The Slang World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English hard rock band Def Leppard in support of their album Slang, which was released in May 1996. Although Slang was the first Def Leppard album to feature new material with guitarist Vivian Campbell, this was his second tour with the band. Campbell joined Def Leppard just prior to their Adrenalize World Tour in 1992.
Musically, Slang was considered a radical departure from the band's signature sound of highly polished 1980s hard rock. Introspective songwriting, minimal studio production and Rick Allen's return to acoustic drums resulted in a more raw and organic sound. In a 2016 interview, Vivian Campbell reflected on the influence that 1990s grunge era bands such as Soundgarden had on the band's songwriting.
Concert production was also a radical departure from previous tours. The Slang World Tour introduced a completely revamped concert stage design. This was the first Def Leppard tour since the early 1980s to only employ "end stage" production design. Previous tours (Hysteria World Tour, Adrenalize World Tour) often employed "in the round" stage design. Rather than getting a 360-degree view of the band's performance with "in-the-round" staging, the "end stage" format created an atmosphere where all spectators faced the performance from one side. The new simplified configuration consisted of a rectangular stage with a wall of Marshall amplifiers positioned on each side of Rick Allen's drum kit. Also, in contrast to previous tours, the Slang World Tour featured a minimalist light show without laser effects.Def Leppard Slang "None More Black" Tour Itinerary (13 August–September 21). Tour Books, Ink: San Francisco, CA 1996.
Opening acts Tripping Daisy Terrorvision
Set list Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan (26 June 1996) "Gift of Flesh" "Another Hit and Run" "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" "Foolin'" "Animal" "All I Want Is Everything" "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" "Deliver Me" "Hysteria" "Work It Out" "Slang" "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" "Switch 625" "Two Steps Behind" (acoustic) "Photograph" "Rocket" "Armageddon It" "Pour Some Sugar on Me" Encore "Love Bites" "Let's Get Rocked" "Rock of Ages"
Tour dates Date City Country Venue Asia / North America 27 May 1996 Bangkok Thailand Hua Mark Indoor Stadium 30 May 1996 Singapore Singapore Indoor Stadium 1 June 1996 Jakarta Indonesia Jakarta Convention Center 4 June 1996 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Stadium Negara 6 June 1996 Manila Philippines Folk Arts Theater 8 June 1996 Seoul South Korea Olympic Park Gymnasium 11 June 1996 Nagoya Japan Nagoya Congress Center 13 June 1996 Hiroshima Hiroshima Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan 14 June 1996 Fukuoka Fukuoka Sunpalace 17 June 1996 Osaka Osaka-jō Hall 18 June 1996 Tokyo Nippon Budokan 19 June 1996 21 June 1996 Yokohama Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium 22 June 1996 Sendai Sendai Sun Plaza 26 June 1996 Kalamazoo United States Wings Stadium 28 June 1996 Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center 29 June 1996 Noblesville Deer Creek Music Center 30 June 1996 Milwaukee Marcus Amphitheater 2 July 1996 Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center 3 July 1996 Columbus Polaris Amphitheater 5 July 1996 Tinley Park New World Music Theatre 6 July 1996 Charlevoix Castle Farms 7 July 1996 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre 9 July 1996 Burgettstown Star Lake Amphitheatre 10 July 1996 Toronto Canada Molson Amphitheatre 12 July 1996 Corfu United States Darien Lake Performing Arts Center 13 July 1996 Hartford Meadows Music Theater 14 July 1996 Camden E-Center 16 July 1996 Mansfield Great Woods 17 July 1996 Wantagh Jones Beach Amphitheater 19 July 1996 Middletown Orange County Fair 20 July 1996 Scranton Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain 21 July 1996 Holmdel PNC Bank Arts Center 23 July 1996 Bristow Nissan Pavilion 24 July 1996 Virginia Beach Virginia Beach Amphitheatre 26 July 1996 Raleigh Walnut Creek Amphitheatre 27 July 1996 Charlotte Blockbuster Pavilion 28 July 1996 Pelham Oak Mountain Amphitheatre 30 July 1996 St. Louis Riverport Amphitheatre 31 July 1996 Little Rock Riverfront Amphitheatre 2 August 1996 Dallas Starplex Amphitheatre 3 August 1996 Austin South Park Meadows 4 August 1996 The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion North America 14 August 1996 West Palm Beach United States West Palm Beach Amphitheatre 16 August 1996 Atlanta Lakewood Amphitheatre 17 August 1996 Antioch Starwood Amphitheatre 18 August 1996 Lampe Black Oak Mountain 19 August 1996 Little Rock Barton Coliseum 20 August 1996 Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden 21 August 1996 Bonner Springs Sandstone Amphitheater 23 August 1996 Greenwood Village Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre 24 August 1996 Ogden Wolf Mountain 26 August 1996 Phoenix Desert Sky Pavilion 27 August 1996 San Diego SDSU Open Air Theatre 29 August 1996 Irvine Irvine Meadows 30 August 1996 Sacramento California State Fair 31 August 1996 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre 2 September 1996 George The Gorge Amphitheatre 3 September 1996 Vancouver Canada General Motors Place 5 September 1996 Calgary Olympic Saddledome 6 September 1996 Edmonton Edmonton Coliseum 7 September 1996 Saskatoon Saskatchewan Place 9 September 1996 Winnipeg Winnipeg Arena 11 September 1996 Sudbury Sudbury Arena 13 September 1996 Montreal Molson Centre 14 September 1996 Ottawa Corel Centre 15 September 1996 Quebec City Colisée Pepsi 17 September 1996 Saint John Harbour Station 19 September 1996 Halifax Halifax Metro Centre 20 September 1996 Moncton Moncton Coliseum Europe / Africa 5 October 1996 Oslo Norway Sentrum Scene 7 October 1996 Stockholm Sweden Cirkus 8 October 1996 Copenhagen Denmark K.B. Hallen 10 October 1996 Hamburg Germany Grosse Freiheit 11 October 1996 Berlin Tempodrom 12 October 1996 Hanover Music Hall 14 October 1996 Budapest Hungary Sports Hall 15 October 1996 Žilina Slovakia Sports Hall 16 October 1996 Prague Czech Republic Sports Hall 19 October 1996 Cologne Germany E-Werk 20 October 1996 Paris France Zenith 22 October 1996 Neu-Isenburg Germany Hugenottenhalle 23 October 1996 Stuttgart Messe Congresscentrum 24 October 1996 Geneva Switzerland Arena 26 October 1996 San Sebastian Spain Polideportivo 27 October 1996 Barcelona Zeleste 28 October 1996 Madrid Riviera 30 October 1996 Lisbon Portugal Cascais Hall 3 November 1996 Innsbruck Austria Olympiahalle 4 November 1996 Vienna Kurhalle 5 November 1996 Munich Germany Circus Krone 7 November 1996 Milan Italy Palalido 8 November 1996 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion 10 November 1996 Luxembourg City Luxembourg Pétange Centre Sportif 11 November 1996 Leuven Belgium Brabatnhall 14 November 1996 Sheffield England Sheffield Arena 15 November 1996 Birmingham Birmingham NEC 18 November 1996 Belfast Northern Ireland Kings Hall 20 November 1996 Dublin Ireland The Point Theatre 22 November 1996 Manchester England Manchester Arena 23 November 1996 Newcastle Newcastle Arena 24 November 1996 Glasgow Scotland Glasgow SECC 26 November 1996 London England Wembley Arena 27 November 1996 28 November 1996 Exeter University of Exeter 29 November 1996 Cardiff Wales International Arena 30 November 1996 Bournemouth England International Centre 1 December 1996 Brighton Brighton Centre 5 December 1996 Johannesburg South Africa Johannesburg Stadium 7 December 1996 Durban Kings Park Stadium 10 December 1996 Cape Town Green Point Stadium Latin America 2 April 1997 Monterrey Mexico Auditorio Coca-Cola 4 April 1997 Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes 6 April 1997 Guatemala City Guatemala Plaza de Toros 8 April 1997 San Salvador El Salvador Estadio Nacional Adolfo Pineda 10 April 1997 Panama City Panama Entrada de Albrook 12 April 1997 Bogotá Colombia Parque Simón Bolívar 15 April 1997 Quito Ecuador Ruminahui Coliseum 18 April 1997 Santiago Chile Teatro Monumental 19 April 1997 Buenos Aires Argentina Teatro Gran Rex 20 April 1997 Dr. Jekyll Pub 22 April 1997 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Metropolitan 23 April 1997 São Paulo Olympia 24 April 1997 27 April 1997 San Juan Puerto Rico Anfiteatro Luís Muñoz Marín +Key ShowDenotes concert dates that were cancelled and/or rescheduled.
Personnel Credits taken from the Slang World Tour itinerary.
The band Joe Elliott – lead vocals Phil Collen – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals Vivian Campbell – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals Rick Savage – bass, backing vocals Rick Allen – drums
Management Malvin Mortimer – tour manager Jim Pendolino – tour accountant Mark Spring – production manager Butch Allen – set/lighting designer Brad Madix – FOH engineer Phil Wilkey – monitor engineer
Crew David Sutherland – stage manager/bass technician Stan Schiller – guitar technician David Wolff – guitar technician Tony Moon – drum technician Rich Locklin – lighting crew chief Jim Michaelis – lighting technician Ken Zibrat – lighting technician Michael Greene – lighting technician Larry Vodopivek – sound crew chief Rudy Dearing – sound technician Brad Judd – sound technician
References