DEF LEPPPARD At WEMBLEY STADIUM LONDON On THE WORLD TOUR 2023 (Show Report/Setlist)
Def Leppard another show on The World Tour 2023 last night in London, England with 17 songs performed.
The show took place at the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium.
The first full show in this city since December 2018.
The first appearance here since the BBC Piano Room show in May.
After many appearances at the "Arena" it was time for "The Stadium".
Wembley Stadium
Having played many times at Wembley Arena dating back to April 1988 the band finally played a headline show at Wembley Stadium.
Despite rumours of a show at the original stadium in early 1993 (which turned out to be the Don Valley show) this would be their first full performance here.
Starting in the sunshine at 8:45pm following the still yet-to-be-released cover of #Heroes# and a 5 minute countdown on the screens the show began.
Blasting the stadium, and probably all of London, with 'Take What You Want'. Now established at the ultimate opening song.
Diamond Star Debuts
The stadium was rocked with a bunch of old favourites in 'Let's Get Rocked', Animal', 'Foolin'' and 'Armageddon It.
Vivian receiving a massive ovation before 'Armageddon It' after Joe's usual introduction.
Then it was time for another London debut of a song from 'Diamond Star Halos' in K.I.C.K....'Kick'!.
Sounding awesome within a massive stadium and followed by two more classics in 'Love Bites' and 'Promises'.
With Phil getting his own home town introduction before it.
Semi-Acoustic Section
Despite the odd floor seating arrangement - barely the first third of the floor filled with seats and the rest totally empty - the atmosphere was electric within the stadium.
And the acoustic / semi-acoustic section began with the third and final 'Diamond Star Halos' debut.
Followed up by 'When Love & Hate Collide'.
A well received couple of songs but then it was time for a Rocket to take off.
Greatest Hits Ending
And it did as Rocket blasted off into the final stretch of greatest hits and fan favourites in this gigantic stadium.
So big it dwarfed the massive stage bringing back memories of many of the stadiums played on The Stadium Tour in 2022.
One of the shows highlights came soon enough with Rick's ending to 'Switch 625' and a thunderous ovation from the crowd as he gave the V Sign.
One of the loudest and longest witnessed in this country or elsewhere.
And in the blink of an eye they reached the end of 'Photograph' and the usual end of shows thank you's which also were greeted with some of the loudest cheers ever heard at a UK show (or at least since Sheffield in May).
All in all (and as expected) another great performance by the band as they near the end of the UK/European tour.
It would appear given how full the Bramall Lane show looked that they chose the right show to film for the upcoming CD/DVD/Blu-ray release.
Given the odd floor setup and more black curtains blocking off certain sections than most bands have to use here it might not have looked so good on a live film.
But the at least 45,000 plus fans did not care about this and enjoyed the first (and hopefully not the last) full headline Wembley Stadium show.
Of course if they had charged 45-60 pounds for floor eats and/or standing covering the whole pitch area (and not charged over 100 or more) they would have sold it out but that's a story for another time.
Motley Crue/Mammoth WVH
Wolfgang Van Halen kicked off the show early with his excellent band Mammoth WVH.
Making his second appearance here in 9 months, he and his band played a great set full of equally great songs and as expected some amazing guitar playing and singing by Wolfgang.
Motley Crue played a very well received 90 minute set including a newly added Beastie Boys cover and Tommy Lee's..."crowd interaction" moment....
Sadly many of their fans left after they closed with the usual 'Kickstart My Heart'.
17 Song Setlist
The same 17 song setlist played once more.
All three 'Diamond Star Halos' songs played in London for the first time.
Wembley History
The band first played at Wembley Arena in April 1988 for two nights on the Hysteria tour.
They returned to the arena in November 1996 on the Slang tour for another two night run.
A single night at the arena followed in October 1999 on the Euphoria tour.
Another arena show followed in June 2008 on the Sparkle Lounge tour.
The December 2011 show at the arena was also the final night of the Mirrorball tour.
Followed in December 2015 by the second to last show of the 2015 world tour.
The last Wembley Arena show in December 2018 also ended the 2018 world tour.
The original Wembley Stadium was played in April 1992 for The Freddie Mercury Tribute show before 72,500 fans (as referenced by Joe at the end).
Over 80,000 were played to before the September 2014 NFL International Series game at the new stadium.
Last night's show was the 12th overall performance at the arena and both stadiums since 1988.
The next Def Leppard show takes place in Lytham, England on 2nd July (a few hours ago in fact).
London, England 2023 Photos
Screenshots by dltourhistory.
Watch some Fan Videos from the show here.
Def Leppard - London, England 1st July 2023 Setlist
- 01 - Take What You Want
- 02 - Let's Get Rocked
- 03 - Animal
- 04 - Foolin'
- 05 - Armageddon It
- 06 - Kick<
- 07 - Love Bites
- 08 - Promises
- 09 - This Guitar (Semi-Acoustic)
- 10 - When Love & Hate Collide (Short Acoustic/Electric Version)
- 11 - Rocket (Single Version/Album Intro)
- 12 - Bringin' On The Heartbreak
- 13 - Switch 625 (instrumental)
- 14 - Hysteria (Extended Outro)
- 15 - Pour Some Sugar On Me
- 16 - Rock Of Ages
- 17 - Photograph
Joe Elliott - End Of Show Speech
"Wembley. London. United Kingdom!. Or wherever you have travelled from to be here tonight."
"We thank ya. We thank you for waiting. We thank you for coming. We thank you for having us."
"Good night!."
"Unbelievable. Thank you so much."
"Wembley 20th April 1992 we did about 15 minutes. We've waited 31 years to do this."
"Thanks for coming. Thanks for allowing us to do this."
"We love ya. Thank you."
"Good night. Take care."
"Till next time. And there will be a next time!."
"Do us a favour. Don't forget us and we won't forget you."
"Good night!."
Various Photos/Videos
- Def Leppard - London 2023 Show Page
- Def Leppard - Def Leppard The World Tour 2023
- Related News - 28th June 2023 - Thun Show Report
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