THE ZOO KZEW RADIO PROJECT

Def Leppard has performed in San Antonio multiple times since their first visits in June 1980, with notable shows including their 1987 Hysteria tour stop, a 2003 concert, and more recently, their August 16, 2024, Summer Stadium Tour performance at the Alamodome alongside Journey and the Steve Miller Band. Remarks from the band about San Antonio often surface in live show reports, where they’ve acknowledged the crowd’s energy or the city’s reception.

For instance, during their 2024 Alamodome show, frontman Joe Elliott reportedly commented on the San Antonio audience’s enthusiasm. According to a detailed show report from deflepparduk.com, Joe acknowledged the crowd’s volume before performing "Two Steps Behind" and again during "Bringin’ On The Heartbreak," suggesting that the San Antonio fans were the loudest on the tour so far. This echoes a moment from 2000 when the band noted San Antonio as having an exceptionally loud crowd, even sharing a free MP3 of the audience’s noise online at the time. These remarks reflect the band’s appreciation for the city’s passionate fans, especially during their third Texas stop of the 2024 tour, where over 45,000 people filled the 72,000-capacity venue.

Going further back, fan reviews from a 2003 San Antonio show provide another angle. One attendee noted Joe Elliott encouraging the upper decks to stand up, implying the crowd’s energy was uneven—possibly due to the mid-90s heat that night—though the band still seemed to enjoy themselves. Another fan remarked on Joe dedicating "Long Long Way to Go" to the San Antonio Spurs, referencing a recent basketball game with the comment, “It was fucking crazy last night,” showing a casual, positive engagement with local culture.

There’s no evidence of controversial or negative remarks about San Antonio from Def Leppard in these accounts. Instead, their comments tend to highlight the crowd’s responsiveness or local flavor, often in the heat of a live performance. If you’re referring to a specific incident or quote not captured here—like something from an interview or an off-stage moment—it’s possible it’s buried in an obscure source I can’t access with the given data. Could you clarify if you had a particular event or remark in mind?

I was curious about this myself, and found something about a comment made in El Paso, Tx, back in the late 80s.

Not sure about past negative comments. Def Leppard is definetly not banned from Texas. I was at the August 16th 2024 San Antonio Stadium Tour show. All bands impressed. Def Leppard had nothing but good things to say about SA and Texas. Journey had positive comments about the city / crowd and Steve Miller commented the band once played at the San Antonio Rodeo. LoL. The crowd was very much a loud singing group and yes Joe Elliot did say the crowd was the loudest of the tour. He let the crowd sing most of the last 1/4 of Bringin' on the Heartbreak.