Def Leppard News - 39 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Start Debut UK Headline Tour In St. Albans

Friday, 5th April 2019

39 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Start Debut UK Headline Tour In St. Albans

On Through The Night 1980.

Def Leppard started their On Through The Night debut headline tour of the UK in St. Albans 39 years ago on this day in 1980.

The show took place at the City hall in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England on 5th April 1980.

The venue with a capacity of around 1,200 is located just over 24 miles north of London and is now known as the Alban Arena.

The 21-date tour promoted the first studio album which had been released on 14th March 1980 in the UK.

The album was preceded by the Hello America single which narrowly missed out on a Top 40 entry when it peaked at 45.

The band had warmed up for the tour and the album release by playing over 40 club shows in January/February from Aberdeen in Northern Scotland all the way down to Exeter in Southern England.

Fellow UK rock band Magnum were the main support act with local bands joining the tour in each city/town.

Three new songs were debuted on the tour. 'Lady Strange' which was released on the High 'n' Dry album, 'Medicine Man', an early version of 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)' and 'When The Rain Falls' which later became 'Let It Go' under the guidance of Mutt Lange.

They would return later in the year to play a short club tour in December and road test new material being written for 'High 'n' Dry'.

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