Def Leppard: nostalgic video challenges Sheffield school's status as 'first ever' Def Leppard gig
Sheffield rock legends Def Leppard have put out a video which challenges the traditional view of where they played their first gig.
It has been stated in the past that the band played their first show at Westfield School, near Mosborough in 1978.
But in the video, which contains clips dating back from a longer interview in 2018, and shared by the band last night on social media, they have described their first gig as having been at The Portland Works, near Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane stadium.
They had been using the former cutlery factory as a rehearsal space.
In the video, Joe Elliott and Rick Savage revisit the venue and describe it as their first gig, describing it as a place where they spent most of their lives when they were not doing their day jobs, playing and hanging out.
Rick added that first gig they ever played was in that room, to an invited audience.
Joe added: “We used to call them ‘rent a crowd’ because they were all our mates. We only had four or five songs but we did it like a gig, it was all foot on foot on the monitor and shaking your head about, but it was brilliant fun.”
Elliot also described how his family used to say during their early days that they were ‘apparently’ quite big in America.
It was always reported that the group played their first show at Westfield School, which was their first paid gig, in July 1978.
And Crookes Working Men’s Club has a plaque marking it as a scene of some of their earliest gigs in the late 1970s.