Utilita Arena on June 30…
Diamond Star Heroes Live From Sheffield is available from November 21 on Blu-Ray, CD, vinyl and 4K UHD.
2023 band images by Ryan Sebastyan