Def Leppard – ‘For One night Only’. Rocking The Leadmill Sheffield. Gig review

May 20, 2023 rocknews

“Good evening, Sheffield! Good evening the world!! Welcome to The Leadmill!!” are the first words shouted out by Def Leppard’s front man Joe Elliott to the packed crowd in the smallest venue the band have played in 15 years. Launching into the first song with their rendition of Sweet’s “Action” sets the scene for the rest of the night as the band raced through a range of songs old and new.

During the gig Joe Elliott commented that when they first started their musical career in ‘77, the Sheffield rockers could only have dreamed of playing in a venue such as The Leadmill. Since then, with their talent and good fortunes they have made it to play in some of the biggest stadiums in the world whilst collecting many awards and accolades on the way. Monday will see Def Leppard play again in Sheffield at Bramwell Lane before they play a series of gigs in Europe. The band will return to the UK in July to play London’s Wembley Stadium.

To get a ticket for tonight’s intimate and one off show you would have needed a fast finger to dial the ticket line number. You’d expect every Def Leppard gig in their hometown of Sheffield to sell out in minuets but with the maximum capacity of 850 The Leadmill allocation were gone in seconds. Tonight’s show is not only a warmup for the band, but it has also been an opportunity for them to show some support to local music venues as many are struggling, including The Leadmill, with the threat of closure. Def Leppard are generously donating the proceeds from the ticket sales from this special “One Night Only” gig to the charity Music Venue Trust who work hard helping to keep the doors open to the UK music venues. Check out their website and support them here (https://www.musicvenuetrust.com/)

The setlist chosen for the “One Night Only Gig” is a mixture of songs from many of their albums new and old. The first half of the set made up of songs the band don’t often play live. The second half having a few of the bands iconic songs to wet the crowd’s appetite for the big show in a few days’ time at the stadium down the road. Phil Collen played many a perfect solo during the songs the best of which was during “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak” which was followed up by Rick Allen’s drum solo in the same song.

Both got a round of rapturous applause from the crowd. Playing “Hysteria” brought the Def Leppard stadium feeling into the small venue. Encouraging the 850 strong crowd to raise their hands and clap along to the beat, Joe shouted out the “Whoa’s“ which the audience enthusiastically returned. With the gig coming to an end Leppard’s signature tune “Pour Some Sugar On Me” was played with the crowd raising the roof of The Leadmill as they sang along.

Having followed Def Leppard throughout their career and attended many of their concerts reminds me just how special it is to see Def Leppard in a venue as small as The Leadmill. It is one of those rear occasions that most fans can only dream of seeing. Witnessing tonight’s show it looked to me that Def Leppard had as much fun performing in the iconic venue as much as the fans who were watching them. Whilst the rest of the tour will be a spectacle worth seeing, particularly the Wembley Show, non will have the same feeling as tonight up close and personal gig.

Good luck on the tour guys can’t wait to see you again!!