Def Leppard are the best live band you’ll see in Perth this decade

Def Leppard’s live show is one of excess. I’m not talking the cliched rock star nonsense that usually passes as excess: groupies, drinking, over wrought rock moves perfected in front of bedroom mirrors. I’m talking about their actual performances, their profoundly proficient playing, the way they lock together like a Voltron and make the speaker systems soar.

This is a band where the drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a tragic car accident, then simply custom-built a kit so he could play the band’s insanely complicated drum parts with one arm, a series of foot-pedal triggers, and a slightly rearranged set-up. He is known as The Thunder God, and with very good reason!

This is a band who had the massive 1983 album Pyromania, which sold over ten million copies in America alone and spawned four massive singles, then followed it up with the even-more successful monolith Hysteria: which sold 25 million copies, scoring seven hit singles from the same album.

There’s no way around it; Def Leppard will be the best band you see in Perth this decade.

This is a band who have been touring relentlessly for 41 years, and since 1992 with the same solid lineup.

This is a band whose guitarist Vivian Campbell was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, yet refused to miss any shows. He posted an open letter to his fans, which read in part: “Despite cancer and chemo, me and my new aerodynamic hairstyle (read: no hair) are going on tour this summer with the band and I don’t want anyone to be so shocked by my new look that they ask for a refund.”

Below is a series of fan-shot videos of a recent gig in Hartford, Connecticut. The footage is shot from the audience, as fan-uploaded videos tend to be, but there’s no mistaking the electric energy in the room. The band are firing on all cylinders, the audience is hyped to the extreme, and this isn’t vintage ’80s Def Leppard – this happened a few months ago.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBvnnsm1pE_KmSyZHRobvKYk4Fqu_f38v

Def Leppard are playing Perth Arena on November 2. Tickets are available via Live Nation.

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