Def Leppard

Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, KS - Thursday, October 20, 1988

Probable Setlist:

Stagefright
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
Women
Too Late For Love
Hysteria
Steve Clark guitar solo
Gods of War
Die Hard the Hunter
Bringin' on the Heartbreak
Foolin'
Animal
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Phil Collen guitar solo
Rock of Ages

Encore:
Love Bites
Photograph
Supported by: L.A. Guns


Is there anyway else to begin than my first concert?

Wow, it’s been almost 20 years. That’s pretty amazing considering I was only thirteen years old. You’ll have to forgive me if some of the details slip my mind. I am getting old you realize.

First of all, this wasn’t just my first concert. This was the first concert of any significance to come through my hometown in it’s entire history. Not only that, it was the biggest cultural event since the Harlem Globetrotters beat the Washington Generals in Ahearn Fieldhouse some years before. And I don’t think I’m exaggerating a bit when I say that Def Leppard in 1988 was the biggest show on the entire planet! Can you imagine how excited we all were when the word spread around town the Def Leppard was coming to Manhattan, KS? Electrifying doesn’t even come to describe it.

Surprisingly, I didn’t have much trouble getting permission to go. So, Travis and I pooled our money and gave it to my brother to get us some tickets. It’s hard to imagine in this in the age of Ticketmaster, but Scott graciously went and stood in line at the Coliseum all morning to buy tickets. Of course he came back with something in the nosebleed section for us while he picked up some great seats near the floor for himself and his friends. He was seventeen, and of course he wasn’t going to let us sit near him.

But to be honest, no seat was a bad seat as long as you had one in Bramlage that night. Travis, myself, and I’m not mistaken, Jeff Norvell, made our way with eager anticipation through the concourse, past the merchandise stand (how cool was that to see my first overpriced authentic concert t-shirts), into the Coliseum, and to our seats. And then, the lights went out …

And of course I learned that you always have to sit through and opening act before you get the real deal. For us that night was L.A. Guns (who, believe it or not are responsible for the Guns in Guns ‘N Roses). They’ve never been my favorite band, but I’m sure I still thought it was really cool. I can’t say I remember much. I only knew one song then, and I only know one of their songs now.

Now that my appetite had been wetted, we waited again for the headliners. And then the lights went out again …

Okay, so what if Def Leppard is looked on as kinda wimpy nowadays. Back in ’88 no one could challenge there heavy metal supremacy. Some of their early work is almost interchangeable with early Iron Maiden. And ‘Pyromania’ brought metal to the masses like no other hard rock album before. So, when Bramlage erupted with the pounding riff to “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” you can imagine the thrill the 13,000 fans were feeling. I’ve loved that song since grade school; back when I had a Def Leppard shirt and wore it to the third grade (by the way, it was also one of those horrible white shirts with dark half-sleeved things like my Iron Maiden shirt Scott bought me).

It was quite a concert, believe me. They famously played “in the round”, which is to say, their stage was located at center court with the audience seated a full 360 degrees around the band. They had lots of nifty smoke and lasers. Of course they were all dressed in swanky ripped jeans and flowing long blond hair that defined 1988. If you ever saw the video to “Pour Some Sugar on Me” (and how could you not, it was number one on Dial-MTV for an eternity) then you know what I mean.

Now, I’ll be honest, I can’t recall a lot of the songs they played that night. Apart from the set opener I vividly recall “Bringing on the Heartbreak”, “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, “Foolin’”, “Rock of Ages”, one of the guitar solos, “Love Bites”, and “Photograph”. I also remember it being a blast. What a night!

The next day at school was quite a sight to see as well. I’d bet three-quarters of the student body were wearing a Def Leppard t-shirt (or L.A. Guns for those few renegades). That’s quite an accomplishment, considering everyone was either in seventh or eighth grade. Even John Stamey, a guy who has never had any interest whatsoever in attending a rock concert once said, “I was really jealous that day because I didn’t see Def Leppard”.

One last thing I do remember was when singer Joe Elliot said something along of the lines of, “Manhattan, KS, you have been incredible. We should come here more often. We will be back, that’s a promise”. Sure enough, years later when they were on tour for the ‘Adrenalize’ album they came through town. But by September 1992 the magic was gone, and so was the audience (and so was I).

Today I own a few Def Leppard CDs. I laugh when Paula and I compare our musical tastes. I like ‘High ‘N Dry’, she likes ‘Hysteria’, we both meet in the middle and say ‘Pyromania’ is decent. At least we agree on something.


Misc. Notes:

This was at the end of the incredibly long 'Hysteria' tour, which lasted from August 1987 to October 1988.

Steve Clark preformed his final show with Def Leppard one week later in Tacoma, WA. He died in January 1991.