Def Leppard returned to Las Vegas on February 3rd for the start of a month-long residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, showcasing the band’s nearly 50-year treasure trove of rock hits and history.

“I would like to introduce you to someone who I have known this August coming for… too long,”

Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott laughed, looking over at bandmate and longtime friend Rick Savage from across the stage at Caesars Palace. “49 years, it will be. We formed this fucking thing in August 1977, me and him. Him being, on the bass guitar, mister Rick Savage.”

49 years ago, in congruence with that fateful meeting in Sheffield, rock was changed forever when founding members Elliott and Savage created Def Leppard. It started as a project in art class for the then-teenage Elliott: tasked with titling a fictitious band, he settled on the rowdy, somewhat nonsensical Deaf Leopard. In the five ensuing decades, the real band – made up of vocalist Elliott, bassist Savage, guitarists Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen, and drummer Rick Allen – rose to the summit of rock in all ways imaginable, but not without their fair share of heartaches in-between.

While the current lineup has been a steadfast brotherhood for decades, tragedy has always loomed over Def Leppard. Whether it be the 1984 car crash that cost Allen his left arm, or the unimaginable passing of guitarist Steve Clark in 1991, the band has endured – and more importantly, come out the other side stronger for – a series of events that could have torn any other recording group apart. But here they are, nearly 50 years into the ongoing creation of their legacy, optimistic and powerful as ever.

Most recently, the band kickstarted a monumental residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Spanning the month of February, the Las Vegas shows feature a brand new production including a fresh setlist, intricate stage design, and a return of fan-favorite tracks seldom explored in previous tours. From the venue to the onstage visuals to the detail poured into the band’s pop-up shop, it’s a truly one-of-a-kind show experience tailored for longtime and new fans alike.

Before walking in The Colosseum’s doors, fans were treated to an expansive merchandise shop inside Caesars Palace to commemorate the tour. Items for purchase included tour-exclusive pins, keychains, jackets, T-shirts and the like, all specific to this run of shows and available on their website while supplies last (I can speak to the quality of the Leopard velour jacket, in which I sit writing this). Moreover, the shop displayed a mini museum of sorts, with each band member having their own dedicated area for historical items like stage-worn outfits, scarves, instruments, and photographs from over the years.

With no opener, the band fired right up with their brand new single, “Rejoice.” Beginning with each member standing within a glowing, triangular Hysteria-inspired stage setup, the track progressed as they walked down towards the front and took more classic positions. One by one, they filled out The Colosseum’s massive stage as Elliot sang: “I won’t stop this night until I hit the Speed of sound / I only come alive when the sun goes down.”

I wanna go higher
I wanna touch the sky, yeah
I wanna shout it from the
Rooftops, shake it up
Just listen to my voice
I gotta back beat, feel the heat
So let us all rejoice

– “Rejoice,” Def Leppard

“Joe said, ‘I’ve got these lyrics,’ and it’s sort of about finding yourself and coming to terms with yourself and actually enjoying who you are,” Collen said of the new single during rehearsals. “Happy and rejoice and triumph, all that stuff. He said, ‘Have you got a mid-tempo? Anything like that?’ And actually, I had. I had this thing sitting around for ages.” Completed by a programmed drum loop crafted by Collen and a flurry of vocal harmonies by all the guys, it acted as an opportune first song to ease audiences into the night.

“[“Rejoice”] is challenging,” Campbell added. “Not that any of the parts playing or singing-wise are difficult, but they can be difficult to do together. To play the riff and to sing the chorus is very, very difficult, we find. Plus, the vocals are pretty relentless. There’s not a lot of room to breathe, so we’ve been figuring out who’s gonna sing what part, and it’s starting to come together.”

It’s fitting, then, that “Animal” would follow on the setlist. Another relentless, ecstatic track plucked from 1987’s Hysteria, it was the song from the band’s fourth album that required the most time, reworking, and creative bandwidth to see to fruition. There were many challenges surrounding Hysteria’s writing and recording, namely Allen’s painstaking recovery as a drummer and uncertainty about whether Robert John “Mutt” Lange would return as a producer, but the songs that resulted from that shaky ground ultimately made the band’s foundation more solid than ever.

There’s something to be said for Def Leppard’s live intros, and “Animal” is no exception. Collen and Campbell’s guitars commence in perfect time to Allen’s steady beat, and the combination in a live setting is nothing short of extraordinary. It’s a perfect storm of power, grit, and seeming effortlessness, though it’s clear as day that the suave with which they play was hard-fought through thousands of hours of practice. “Gonna hunt you like a a-a-a-animal,” Elliott grunts, setting Campbell’s solo up with a spirited intro: “Gonna take your love and run.”

A wild ride, over stony ground
Such a lust for life, the circus comes to town
We are the hungry ones on a lightning raid
Just like a river runs, like a fire needs flame
I burn for you

I gotta feel it in my blood
I need your touch don’t need your love
And I want, and I need, and I lust
Animal

– “Animal,” Def Leppard

The band continued with “Let’s Get Rocked” and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” before bursting into a full-band arrangement of High N’ Dry’s “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak.” While the song has been a constant on recent tour setlists, it typically is presented with an acoustic intro, whereas the iconic riffs lining the track were played as they are on the studio recording this time around. Between the two, this version came across miles more impactful.

They went ahead full throttle with “Switch 625” and recent single “Just Like ‘73,” but it was the onset of “Rocket” that drew an especially loud roar of applause and commotion. “I can take you through the center of the dark / We’re gonna fly / On a collision course to crash into your heart,” Elliott sang, register just as high as when the track was released in 1987 as the seventh and last single from Hysteria.

“We’re gonna do something old, something new, something borrowed, but not something blue,” Elliott laughed, kickstarting a cover of David Essex’ “Rock On.” But truly, it was the appearance of Adrenalize deep cut “White Lightning” that had, and still has, fans exhilarated. Opening night saw the first performance of the song since 1993, proving their setlist curation effective – choosing it over singles “Make Love Like A Man” and “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” gave the crowd a chance to find a new favorite hidden amongst their many hits.

“White Lightning” was written with late guitarist Steve Clark in mind, and Collen shaped the guitars after that of Jimmy Page’s to honor Clark’s love for Led Zeppelin. “My opinion of [Adrenalize] changes depending on which way the wind’s blowing,” Elliott said. “Sometimes I really don’t like it, and other times I think, ‘No, that’s our glam rock album. We made a really cool record.’ The one song that never really veers away from any emotional thought of mine is ‘White Lightning.”

“It just made sense to tie it in with making it a tribute to Steve,” he continued, “and of course, that ties into your heartstrings for life, when you do something like that. So from an emotional point of view, it’s never wavered. It’s always been there.”

No promises, no guarantees
When you come down here
You’re already on your knees
You want to ride White Lightnin’
Then sign your name
If you want to dance with the devil
You gotta play his way, play the game

You gotta taste that sweetness
Cause you can’t say no
But are you ready for the nightmare
When you can’t let go?

– “White Lightning,” Def Leppard

Next up, fans were treated to Pyromania heavyweight “Foolin’” and Slang’s title track, followed by a special rendition of “Promises” with an a capella introduction. “Here’s something a little different for you,” Elliott smiled as the song began, asking each member individually if they were ready to affirmative answers. Its inclusion was a welcome highlight from 1999’s Euphoria, and a well-placed offering that varied from a setlist mostly focused on Pyromania and Hysteria to ensure their biggest hits were played.

Savage sported a bass solo midway through the show, spotlighted by royal blue as Elliott secretly headed to the balcony sections of seats to surprise fans. There, he sang straight to the upper seats, with dozens of shocked faces awaiting him. It wasn’t the only time he’d walk directly to fans to sing, as he’d walk right by me during “Hysteria,” so the entire show was tinged with an air of excitement and uncertainty as a result.

The last six songs of the night were hit after hit after hit, and every person in the 4,100 person theatre knew them word for word. “Armageddon It” kicked off this run, and with a heaping dose of power. “I keep wanting to do Elvis,” Elliott snickered, grumbling a “thank you very much” in the King of Rock’s signature voice in-between songs. Thus characterized the show – the band are masters of their craft, so much so that they were able to engage the crowd both as mysterious, enigmatic rockstars, and as humorous, relatable humans aiming to make the night enjoyable for everyone.

“If you’ve got love in your sights, watch out / Love bites,” Elliott sang in “Love Bites,” Hysteria single and the next up to bat on the setlist. The 1987 track wasn’t a surprise inclusion by any stretch of the imagination, but the precision with which it’s pulled off from night to night makes it feel fresh every time. Def Leppard isn’t a band who phones it in – every song is played like it’s the first and last time they’ll ever get to play it.

When I’m with you are you somewhere else?
Am I getting through, or do you please yourself?
When you wake up will you walk out?
It can’t be love if you throw it about
Ooh babe, I don’t want to touch you too much baby
‘Cause making love to you might drive me crazy, oh
It’s bringing me to my knees (love lives, love dies)
It’s no surprise (Love begs, love pleads)
It’s what I need

– “Love Bites,” Def Leppard

Next came “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph,” which were met with resounding applause and what looked like everyone in the room up and moving to the beat. The intro of “Photograph” came right on the heels of “Rock of Ages,” so the last few songs felt more like a euphoric blend of all their most arena-worthy tracks, all played without a second of dead air or space for boredom. Where you’ll typically find at least a few dozen people slowly file out at this time, opting to lose a song or two to save time finding their car, I can’t say I saw a single person leave before the last note rang through the venue. Every song was unmissable.

“I think it’s fair to say that the initial inspiration for [“Rock of Ages”] was actually ‘In The Evening’ by Led Zeppelin,” Savage said. “The main challenge of recording the song was the fact that we were recording it without any vocals. Because it’s basically all one note, we needed Mutt to give us cues as to where the next part was coming up. But when the song was finished, and even when the song was being recorded, we knew that this was gonna be a hit.”

I’m burnin’, burnin’, I got the fever
I know for sure, there ain’t no cure
So feel it, don’t fight it, go with the flow
Gimme, gimme, gimme,
gimme one more for the road

What do you want? What do you want?
I want rock’n’roll, You betcha
Long live rock’n’roll

– “Rock of Ages,” Def Leppard

In a 2025 Time Capsule review of Hysteria for Paste, I compared the intro of “Hysteria” to the summer sun cast between shoulder blades. Live, that intro is somehow made even more emotionally potent, with bass and guitars gorgeously lengthened to set the scene. It’s one of their strongest live offerings from night to night. Elliot smiled out to the audience as he sang the iconic verse lines: “Out of touch, out of reach, yeah / You could try to get closer to me / I’m in love, I’m in deep, yeah / Hypnotized, I’m shakin’ to my knees.”

Out of me, into you, yeah
You could hide, it’s just a one-way street
Oh, I believe I’m in you, yeah
Open wide, that’s right
Dream me off my feet
Oh, believe in me

I gotta know tonight
If you’re alone tonight
Can’t stop this feeling
Can’t stop this fire

I get hysterical, hysteria
Oh can you feel it?
Do you believe it?
It’s such a magical mysteria
When you get that feelin’
Better start believin’

– “Hysteria,” Def Leppard

As the opening lines of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” began, the room erupted in cheers and screams. The security guard in front of me was singing every word under his breath so as to stay professional, but he couldn’t help but crack a smile eventually. So goes the beauty of Def Leppard: you can’t help but have a good time when you’re listening to them. Almost by definition, hearing their music is a call to let go, indulge, and find pleasure in as much of this life as humanly possible. Their history shows that they know what true pain and darkness are, but they’ve chosen a path of light in the face of that darkness.

Razzle ‘n’ a dazzle ‘n’ a flash a little light
Television lover, baby, go all night
Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet
Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah

Now c’mon, take a bottle, shake it up
Break the bubble, break it up
Pour some sugar on me
Ooh, in the name of love

– “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” Def Leppard

At its best, music can act as a glimpse into the best, happiest version of yourself, and it can accompany you through the things that shape you into that person.

Def Leppard has always been the band that accomplishes that for me. When I’m listening to them, I might as well be floating. Whether it be the heart-wrenching refrains of “When Love And Hate Collide,” or the calamitous drums in “Too Late For Love,” their music walks the thin line between lust and love, danger and safety, and life and death, always resting on the very edge while showing you from experience why it’s best not to wander over it.

Def Leppard’s Caesars Palace residency stands as both a celebration of their nearly 50-year career, and a taste of what’s to come as that career continues to flourish and thrive. If you find yourself with the means to get yourself to a show between now and the end of the run on Feb. 28, you can be assured a night of unforgettable music and energy – as well as a renewed appreciation for the band – in exchange. Because in many ways, this is the strongest they’ve ever been.

Tickets to the remaining Las Vegas shows can be purchased on the band’s website.

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