My thoughts for the next Def Leppard tour

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of one of the biggest selling albums of the 80s, Def Leppard's Hysteria. 

Some artists have decided to play an entire album from their repertoire on a tour.  Well here's a great idea for a tour next summer for Def Leppard.  They, like other bands, come under some criticism for not mixing up the setlist too much over the years.  That is an interesting debate in itself and one I will not get into right now.  I always thought they should play a few extra songs from Hysteria.  After all, it did sell over 10 million copies, so chances are a lot of people in your audience would be familiar with anything from that record. 

Well let's go one better than that and hit the road in 2012 and play the entire thing from start to finish.  The album clocks in at a little over an hour.  To be precise my old CD player used to display 62:40 as total playing length every time I loaded it.  The band could hit the stage starting with the opening chords of the first track Women and proceed through the 11 that follow until the last one Love and Affection is complete.  Assuming this would take them a little over hour it could allow for a brief intermission and they could return for another set of songs from the rest of their recordings including the other massively selling album, Pyromania.

Some cons to this could be that although Hysteria had 7 singles released, 6 of them would be played during the first 30 minutes or so of the show.  Tracks one through six were all singles, the only exception being the title track, Hysteria, the tenth song on the album.  Normally there would be some build up to signature songs such as the number one smash Love Bites and the massively popular Pour Some Sugar On Me, but here they would be songs 4 and 5 respectively.  Of course they could always mix up the playing order too, but that would take away from the purity of playing a classic album live. 

There would still be plenty to hang on four if it is just the hits you are there for.  The second set could contain staples from Pyromania such as Rock of Ages, Foolin’ and Photograph.  There are also songs such as Do you Wanna Get Rocked, Two Steps Behind and Bringin on the Heartbreak from their catalogue for more sing-along moments. 

Playing Hysteria in its entirety just makes sense to me.  It should satisfy fans who want to hear all the hits.  It also causes them to change their setlist slightly and maybe silence some (some) of the critics.  And it deservedly marks the anniversary of one of the most recognizable and successful rock albums in the last 30 years. 

So come on Def Leppard let's hit the road again next summer and do this thing.  I think it would be very well received.  Here's my proposed setlist for you.  The first set being the Hysteria album and the second being some staples and some personal favorites thrown in.

Set One: Hystreria album in its entirity

Women, Rocket, Animal, Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Armageddon It, Gods of War, Don't Shoot Shotgun, Run Riot, Hysteria, Excitable, Love and Affection.

Set Two

Let It Go (from High N' Dry), Foolin (from Pyromania), Rock On (from Yeah!), Wasted(from On Through the Night), Promises(from Euphoria), Nine Lives(from Songs from the Sparkle Lounge) , Two Steps Behind(from Retro-Active), Bringing on the Heartbreak(from High N' Dry), Photograph(from Pyromania), Rock of Ages(from Pyromania)

Encore:  Do you Wanna Get Rocked(from Adrenalize)

I am torn to what the opening number of the second set should be, as always, Rock Rock til you Drop (from Pyromania) is a good choice used by them as an opening many times.  Other candidates could also be Stage Fright(from Pyromania) or Undefeated(from Mirrorball) being used on their current tour as their concert opener.