Def Leppard Atomic Mess News

Rick Allen knows the healing power of drums and came to share it in Conejo Valley on Sunday afternoon.

Allen's nonprofit organization, Raven Drum Foundation, sponsored a drum circle at Chumash Interpretive Center in Thousand Oaks that was attended by about 70 people.

The drummer from rock group Def Leppard, Allen lost his left arm after his Corvette rolled over in 1984. He resumed his career by using electronic technology to adapt his drum kit to his needs and still plays with the group.

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Last month, Def Leppard celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first gig, which took place at Westfield School in the band's hometown of Sheffield, England.

The group has sold tens of millions of records with its fusion of pop and rock, and squashed it's own "it's better to burn out than fade away" adage by lasting the quarter century largely intact.

In fact, guitarist Phil Collen is downright excited to be on the road this summer, even though the group has been touring behind its latest disc, "X," for some time now.

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It's been a long while since British export Def Leppard has graced the Nutmeg State with a world-class arena tour.

Tonight at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, the band that created a new definition to the term "groupie" is returning to pay homage to their devoted New England fanbase, old and young alike. Their return also means that all those sleeveless Union Jack T-shirt and shredded acidwashed jeans might be coming out of hibernation, even if it is for one night only.

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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.

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In 1983, Def Leppard hit the big time and played Allentown for the first time.

Tuesday evening, the band opened the Allentown Fair for the third time, producing a two-hour set for a crowd of tame but responsive fans.

The band still has plenty of bravado to parade, with bassist Rick Savage's big hair and a busy smoke and lights show.

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Eighties rock icons Def Leppard proved that their music is the rock of ages Tuesday night at the Allentown Fairgrounds.

Playing for crowds of mothers, fathers, grandparents and children, the band — even though a little long in the tooth — eventually brought the crowd to a frothing intensity.

Opening with "Let it Rock" from the 1983 record "Pyromania," the hair metal icons burst on stage with a dizzying light show.

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"Long live rock 'n' roll." Those simple words from one of Def Leppard's most famous songs make up a motto the band has lived by for almost 26 years.

And rock 'n' roll certainly lived on at the Pepsi Arena Friday night. It didn't take an elaborate stage set or pyrotechnics. All it took was five guys performing their hearts out, just wanting to entertain the crowd.

Def Leppard opened with "Let it Go" from 1981's "High 'N' Dry," and the crowd responded. It was old favorites like "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)," "Make Love Like a Man," "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and "Foolin'" that kept the crowd on its feet.

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The phrase "Def Leppard" existed in young Joe Elliott's mind long before he ever had a band to attach it to. Little did he know that almost 25 years after he finally climbed on stage with such a well-monikered crew, Def Leppard — which helped launch the great wave of British heavy metal — would still be going strong in 2003.

Elliott and the Lepps leavened a hit-packed show at the Pepsi Arena on Friday with a brace of songs from the group's latest album, "X," and a few nods to heavy-rocking forbears.

Many of the tunes from "X" fit well within the band's catalog of sing-along chart-toppers. But the rules of radio have changed since the '80s, when bands like Leppard ruled the airwaves.

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Cool and Def Leppard have been mutually exclusive throughout much of the veteran British band's 22 years. During the summer of '83, Def Leppard's breakthrough album, "Pyromania," catapulted the band into rock's upper echelon, but you were asking for it if you wore Union Jack outwear, which members did onstage.

"Are we blowing it?" asked Elliott with a laugh. "We don't care. As long as our fans show up, we're quite content."

Q. How did you guys go from being uncool to kind of cool?

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This just in: Def Leppard doesn't consider itself to be a hard-rock band. The British veterans cite the melodic pop and textured arrangements favored by the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson rather than the high-decibel thunder of head bangers such as Metallica.

Lead singer Joe Elliott spends a good portion of arecent phone interview from a tour stop in Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott, center, doesn't think of his group as a metal band, but instead names several pop icons as influences. Quebec discussing all things not heavy metal.

He recalls watching Mott The Hoople, David Bowie (during his Ziggy Stardust period), Roxy Music and Sweet on television. Again, this is not the sort of nostalgia you expect from a hard-rock singer.

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The state fair grandstand pulsed with guilty pleasure Thursday night.

British band Def Leppard rocked as it's been rocking for 25 years.

And so the fans ate it up just as they have been since that first hit,"Photograph," hit America in April 1983.

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Joe Elliott is in the back of the bus conducting a phone interview. At times it's only every third word that comes through loud and clear as the band is bouncing along to Portland, Maine.

Def Leppard has been touring the United States for 20 years, through number one hits, tragic death, a life-altering crash and anti-"hair band" backlash.

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Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen had to work the hardest he ever had to in his young life when faced with a harrowing car wreck that took his left arm.

With support and time, Allen was able to return to the band after retraining himself on the drums.

Along the way, he received many letters, both of support and looking for support. There were others all over the world suffering the same way he had.

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Only a small elite group of bands can say they have made one of the greatest selling albums of all time, selling more than 16 million copies worldwide. Only a small number of bands could handle 23 years of touring, often only taking a year off to record new material and most bands would break apart before even coming close to the challenges faced by Def Leppard.

Def Leppard began in 1977, when lead singer Joe Elliott joined up with bassist Rick Savage, guitarist Pete Willis, and drummer Tony Kenning. After putting in a full days work the band would rehearse in an old spoon factory in Sheffield, England, honing their skills and forming the sound that would later make them international superstars.

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In July last year, Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen were holding court in a studio, telling a roomful of journalists that their new album, X, was made with an ear for the charts.

A year later, in advance of the band's Canadian tour, what does Collen say about the disc that was meant to find a place beside 1987's mammoth Hysteria in every home?

"Some you win and some you don't."

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