DEF LEPPARD Announces Massive North American Tour With STYX, TESLA

DEF LEPPARD will embark on a massive U.S. summer tour with STYX and TESLA. The trek will storm through over 40 cities throughout North America, kicking off on June 23 in Tampa, Florida.

The dates are as follows:

Jun. 23 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Jun. 25 – West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre
Jun. 27 – Birmingham, AL – Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
Jun. 28 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Jun. 30 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Jul. 02 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Jul. 03 – Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live
Jul. 05 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
Jul. 07 – Gilford, NH – Bank of NH Pavilion at Meadowbrook
Jul. 09 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Jul. 11 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Jul. 12 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Jul. 14 – Toronto, ON – Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Jul. 15 – Youngstown, OH – Covelli Centre
Jul. 17 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Jul. 21 – Mt. Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Resort & Casino
Jul. 23 – Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
Jul. 24 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Jul. 25 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug 07 – Sturgis, SD – Buffalo Chip Campground
Aug 08 – Sioux Falls, SD – Sioux Falls Arena
Aug 10 – Oklahoma City, OK – Chesapeake Energy Arena
Aug 11 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
Aug 14 – Sedalia, MO – Missouri State Fair
Aug 15 – Des Moines, IA – Iowa State Fair
Aug 17 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Aug 18 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Aug 21 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
Aug 22 – Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug 23 – Austin, TX – Austin360 Amphitheater
Aug 27 – St. Paul, MN – Minnesota State Fair
Aug 28 – Grand Forks, ND – Alerus Center
Aug 30 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
Sep. 01 – Allentown, PA – Allentown
Sep. 03 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
Sep. 04 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sep. 05 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Sep. 16 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheater
Sep. 17 – Ridgefield, WA – Northwest Amphitheater
Sep. 19 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
Sep. 22 – Chula Vista, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Sep. 23 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
Sep. 25 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheatre
Sep. 26 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
Sep. 28 – West Valley City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
Sep. 30 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena
Oct. 02 – Bozeman, MT – Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
Oct. 04 – Bismarck, ND – Bismarck Civic Center

DEF LEPPARD is putting the finishing touches on a new studio album for a tentative late spring release. Asked how the material on the CD is sounding so far, the band’s lead singer, Joe Elliott told Shredload.com: “Varied. Yeah, real good. Some of the stuff sounds absolutely like us. Some of the stuff sounds like things that people our age should be writing these days. So it’s a bit of everything, really. Stuff that reminds us of stuff that we grew up listening to. So it’s very much in the classic-rock mold, but it’s also not stale and sterile.”

He continued: “For us, it’s kind of exciting, because we’re doing a lot of stuff that we’ve never really done before. It’s the odd, kind of Merry Clayton kind of… like THE [ROLLING] STONES would use horns on certain songs… Just varying things up a little bit, but it’s still essentially got the sound. Because with our guitar sound and my voice, it’s a distinctive sound. And Rick‘s [Allen] drum sound is a distinctive sound. It’s the songwriting that is variable, because of everybody’s input. It’s different. Sav [bassist Rick Savage] writes a certain way, I write a certain way, Phil [Collen, guitar] and Vivian [Campbell, guitar] write a certain way. Even Rick Allen‘s written stuff on this record, which is really good. So there’s a lot of variety there. I’m quite excited at the moment.”

Elliott added: “Until we kind of get the other six [songs] that are bubbling away that need a little bit more work done, I don’t really know what direction it’s going in fully, but it’s varied. And that’s what I’ve always liked about our records. When you hear an AC/DC record, you know what you’re gonna get and it doesn’t really veer off that track much. But, say, like a QUEEN record, you can have ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ and ‘You Take My Breath Away’ on the same album, and it’s almost two different bands. And that’s what we like being — more in that direction — [where] we can dip our toe into different sounds.”