7. Def Leppard - Donington Monsters Of Rock, Castle Donington 1986
On new years eve 1984, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident. He flipped his Corvette Stingray on a Yorkshire country road and the seat belt came un-clipped and severed his arm clean off from the shoulder. Can you think of a worse incident to happen to a drummer?! The band had been on top of the world after 1983's 'Pyromania' that had sold six million copies, mainly in the U.S. They then toured extensively off the back of the record but were largely ignored in their home country, especially as the music press had turned on them for selling out to America. All they were doing was what all British bands dream of, but rarely achieve, breaking America, who could deny them that? When the 'Pyromania' tour ended the band all relocated to Dublin to live as tax exiles and collectively write the follow up. After a few false starts and huge pressure to duplicate, and ultimately better, their monstrous success, Rick's accident happen. Surgeons did re-attach his arm, it became infected and had to be removed again, with no hope of a second attempt. Rick was devastated but didn't lose all hope, and with the help of some engineers, devised a way of designing an electronic kit that would feature pedals that would allow him to play everything he did with his left arm, with his left foot instead. He had hope and one day in the studio when he told all the band members to come into the room he was using to relearn drumming, a perfect version of the intro to 'When the Levee Breaks', by Led Zeppelin, prompted tears and hugs from all and the band felt justified in never even thinking of replacing him. The band finally finished the sessions that would eventually become the essential and classic album, 'Hysteria' which not only went on to outsell Pyromania by some distance, it also became one of the top selling albums of
all time. They then decided that joining the bill at the annual Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. The release of 'Hysteria' was still a year away but the band wanted to get back onstage as it had been three years since they last played live. To break Rick back in the band decided on a week of low-key gigs in Ireland before the Donington show. Rick had the idea of having another kit onstage where Jeff Rich of Status Quo would play the set with him, just incase. Jeff had a flight delayed to the third show and Rick had to play the 45 minutes on his own and didn't miss a beat. Afterwards, Jeff said to Rick, "You've got this mate, I'm out of here". The band were mid bill, sandwiched between Motorhead and the Scorpions, 60.000 people were curious to see how "The Leps" would go down, due to the attention the band had payed to the States in recent years and also with having a one-armed drummer. They went onstage and Singer, Joe Elliot, had promised himself that he wasn't going to play on Rick's triumph, and said nothing. A few songs in, Elliot recalled that he could just feel the tension in the air, the crowd wanted something to be said and with that, the front man simply said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, MR RICK ALLEN ON THE DRUMS". The roar was deafening and extended, the field just erupted and Allen burst into tears. The band continued on to deliver a terrific set and previewed a few tracks from the upcoming new record, including a memorable rendition of 'Animal'. Backstage, the band truly felt like they had finally made a breakthrough in the U.K., and been accepted by their home country. They were back and ready to become the biggest band in the world, and for a couple years in the late 80's, they were.