http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/local/6060490.htm Posted on Wed, Jun. 11, 2003 A good vintage Def Leppard fans bring back the '80s By Heather Svokos HERALD-LEADER POP CULTURE WRITER In their matching canary-yellow windbreakers and black trousers, LeAnn Arnold and Helene Howard might look like two mild-mannered Rupp Arena ushers working last night's Def Leppard show. But look at Helene a little closer, as she helps leather-trousered patrons find their seats. As the pre-show music thunders, her head swivels to and fro on her neck. And so does LeAnn's. A dead giveaway. Back in the day, these gals were headbanging Def Leppard fans. They still are. What does a Def Leppard crowd look like today, they are asked. "Us!" LeAnn laughs. "The '80s. You're lookin' at the '80s." "We refuse to give up the '80s," says Helene, who also teaches school. Back in the day, when they went to Def Leppard shows, it was all about ... "Big hair, leather, mini-skirts ..." says LeAnn. "Bustiers -- as little as possible," Helene continues. LeAnn: "Big belts, as big as possible. And you never got ready without a big can of AquaNet." If LeAnn and Helene had been civilians at last night's concert, they say they'd have dressed like "those girls over there," in the front row. Those girls were Jennifer Arnold and Karen McCrary, both 38, and both giddy about their proximity to the stage. Jennifer, from Virginia, was decked out in a sheer pink, V-cut top and black spandex skort; Karen, a Tennessean, had on a white crochet midriff-baring top and a denim mini-skirt. "Just trying to grab that youth back, I guess," Jennifer said. The pair fit the mold of the typical Def Leppard fan: 30- to 40-something, white and noticeably female. But that's not to discount the occasional kid with a purple mohawk, or the dude in the Slipknot T-shirt, or 18-year-old Seth Monegue and 15-year-old Patrick Brown, two skinny guys in black Def Leppard concert T's. "We like older music," Seth says. "Yeah, like '80s stuff," Patrick nods. Seth got into Def Leppard by downloading their music off the Internet. Patrick turned on to them after watching VH1's Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story, a dramatization of the band's Behind the Music-ready rise, fall and rise. "It really interested me. I'm a drummer myself, and I just thought it was amazing that they continued to go on," Patrick said, referring to drummer Rick Allen losing his left arm in an accident in 1984. "I had to check them out after that." Eleven-year-old fan Kathy Brooks -- there with her mom, Darla -- has an interesting connection to the band's music. Says Mom: "We think she was conceived the night her dad and I were listening to a Def Leppard tape." Mother and daughter both sported tour shirts -- Mom's was from the 1992 Adrenalized tour, but Kathy's was vintage, from 1982. Said Darla: "I told her, 'You gotta take care of this shirt -- it's older than you are.'" Sande Denton, with her shock of dark, feathered hair, proudly showed off another period item: the Def Leppard jeans. You know the ones: bleached-out Levis with the symmetrical accordion rips down each leg. "My Pour Some Sugar on Me jeans!" laughed Sande, 43, of Mount Sterling. Her pal Milly Wills, 46, piped in. "She's had 'em for 20 years, I promise." Also in abundance: vintage hairstyles like Mike Crabtree's. The 38-year-old Bank One credit specialist from Louisville was on his 14th Def Leppard show -- his first was in 1983. Crabtree says he's had the same long brown locks since then. "Yeah, can't you tell?" jokes his sister, Christel Scholtz. "They try to call it a mullet," he says, giving you the impression he doesn't agree but doesn't much care. Plain old short-haired Mike Reynolds, 45, explained the band's appeal. "They've been through a lot," he said. "The drummer lost his arm, the guitar player overdosed and died. And they still keep holdin' on." And, no matter how long, how pouffy the hair, or how tight the spandex, so do the fans. Reach Heather Svokos at (859) 231-3238 or hsvokos@herald-leader.com.