Thursday, 12th November 2020
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8 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD's Las Vegas VIVA! HYSTERIA Residency Announced

Def Leppard 2013. Def Leppard 2012/2013

Def Leppard announced their VIVA! Hysteria residency in Las Vegas, NV eight years ago on this in 2012.

Having been talked about by Vivian Campbell since August 2012 (and hinted at by Joe in April), the first nine shows were confirmed on 12th November 2012.

A further two dates were added on 29th January 2013.

The 11 date VIVA! Hysteria residency took place from 22nd March to 13th April at The Joint in Las Vegas, NV.

The band would play the classic 'Hysteria' album in its entirety and in sequence for the very first time. Many of the songs being played for the first time in 25 years since the original 'Hysteria' album tour of 1987/1988.

They opened for themselves each night with a different setlist of rarely played songs as spoof cover band 'Ded Flatbird'. Each band member taking on a different name based on classic Rolling Stone magazine front covers hanging in the venue dressing room.

The event kicked off with 'Ded Flatbird' playing 'Good Morning Freedom' live for the first time since 1980.

The show was recorded and filmed or a live 2CD and DVD package that was released in October 2013.

It featured the full 'Hysteria' show, encore and two 'Ded Flatbird' sets. Before this the film was given a limited release in cinemas around the world in September 2013.

Read the story of the opening night show again.


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Def Leppard 2013.

VIVA! Hysteria Announcement - Press Release

Def Leppard will play its multiplatinum 1987 album Hysteria in its entirety for Viva Hysteria!, which will begin March 22 at The Joint at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The band's stay follows Hard Rock residencies from Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses.

"We're very happy to be part of what I call the first wave of rockers to take Vegas back from the lounge singers — Wayne Newton and his type," says Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott.

The nine-show residency, the start of which coincides with the first weekend of NCAA basketball's March Madness, also will feature encores highlighting other material from the group's 35-year career.

Def Leppard 2013.

Hysteria, which includes hits Pour Some Sugar on Me, Animal and Love Bites, has sold more than 12 million copies in the USA and more than 20 million worldwide. The shows will mark the first time the band has played one of its albums live from start to finish.

"In Las Vegas, you have to give people something they can't see anywhere else," says Bobby Reynolds, vice president of booking at AEG Live.

Hysteria yielded seven singles in the USA, and the band has cherry-picked the album's material for its live shows for years. Set lists for the group's 2012 North American tour, for example, typically included eight of the album's 12 songs. Some tracks inevitably were omitted in favor of other areas of the group's catalog.

Def Leppard 2013. Screenshot

"Things like Run Riot, Don't Shoot Shotgun and Love and Affection got left by the wayside because of the popularity of other songs that, to be frank, if you don't play them live, you don't get out of the building alive," Elliott says. "The oddest thing is going to be doing Sugar fifth. In many respects, it's like the Troggs opening with Wild Thing."

Tickets go on sale Friday and start at $49.50, with floor seats going for $125. The Joint seats 2,950. "It's small, it's intimate, but it's not tiny like CBGB's, so we can still put on a good show," Elliott says. "The furthest seat from us is 155 feet."

Elliott says the band plans to use its days off between shows to write material for its next album.

"The downtime will not go to waste," he says. "Two of the guys in the band live in Dublin and the other three live in California. This is a great opportunity for a band that has decided to live all over the world to be in one room at one time, to look each other in the eyes and to come up with ideas."


Def Leppard 2013.

Read the full 'VIVA! Hysteria' residency opening night story in the Lep History section.

This section will be expanded to include all major historical events and releases.




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