The Slang World Tour was a worldwide
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
by English hard rock band
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals) ...
in support of their album ''
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and usage (language), linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of p ...
'', which was released in May 1996. Although ''Slang'' was the first Def Leppard album to feature new material with guitarist
Vivian Campbell, this was his second tour with the band. Campbell joined Def Leppard just prior to their
Adrenalize World Tour
The Adrenalize World Tour – also known as the Adrenalize "Seven Day Weekend" Tour – was a concert tour by British hard rock band Def Leppard to support the ''Adrenalize'' album, released in March 1992. It was their first tour without guitari ...
in 1992.
Musically, ''Slang'' was considered a radical departure from the band's signature sound of highly polished 1980s hard rock. Introspective songwriting, minimal studio production and
Rick Allen's return to acoustic drums resulted in a more raw and organic sound. In a 2016 interview, Vivian Campbell reflected on the influence that 1990s
grunge era bands such as
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Ya ...
had on the band's songwriting.
Concert production was also a radical departure from previous tours. The Slang World Tour introduced a completely revamped concert stage design. This was the first Def Leppard tour since the early 1980s to only employ "end stage" production design. Previous tours (Hysteria World Tour, Adrenalize World Tour) often employed "in the round" stage design.
Rather than getting a 360-degree view of the band's performance with "in-the-round" staging, the "end stage" format created an atmosphere where all spectators faced the performance from one side. The new simplified configuration consisted of a rectangular stage with a wall of Marshall amplifiers positioned on each side of Rick Allen's drum kit. Also, in contrast to previous tours, the Slang World Tour featured a minimalist light show without laser effects.
[Def Leppard Slang "None More Black" Tour Itinerary (13 August–September 21). Tour Books, Ink: San Francisco, CA 1996.]
Opening acts
*
Tripping Daisy
*
Terrorvision
Set list
Wings Stadium
Wings Event Center (formerly Wings Stadium) is a 5,113-seat multi-purpose arena located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The arena, opened in 1974, is home to the Kalamazoo Wings, an ice hockey team in the ECHL. The stadium changed the name to the Wings ...
,
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropol ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
(26 June 1996)
#"Gift of Flesh"
#"Another Hit and Run"
#"
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)"
#"
Foolin'"
#"
Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
"
#"
All I Want Is Everything"
#"
Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad
"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their fifth studio album, ''Adrenalize'' (1992). In the United States, the song reached number seven on the Album Rock Tracks charts and number 12 on the ...
"
#"Deliver Me"
#"
Hysteria
Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...
"
#"
Work It Out"
#"
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and usage (language), linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of p ...
"
#"
Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
#"Switch 625"
#"
Two Steps Behind" (acoustic)
#"
Photograph
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now creat ...
"
#"
Rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...
"
#"
Armageddon It"
#"
Pour Some Sugar on Me"
#;Encore
#"
Love Bites Love Bites may refer to:
* Love-bite or hickey, a small bruise caused by kissing, sucking, or biting the skin
Film and television
* Love Bites (TV series), ''Love Bites'' (TV series), a 2011 drama starring Becki Newton
* Love Bites (film), ''Love ...
"
#"
Let's Get Rocked
"Let's Get Rocked" is a 1992 single by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album ''Adrenalize''. The song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart, number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, numb ...
"
#"
Rock of Ages"
Tour dates
Personnel
Credits taken from the Slang World Tour itinerary.
The band
*
Joe Elliott – lead vocals
*
Phil Collen – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
*
Vivian Campbell – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
*
Rick Savage
Richard Savage (born 2 December 1960) is an English musician best known for being the bass guitarist and one of the founding members of the English rock band Def Leppard. Savage and lead singer Joe Elliott are the only two remaining original ...
– bass, backing vocals
*
Rick Allen – drums
Management
*Malvin Mortimer – tour manager
*Jim Pendolino – tour accountant
*Mark Spring – production manager
*Butch Allen – set/lighting designer
*Brad Madix – FOH engineer
*Phil Wilkey – monitor engineer
Crew
*David Sutherland – stage manager/bass technician
*Stan Schiller – guitar technician
*David Wolff – guitar technician
*Tony Moon – drum technician
*Rich Locklin – lighting crew chief
*Jim Michaelis – lighting technician
*Ken Zibrat – lighting technician
*Michael Greene – lighting technician
*Larry Vodopivek – sound crew chief
*Rudy Dearing – sound technician
*Brad Judd – sound technician
References
{{Def Leppard
1996 concert tours
1997 concert tours
Def Leppard concert tours