Thursday, 2nd January 2020
Prev  |  Next

JOE ELLIOTT Comments On DEF LEPPARD's 1980 FRESNO Show Video Footage

Def Leppard 1980. Def Leppard Fresno 1980

Def Leppard played their second American concert in May 1980 and Joe Elliott commented on the rare online video footage last September.

The show took place at Warnors Theatre in Fresno, CA on 21st May 1980.

It was the second concert of the band's debut tour of America and played as support to Pat Travers.

The full show was actually uploaded in May 2019. This version was also the full performance at just under 42 minutes long in two parts.

This 29 minute video posted earlier this week is not the full version but exactly the same video source as the one posted in May 2019 just ahead of the 39th anniversary

Joe talked about this footage briefly with Eddie Trunk in September 2019. Read their full conversation about this show below.

View all video footage posted from this show over the years via the playlist linked below. The full Pat Travers headline show has also now been added.

As mentioned the only live footage of the early line up of the band to ever surface with no other "live" footage existing of the Pete Willis/Steve Clark era from 1978 to 1981.

Outside of the unreleased 1979 videos (although one of those is now on iTunes, 'Rock Brigade', and more may be released in the 2020 Vision series) and the 'High 'n' Dry' videos themselves.

The setlist is shown below and if you collect audience recordings you will know there have been two versions in circulation for years.

Unlike those this is actually live and the only live footage ever seen of the band performing tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 11.

Watch both parts which last for 19 and 22 minutes via the YouTube playlist link.

It also includes one of the previous postings. The full audio only version has been deleted from YT since May 2019.

The band lineup at the time featured both original guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis.


Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).


Def Leppard 1980. Def Leppard Fresno 1980

Def Leppard Fresno, CA - 21st May 1980 Setlist

  • 00 - Album Intro
  • 01 - When The Walls Came Tumblin' Down
  • 02 - It Could Be You
  • 03 - Hello America
  • 04 - Satellite
  • 05 - Lady Strange
  • 06 - Rock Brigade
  • 07 - Answer To The Master
  • 08 - It Don't Matter
  • 09 - Getcha Rocks Off
  • 10 - Wasted

  • 11 - Ride Into The Sun

Def Leppard 2019. Screenshot

Trunk Nation - Joe Elliott September 2019 Interview Quotes

Fresno 1980 Show/Setlists

Joe Elliott - "In fact you can tell me better than most there's a guy just put the Fresno show up on YouTube."

Eddie Trunk = "Oh there's a lot of stuff coming out from that city. There was Van Halen."

Joe Elliott - "It was only our second ever gig we did. We started at Santa Monica Civic on the 20th. So this would have been 21st or 22nd May 1980. And we were playing Lady Strange which we hadn't recorded, but we'd written. So there had been a couple of songs that we dropped off because maybe as an opening act for Pat Travers we thought The Overture at seven minutes and a bit poncy Prog like Rush was gonna be a bit of overkill for that kind of crowd. So we probably dropped that and threw maybe Ride Into The Sun off the EP and a new song in instead."

Joe Elliott - "I must watch that thing I've seen ten minutes of it. It doesn't look too bad actually."

Eddie Trunk"I don't know who's doing that, but there's this guy for people that don't know what Joe's talking about. On YouTube and it just says Fresno Media Restoration across the front or something. But a venue called Selland Arena in Fresno and so far he has posted. It's single camera footage, but it looks and sounds amazing. And he's posted Van Halen opening for Sabbath. He posted UFO. Who I don't know if there were headlining or playing with... but the Obsession tour with Schenker. And I didn't know he posted something of you guys."

Joe Elliott - "Our thing has been kinda of floating around for about two or three years. Yeah it's hilarious 'cause there's like one spotlight and it's on me all night. Even during the guitar solos. I'm watching it like going 'Ooh come on earn your money'. But what gets me is like you think back to 1980. How do you sneak something this big, you know. It would have been the size of a proper TV camera from those days."

Joe Elliott - "How do you get...and then tape it to the balcony or whatever he did. And nobody goes 'Excuse me Sir you can't do that'. I guess he owned the venue."

Eddie Trunk"But in the Van Halen one at the end when they're done playing. The audience stands up and he yells at the guy in front of him to sit down. You hear it over the microphone like 'Sit down sit down!'. They're applauding 'cause Van Halen was so mind blowing at that time of course. And he's worried about his camera, but you know it's funny you think about back to those days whether we were kids bootlegging stuff. Sneaking cameras in or recorders or whatever. In retrospect when you have something like YouTube and you can get a peak into something like that from 40 years ago. It's so cool even if it's not the best footage. And even if somebody's drifting in and out. it's just so cool. It puts me so much into my childhood at that time and place."

Joe Elliott - "Depends what kind of haircut you've got at the time. Or if you're wearing leggings. Or you've got a perm or a mullet. Then it's not so cool. But I love it. You have to respect it from a fans point of view. I would maybe look at a Kinks or The Stones or The Who. And Townshend might go 'Oh my god what am I wearing?'. I'd look at it and go 'It looks awesome!'. You know 'cause we can't. none of us should actually really judge our fashion sense from back then 'cause nobody laughed at the time. So it must have been cool. It just became uncool. Mullets will come back I guarantee it!."


View all the Fan Videos available so far on this YouTube playlist.

Def Leppard Fan Videos 1980.

Photos and reviews from any past tour can be submitted - Here


Related News - JOE ELLIOTT Gobsmacked By DEF LEPPARD's Stadium Tour Ticket Sales/More Dates Coming

Related News - JOE ELLIOTT Says DEF LEPPARD's Stadium Tour 2020 Production Will Be Mind-Blowing

Related News - DEF LEPPARD Expand The Stadium Tour 2020 With 7 New Dates In June/July

Related News - DEF LEPPARD Confirmed To Play DOMINATION MEXICO Festival In May 2020

Related News - DEF LEPPARD On Residency DVD/Live Album/New Music (Press Conference Transcript)

Related News - DEF LEPPARD The Stadium Tour 2020 Press Conference (More Photos)


share this story:





get def leppard news

Stay in touch with the latest updates.


explore def leppard tour history
All News
Tour News
Album News
All Tours