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Def Leppard stops at Wallingford
August 28, 2003 

Def Leppard is a ridiculous name for a rock band, when you think about it.

Fortunately, the band more than compensated with some of the most popular
pop-metal tunes of the '80s - "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Rock of Ages,"
"Bringin' on the Heartache" (recently resurrected by Mariah Carey, of all
people) and "Love Bites," to name just a few.

Def Leppard, originally called Deaf Leopard, formed in Sheffield, England,
in the late '70s. The band members pooled the influences of Mott the
Hoople, Queen and Led Zeppelin and recorded a pair of albums that created
a buzz in the British music press. The album "Pyromania" in 1983 launched
them as international stars, a status that nearly fizzled out when drummer
Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident New Year's Eve in 1984. 

Despite the setback, the band persevered. Allen learned to play a drum kit
augmented with electronic triggers and Def Leppard returned in 1987 with
"Hysteria," which yielded six monster hits that cracked the American Top
20.

Changes in popular music obscured the band's subsequent albums, but Def
Leppard has never really faded away. The group is on the road this summer,
including a stop tonight at careerbuilder.com Oakdale Theatre in
Wallingford. Tickets are $49 and $39 for the 7:30 p.m. show. Information:
203-265-1501. 

Copyright © 2003 by The Hartford Courant