http://www.billingsgazette.com/enjoybillings.php?display=rednews/2005/08/26/build/enjoybillings/32-leppard.inc

It's good that Leppard didn't change its spots

By ROSS RAIHALA
Knight Ridder News 

While Def Leppard's days as mainstream superstars have passed, they remain one
of the most durable of the '80s metal groups.

Despite some high-profile tragedies in the group - drummer Rick Allen losing an
arm, guitarist Steve Clark losing his life - they've remained together for 25
years.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the band's longevity is its trashy, infectious
singles, such as "Pour Some Sugar on Me,"

The band's most recent disc, "Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection," surveys
Def Leppard's entire career.

"That's what this tour is, a celebration of our 25 years," said Def Leppard
frontman Joe Elliott. "… We concentrate on the hits, the first time we've done
that on tour. We have to drop some of them (for time), but that's a great
position to be in. It's like a football coach who has a team where everyone is
fit and ready to play."

The only new material the band is playing on the tour is drawn from "Yeah," an
all-covers disc due for release this fall. The songs the band chose all played a
part in shaping Def Leppard's sound.

"We wanted to show people, absolutely and as a matter of fact, where we came
from," Elliott said. "We wanted to put to bed the idea that we were weaned on
Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Those were the bands our older brothers listened
to. Our true love was always the three-minute pop song."

"Yeah" includes covers from David Bowie, ELO, Badfinger, T-Rex, Thin Lizzy, the
Faces and Roxy Music.

"A lot of these bands were huge in Britain but never really made it big in the
States," Elliott said. "They've got short solos and big, hooky choruses. And
they're all British artists, except for Blondie.

"Our only rule was that everything had to come from before we signed our first
record deal. The Blondie song ('Hanging on the Telephone') is the most modern
one on there. Most of it ended up being from between 1970 and 1973."

Def Leppard's current tour is bringing the band to minor league baseball
stadiums, where they're playing in the open air, as well as venues such as
MetraPark in Billings. Elliott said he preferred the freedom of outdoor shows.

"I saw Radiohead at a similar gig in 1998," he said. "It was 42,000 people on
the longest day of the year, and it just chucked down with rain. But people were
still grooving and sliding up and down in the mud.

"When you're outdoors, people behave more loosely. They feel like they're not
being watched over by all those uniformed guys. That's when you start seeing
chicks on their boyfriends' shoulders.

"I really do like it. But I've got to say, there's nothing like opening your
mouth for a long scream and swallowing a moth. And, trust me, that happens to
everybody from me to Bob Dylan."

If you go
The hard-rock band Def Leppard will play in MetraPark Arena on Wednesday.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $42 and $32, and some service fees
may apply. Call 256-2422.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.