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.

Opening acts

• Tripping Daisy

• Terrorvision

Set list

Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan (26 June 1996)

1. "Gift of Flesh"

2. "Another Hit and Run"

3. "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)"

4. "Foolin'"

5. "Animal"

6. "All I Want Is Everything"

7. "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad"

8. "Deliver Me"

9. "Hysteria"

10. "Work It Out"

11. "Slang"

12. "Bringin' On the Heartbreak"

13. "Switch 625"

14. "Two Steps Behind" (acoustic)

15. "Photograph"

16. "Rocket"

17. "Armageddon It"

18. "Pour Some Sugar on Me"

    1. Encore

    "Love Bites"

19. "Let's Get Rocked"

20. "Rock of Ages"

Tour dates

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