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The red-brick front of Portland Works, a Victorian cutlery works on a Sheffield corner
Portland Works on Randall Street, Sheffield, May 2018. Stephen Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Def Leppard

Sheffield1977

The band first rehearsed in Portland Works, where stainless steel cutlery was first made. Their biggest record took three years. Temper the blade through them, one heat at a time.

Sheffield · 1976 to 1979

A cutlery works, a missed bus,
five pounds from a teacher.

Rick Savage, Tony Kenning and Pete Doubleday formed Atomic Mass at Tapton School in 1976; Pete Willis joined in 1977. Joe Elliott tried out in November 1977, after missing a bus and meeting Willis by chance.

Elliott came up with Deaf Leopard while designing band posters in art class; Kenning suggested changing the spelling so it looked less like a punk band.

Sources
A working blacksmith’s forge with tools hanging inside Portland Works
A blacksmith’s forge inside Portland Works, April 2016. Neil Theasby · CC BY-SA 2.0

1977

Portland Works · Randall Street, Sheffield S2 4SJ

Def Leppard first rehearsed at Portland Works.

The fan archive calls the room the Spoon Factory and puts it two minutes’ walk from Bramall Lane. The works dates from the late 1870s. In 1914 Harry Brearley, Ernest Stuart and R. F. Mosley worked together here, and it became the first place in the world to make stainless steel cutlery.

A working building of small makers. Tours on the first Tuesday of the month, normally at 2pm, by arrangement; book by noon the day before. Otherwise look from Randall Street.

Sources
Portland Works

Portland Works first-Tuesday tour

Randall Street, Sheffield S2 4SJ · Suggested donation about £5

A tour of the cutlery works where the band first rehearsed, on the first Tuesday of the month, normally at 2pm, by arrangement. Book by noon the day before.

Book a tour
Mosborough High Street in Sheffield with stone houses
High Street, Mosborough, December 2024: the village, not the old school site. Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0

18.7.78

Site of old Westfield School · Westfield Crescent, Mosborough, Sheffield S20

Def Leppard’s first concert was at Westfield School on 18 July 1978. They played for about 50 minutes and were paid five pounds, reportedly out of a teacher’s pocket.

Steve Clark’s amplifier failed at the start of the first song, and the audience laughed. The school closed in December 2006 and the old building was demolished after a fire in 2007; the school was rebuilt in Beighton.

The old school has gone and the site is built on. Westfield Crescent is a public street; the card shows Mosborough High Street nearby.

Sources
A tall Victorian sewer gas lamp on Mulehouse Road in Crookes
The listed sewer gas lamp on Mulehouse Road, Crookes, January 2014: the club’s street. Mick Knapton · CC BY-SA 3.0

5.6.79

Crookes Social Club · Mulehouse Road, Crookes, Sheffield S10 1TD

On Tuesday 5 June 1979 the band went on at about 10pm and opened with Glad I’m Alive; a double scotch and Coke cost 54p.

Joe Elliott collected the Sounds writer Geoff Barton from Sheffield station in a white Ford Escort van. A plaque sponsored by the Sheffield Telegraph was unveiled outside the club on 5 October 1995.

Still a social club, on a hill-top street in Crookes. Look for the plaque outside.

Sources

Willesden, London · 1980 to 1983

Mutt Lange,
and a studio in Willesden.

Mutt Lange recorded High ’n’ Dry and Pyromania at Battery Studios in Willesden.

The band’s own credits for Pyromania name Park Gates Studios in East Sussex and Battery Studios in London, with Lange producing. Pyromania came out on 20 January 1983, reached No. 2 in America and was certified Diamond there.

On Through the Night, recorded at Startling Studios in Ascot in December 1979, comes out. The rooms began as Morgan Studios and were renamed Battery by Zomba; Miloco now runs the complex with Flood and Alan Moulder.

A working studio, not open to visitors; the pin marks the street.

Sources
A residential street of terraced houses in Willesden
Maybury Gardens, Willesden, August 2011: the studio’s street. Mike Quinn · CC BY-SA 2.0

Hysteria · February 1984 to August 1987

Temper the blade,
one session at a time.

Sheffield steel is finished with heat: as a polished blade warms, its face runs from straw through bronze and purple to blue. Hysteria took over three years and three studios. Heat the blade once for each stage and watch it change.

Bright steel. February 1984 has not started yet.

3 August 1987

Bring the blade to blue and the record is finished.

Sources

Donington Park · 16 August 1986

Monsters of Rock,
and a drummer back.

A festival crowd in front of a lit stage at Donington Park, 1982
Monsters of Rock at Donington Park in 1982: Hawkwind on stage. Andrew King, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Rick Allen loses his left arm after his car leaves the A57 a few miles west of Sheffield.

Rick Allen works with Simmons on a custom electronic kit and learns to play some of it with his feet; electronic pedals, triggered over MIDI, play the parts his left arm used to. The band never look for another drummer.

On the bill that day: Warlock, Bad News, Motörhead, Def Leppard, Scorpions and Ozzy Osbourne.

Monsters of Rock at Donington on 16 August 1986 was Rick Allen’s first major concert after his crash; 40,000 were there.

Monsters of Rock began here on 16 August 1980. The circuit is home to Download Festival now.

Sources
Rick Allen playing his drum kit on stage in 2008
Rick Allen at his kit in Winnipeg, 13 August 2008 (a later photograph; no free 1980s one exists). Matt Becker, CC BY 3.0.

The Hysteria tour · 1987 to 1988

A stage in the middle,
a crowd on every side.

The front of the stage faces the north stand.

North

The Hysteria tour ran for 16 months, and it was played in the round: the stage in the middle of the arena, the crowd on every side.

Sources
A printed concert ticket for Def Leppard at the USF Sun Dome on 31 December 1987
A ticket for the Hysteria tour at the USF Sun Dome, Tampa, 31 December 1987. Jeff Marquis, CC BY 2.0.

Sheffield, Las Vegas and Sheffield again · 1991 to 2023

Home to Sheffield,
and back to the Lane.

The five members of Def Leppard in 2018
Def Leppard in 2018: Phil Collen, Vivian Campbell, Joe Elliott, Rick Savage and Rick Allen (a later photograph; no free 1980s one exists). Kevin Nixon, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Steve Clark dies on 8 January 1991; Adrenalize is made by four and comes out on 31 March 1992.

Sources
The stands of Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield
Don Valley Stadium in December 2011, two years before it was demolished. Dave Pickersgill · CC BY-SA 2.0

6.6.93

Site of Don Valley Stadium

Def Leppard played Don Valley Stadium on 6 June 1993, on the Adrenalize tour.

Wikipedia’s band article calls it the first rock concert at the stadium, before more than 50,000; the stadium had opened with a Jason Donovan show in 1990. It closed in 2013 and was demolished from November 2013; the Olympic Legacy Park was announced on the site in October 2014.

The stadium has gone. The Olympic Legacy Park stands on the site, off Worksop Road.

Sources
A metal star set in the pavement reading Def Leppard
Def Leppard’s Sheffield Legends star outside the Town Hall, October 2017. Chemical Engineer · CC BY-SA 4.0

5.10.95

Sheffield Legends star

On the plaque day in October 1995 the band had tea with the Mayor at the Town Hall, and 10,000 balloons went up in Tudor Square.

A gold plaque for the 1993 sell-out was unveiled there on 5 October 1995. A plaque sponsored by the Sheffield Telegraph was unveiled outside the club on 5 October 1995.

Set in the pavement outside the Town Hall, among the city’s other stars. Free, any time.

Sources
The stage and floor of The Joint concert hall in Las Vegas
The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, October 2009. Kaloozer · CC BY 2.0

22.3.13

The Joint (now The Theater at Virgin Hotels)

Viva! Hysteria was eleven shows at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, from 22 March to 13 April 2013, with Hysteria played in full.

The Hard Rock opened in March 1995, closed on 3 February 2020 and reopened as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on 25 March 2021. The Joint was renovated into The Theater at Virgin Hotels.

The hotel is Virgin Hotels Las Vegas now, and The Joint was rebuilt as The Theater, a 4,600-capacity hall. Go to a show.

Sources
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

4455 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89169 · Book direct

The old Hard Rock Hotel, where Viva! Hysteria ran for eleven nights in 2013. Its hall, once The Joint, is The Theater now.

Check rooms
Bramall Lane football ground in Sheffield seen from above
Bramall Lane from the nearby hotel, September 2009. NotFromUtrecht · CC BY-SA 3.0

22.5.23

Bramall Lane

Def Leppard played Bramall Lane on Monday 22 May 2023, their first show at the ground.

Joe Elliott spoke of Portland Works from the stage. Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855 and is the oldest major stadium in the world still hosting professional football.

Sheffield United’s ground, a short walk from Portland Works. Go to a match.

Sources

Where it is now

Put the blade down,
11 places to stand.

In Sheffield, Portland Works and Bramall Lane are a short walk apart, the Town Hall is north of them, Crookes is up the hill to the west and Mosborough and the Legacy Park are out east. Donington is an hour south by road.

Where it is now

11 places you can visit, from Randall Street to Paradise Road. Westfield School and Don Valley Stadium are gone; their sites are pinned on public ground. Studio des Dames in Paris is named, not mapped, because its address is not recorded.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working building of small makers. Tours on the first Tuesday of the month, normally at 2pm, by arrangement; book by noon the day before. Otherwise look from Randall Street.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The old school has gone and the site is built on. Westfield Crescent is a public street; the card shows Mosborough High Street nearby.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Still a social club, on a hill-top street in Crookes. Look for the plaque outside.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Set in the pavement outside the Town Hall, among the city’s other stars. Free, any time.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The stadium has gone. The Olympic Legacy Park stands on the site, off Worksop Road.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Sheffield United’s ground, a short walk from Portland Works. Go to a match.

  1. The red-brick front of Portland Works, a Victorian cutlery works on a Sheffield corner
    Portland Works on Randall Street, Sheffield, May 2018. Stephen Richards · CC BY-SA 2.0

    Randall Street, Sheffield S2 4SJ

    Portland Works

    Def Leppard first rehearsed at Portland Works.

    A working building of small makers. Tours on the first Tuesday of the month, normally at 2pm, by arrangement; book by noon the day before. Otherwise look from Randall Street.

    Sources
  2. Mosborough High Street in Sheffield with stone houses
    High Street, Mosborough, December 2024: the village, not the old school site. Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0

    Westfield Crescent, Mosborough, Sheffield S20

    Site of old Westfield School

    Def Leppard’s first concert was at Westfield School on 18 July 1978. They played for about 50 minutes and were paid five pounds, reportedly out of a teacher’s pocket.

    The old school has gone and the site is built on. Westfield Crescent is a public street; the card shows Mosborough High Street nearby.

    Sources
  3. A tall Victorian sewer gas lamp on Mulehouse Road in Crookes
    The listed sewer gas lamp on Mulehouse Road, Crookes, January 2014: the club’s street. Mick Knapton · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Mulehouse Road, Crookes, Sheffield S10 1TD

    Crookes Social Club

    Crookes Social Club, once Crookes Working Men’s Club, was a Def Leppard venue in 1979.

    Still a social club, on a hill-top street in Crookes. Look for the plaque outside.

    Sources
  4. A metal star set in the pavement reading Def Leppard
    Def Leppard’s Sheffield Legends star outside the Town Hall, October 2017. Chemical Engineer · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Outside Sheffield Town Hall, Pinstone Street

    Sheffield Legends star

    Rick Savage, Tony Kenning and Pete Doubleday formed Atomic Mass at Tapton School in 1976; Pete Willis joined in 1977.

    Set in the pavement outside the Town Hall, among the city’s other stars. Free, any time.

    Sources
  5. The stands of Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield
    Don Valley Stadium in December 2011, two years before it was demolished. Dave Pickersgill · CC BY-SA 2.0

    Worksop Road, Attercliffe, Sheffield S9 3TL

    Site of Don Valley Stadium

    Def Leppard played Don Valley Stadium on 6 June 1993, on the Adrenalize tour.

    The stadium has gone. The Olympic Legacy Park stands on the site, off Worksop Road.

    Sources
  6. Bramall Lane football ground in Sheffield seen from above
    Bramall Lane from the nearby hotel, September 2009. NotFromUtrecht · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Bramall Lane, Highfield, Sheffield S2 4SU

    Bramall Lane

    Def Leppard played Bramall Lane on Monday 22 May 2023, their first show at the ground.

    Sheffield United’s ground, a short walk from Portland Works. Go to a match.

    Sources

Stay

A room at the old Hard Rock.

The Las Vegas hotel where Hysteria was played in full for eleven nights.

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

4455 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89169 · Book direct

The old Hard Rock Hotel, where Viva! Hysteria ran for eleven nights in 2013. Its hall, once The Joint, is The Theater now.

Check rooms

Go there

Stand where it happened.

A first-Tuesday tour of Portland Works, the Windmill Lane studio in Dublin, and walks in Sheffield and Dublin.

Portland Works

Portland Works first-Tuesday tour

Randall Street, Sheffield S2 4SJ · Suggested donation about £5

A tour of the cutlery works where the band first rehearsed, on the first Tuesday of the month, normally at 2pm, by arrangement. Book by noon the day before.

Book a tour
Windmill Lane Recording Studios

Windmill Lane Recording Studios tour

20 Ringsend Road, Dublin 4 · Book online

Guided tours of the studio’s Ringsend Road home, with its rooms and memorabilia. The old Windmill Lane building, credited on Hysteria, is gone.

Book a tour
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Sheffield walks

Sheffield

Live marketplace results for walking tours of Sheffield. Check each itinerary for the stops it really makes.

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Dublin music tours

Dublin

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What’s on

Download at Donington, June 2027.

The band list no dates after October 2026; the Monsters of Rock field has its festival in June.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

Two books and three records.

The 1987 book, Phil Collen’s memoir, and the first album, Pyromania and Hysteria.

Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Animal Instinct

David Fricke, with photographs by Ross Halfin

The 1987 book on the band, from the year of Hysteria.

Find the book
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Adrenalized

Phil Collen with Chris Epting

Phil Collen’s own account.

Find the book
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On Through the Night

Def Leppard · LP, Vertigo, 1980

Recorded at Startling Studios in Ascot in December 1979.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy
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Pyromania

Def Leppard · LP, Mercury, 1983

Mutt Lange’s second album with the band; Diamond in America.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy
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Hysteria

Def Leppard · LP, Bludgeon Riffola, 1987

Three years in Dublin, Hilversum and Paris.

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Find a copy

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The full record

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

12 of 12 places · 24 of 24 Moments

  • Portland Works

    Randall Street, Sheffield S2 4SJ

    • A room in a cutlery works

      The band first rehearse at Portland Works.

  • Site of old Westfield School

    Westfield Crescent, Mosborough, Sheffield S20

    • Five pounds

      The first concert, at Westfield School, for five pounds.

  • Crookes Social Club

    Mulehouse Road, Crookes, Sheffield S10 1TD

    • A Tuesday in Crookes

      Def Leppard play Crookes Working Men’s Club.

    • Plaque day

      Plaques at Crookes and Don Valley, tea with the Mayor.

  • Sheffield Legends star

    Outside Sheffield Town Hall, Pinstone Street

    • Atomic Mass

      Three Tapton School pupils form Atomic Mass.

    • A missed bus

      Joe Elliott misses a bus, meets Pete Willis and tries out.

    • Deaf Leopard

      A name from art-class posters, respelt.

    • Fifteen

      Rick Allen joins on his 15th birthday.

    • The A57

      Rick Allen loses his left arm after his car leaves the A57 a few miles west of Sheffield.

    • Four

      Steve Clark dies on 8 January 1991; Adrenalize is made by four and comes out on 31 March 1992.

  • Site of Don Valley Stadium

    Worksop Road, Attercliffe, Sheffield S9 3TL

    • Don Valley

      The homecoming stadium show.

    • The stadium goes

      Don Valley Stadium is demolished.

  • Bramall Lane

    Bramall Lane, Highfield, Sheffield S2 4SU

    • Bramall Lane

      The band play Bramall Lane, a short walk from Portland Works.

  • Battery Studios

    Maybury Gardens, Willesden, London NW10 2NB

    • The first album

      On Through the Night, recorded at Startling Studios in Ascot in December 1979, comes out.

    • Pyromania in Willesden

      Mutt Lange records High ’n’ Dry and Pyromania at Battery.

  • Donington Park

    Castle Donington, Leicestershire

    • A new kit

      Rick Allen works with Simmons on a custom electronic kit and learns to play some of it with his feet; electronic pedals, triggered over MIDI, play the parts his left arm used to. The band never look for another drummer.

    • Donington

      Joe Elliott introduces Rick Allen to 40,000 people.

    • In the round

      The 16-month Hysteria tour is played in the round; the album reaches No. 1 in America on 23 July 1988.

  • Windmill Lane

    Windmill Lane, Dublin Docklands

    • To Dublin

      The band move to Dublin to write.

    • Hysteria

      Hysteria comes out after more than three years.

  • Wisseloord Studios

    Catharina van Renneslaan, Hilversum, Netherlands

    • Steinman at Wisseloord

      Jim Steinman’s eight weeks in Hilversum.

    • Nobody to direct

      Sessions with Nigel Green go slowly.

  • Studio des Dames

    Paris, France

    • Lange in Paris

      Mutt Lange returns for vocals in Paris and asks for more.

  • The Joint (now The Theater at Virgin Hotels)

    4455 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada

    • Viva! Hysteria

      Hysteria played in full for eleven nights in Las Vegas.

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