Def Leppard Atomic Mess News

Def Leppard has become a fixture on the touring circuit over the last few summers, and this year is no different. The classic rock group plans to go out on the road again, this time with Poison and Cheap Trick.

But frontman Joe Elliott says the tour, which kicks off June 23 in Camden, N.J., could be the last chance for fans to catch them for a while.

"This will be our fifth year in a row where we've toured the summer in the states, and I seriously do think that it's time for us to not do it next year, because I'm a firm believer in you don't want to do it too much – people start taking you for granted," Elliott said in an interview Wednesday.

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For the first time in six years, Def Leppard are hitting the road armed with new tunes, and guitarist Phil Collen is pragmatic about how people treat new work from a veteran band. "You'd really like to go out there and play all your new shit off the new record, but you can't do that, because they'd walk out," he says. "It's like when you go and see the Stones and Keith Richards starts doing a couple of songs, and everyone goes and buys a T-shirt."

The tour, which kicks off this week, will serve to warm up audiences for the forthcoming Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, the band's tenth studio album. Collen acknowledges that the album's title – derived from the band's backstage rehearsal area, where the songs were hashed out – doesn't quite have the pop of Pyromania or Hysteria, but it gets the job done. "[The title is] not very rock & roll, but for some reason, we don't really care anymore about that. 'Oh, it has to be cool, this has to be a strong title.' Fuck it. This is very relevant for what it is, and that's why we've done it."

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The first tour dates for 2008 have been announced. They are as follows:

• 5/21 -Sandness, Norway – Classic Rock Festival
• 5/23 -Halden, Norway – Fredriksten Festning
• 5/24 – Trondheim, Norway – Market Place
• 6/6 – Solvesborg, Sweeden – Sweeden Rock Festival
• 6/8 – Kalingrad, Russia – City Airport
• 6/14 – Middlefart, Denmark – Rock Under Bridge Festival

I've finalized and archived the listing of the 2007 Downstage Thrust tour dates to match the reality of what dates happened and didn't happen. There is no information available for any possible 2008 dates at this time.

This is an old article from earlier this year regarding the upcoming summer tour:

The summer concert season just got a little more hot and sticky sweet.

Def Leppard, which sold more albums in the 1980s than any other rock group, is the latest blockbuster name added to the lineup for Rogers Sarnia Bayfest. The English pop-metal band will headline the concert July 21 in Sarnia's Centennial Park.

Tickets for Def Leppard – along with the previously announced Aerosmith show on July 19 and three-day passes to the festival – go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

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After a long hiatus due to many busy events in my personal life, I've started posting updates again. First thing is listing the tour dates for the 2007 Yeah! tour, including venue information and supporting acts.

I finally added the tour dates for the early June European festival round, and also added new tour dates for the September continuation of the United States leg of the Yeah! tour.

Some tour dates for the summer of 2006 have been announced and posted. Some extra dates in which Def Leppard will be performing as part of a musical festival are missing and will be added soon.

Def Leppard will be playing at the Sweden Rock music festival. The festival is Sölvesborg, Sweden and takes place on June 8-10, 2006. Among the other bands playing are Queensryche, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Deep Purple, Porcupine Tree, and The Sweet.

Def Leppard and Journey will be touring together in 2006. The length of the tour and other details regarding Journey's presence hasn't been made official yet. But look for dates starting about June 3, 2006.

New October and November 2005 dates for the Rock Of Ages tour have been announced.

New Canadian dates for the Rock Of Ages tour have been announced. These shows feature The Tea Party opening for Def Leppard.

More dates for the 2005 Rock Of Ages tour have been announced. These shows feature Tesla opening for Def Leppard.

New dates for the 2005 Rock Of Ages ballpark tour with Bryan Adams have been announced.

No tour dates have been announced in support of the upcoming Best Of album. Expect them soon, however.