http://www.huntingtonnews.net/local/woolum_deflepp03.htm

July 31, 2003

Def Leppard Rocks Fans of All Ages at Big Sandy Arena
By Brandon Woolum

A career of over 20 years already in the bag and there's no sign of stopping for
80's hard rockers Def Leppard. The boy's proved to Huntington that they can
still rock the house Wednesday night at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena.

In front of a crowd of a few thousand the band performed hits dating all the way
back to 1980, including their first big hit "Bringing on the Heartbreak". The
band belted out a 22 song set that lasted a little over two hours featuring
songs from throughout their 23 year long career.

"It was great to hear the old stuff and the new stuff all in one night," said
Jill Spencer. " These guys are simply amazing. There's nothing more to say--just
amazing.

One of the songs from the band's newest album "X", which stands for the roman
numeral 10, was "Long, Long Way to Go", in which singer Joe Elliot dedicated it
to the American and British troops in Iraq. The slow number was the first of a
few that drew the lighters out of the pockets of the thousands in attendance.
The conclusion of the song drew large amounts of cheers and applause.

"Your getting a little bit of everything here tonight Huntington," said lead
singer Joe Elliot, seconds after performing the song.

This concert was definitely something that the Big Sandy Superstore Arena has
been missing for quite a while. The show was like none other that the Arena has
seen in recent years. Even with rock legends, Lynyrd Skynyrd performing last
summer, it still was nothing comparable. This show boosted fans of several
generations. In some cases there was the grand father, the dad and his child.
Also it seemed the only member of Def Leppard who stayed in the same part of the
stage more than a second was drummer, Rick Allen. With the constant movement
from Elliot and his 3 fellow members who were on the main portion of the stage
and the incredible lightening display it made for a one of a kind concert
experience.

Although these guys are getting older they're still heartthrobs to ladies
anywhere from age 13 and up. Guitarist Phil Collen and Viv Campbell both removed
their shirts during the band's performance to some heavy cheers from the female
crowd.

"He's so hot!," said Elizabeth Smith, referring to Collen who was on side of the
stage closet too her. "And he even winked at me."

After about 35 minutes worth of Leppard's signature sounding sounds it was time
for the band to take a breather. Lead singer Joe Elliot then pulled out the
acoustic guitar and plugged it up. He looked out into the crowd, put his hand to
his ear and then spoke.

"I guess it would be totally pathetic of me to do this," said Elliot as he began
to play and sing John Denver's "County Roads". "But I don't know the words."

Instead of playing the John Denver song that many fans wanted to hear, he stated
that the band would be traveling to New York next and that he would like to be
able to tell the crowd there that Huntington, West Virginia was the best
audience so far on the tour. The comment got loud cheers and the band began to
play their hit song "Two Steps Behind", while the crowd song along loudly with
the chorus.1

"Oh yea (gives thumbs up), nice one --that'll work," said Elliot following the
song.

Next up it was time for a shift back to the 21st century once again with their
newest single, "Now", off their 2002 release "X". The crowd did not seem to be
into this song as much as some of the older stuff that they recognized more.
However, the 21st century phase was short lived and it was time to get the Big
Sandy Superstore Arena back into the 80's era. Next on the bands set list was
it's classic hit "Photograph". This received incredible cheers as the crowd song
along and pumped their fist to the beat.

This time Def Leppard was done with the new stuff for the evening and was
prepared to finish the show off with it's classic hits. "Pour Some Sugar On Me"
was the next hit performed by the band, which received some of the loudest
cheers of the evening. During drum breaks for this song the crowd noise was
deafening. After the band finished up with the song, Elliot took a small break
to talk to the crowd for a moment. During his little talk a young woman in the
front row threw her under garment onto the stage. He picked it up and gave it
back to her. This started a chain reaction with a few women in the front row,
and Elliot began to be flooded by West Virginia women's under garments.

Once he got the clothing moved out of the way he talked about drummer Rick
Allen, who only has one arm. Allen lost the arm in a car accident in the early
80's. Elliot described Allen as the quiet band member, saying that every band
has one and Allen is the one for Def Leppard. He said that Allen would be
putting back his shyness and introducing the next song. Moments later the stage
lights all focused on Allen who played the drum solo to start off the 80's
classic "Rock of Ages". The crowd cheered Allen on throughout the song. After
the song was over Elliot thanked everyone for coming and the band exited the
stage.

But it had taken Huntington quite a while to get Def Leppard and the Tri-State
fans we're ready to let them go just yet. The crowd stomped in the stands
rapidly while chanting "one more". After a couple minutes the guy's came back
out onto the stage and performed two more numbers for the Huntington rockers,
finishing up with "Lets Get Rocked".

"We just got one more thing to ask of you people, " said Elliot following the
first encore song. "Do you wanna get rocked?"

Once he had asked the signature question that starts the song off the crowd went
nuts and never stopped. The floor and stands looked like something you would see
on American Band Stand with all the couples dancing and pumping their fist to
the beat. Once the song was over the band stayed on stage for nearly 5 minutes
greeting fans in the front rows and saying their good byes to Huntington. Singer
Joe Elliot promised the crowd that this was not the last time they would see Def
Leppard.