After a 23 year absence, Sheffield's 'Def Leppard' are finally making a return to Donington Park for the 2009 heavy rock festival, 'Download'.
It will be the first time the band has played there since the 'Monsters of Rock' festival in 1986.The Sheffield born rockers, famous for their innovative and melodic heavy metal sound, are headlining the main stage on the third day of the festival. Other headliners include American rockers, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and Korn.
The band signed their first record deal in 1979, prompting their first full length album, On Through The Night in 1980, which eventually went platinum after a highly successful tour of the U.S.A.
Def Leppard are made up of vocalist Joe Elliot, guitarists Rick Savage, Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen with drummer Rick Allen, who tragically lost an arm in a car accident, but thanks to an enormous amount of support from fans, he still keeps playing with the band.
The lads began their musical career playing in pubs and clubs around their home city of Sheffield. One venue in particular was a regular for the up and coming rock group who played some of their earliest gigs there in 1979.
This venue which staged the teenage rock foursome was Crookes Working Men's club. The secretary of the committee, Peter Lonsdale, still remembers their earliest gigs there;
"I always knew they'd be big, but never thought they would be in America and touring the world. What they've achieved since playing here is remarkable."
Lead guitarist Rick Savage tries to stay true to his Sheffield roots and keeps in touch with Peter and other members of the club;
"Sometimes when he's in the city, Rick pops in to say hello and it always makes me feel proud. They're a great bunch and we hope they're success continues for many years to come."
Alex Darling, one of the chief promoters for the Download Festival in June, is expecting tickets for the festival to sell out in a matter hours following the announcement of Def Leppard amongst others;
"We're anticipating one of the quickest sell outs for the festival in its history, we're also encouraging people to buy tickets online to avoid disappointment."
She also spoke of her delight that they've been able to bring Def Leppard back to Donington Park;
"It's a great capture for the festival, bringing the band back to Donington Park after such a lengthy gap. Fans have been anticipating this for a while so we're expecting a great response."
Tickets for the iconic rock festival are now on sale via the Download hotline - 0844 847 1767 or by visiting http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/.
Jonathan Garnett, The Steel Bugle.
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