Live Review: Def Leppard – London

Live Review: Def Leppard – The O2, London

2nd July 2026
Support: Extreme
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin

The O2 Arena looked absolutely fabulous with early evening sun and we’re in for a real treat this evening.

Opening for Def Leppard is no easy feat, tonight stepping up to the challenge are Extreme and instantly they take it in their stride. Opening up with ‘Decadence Dance’ gives the fans the unmistakable riffs that Extreme have been gracing our ears with for forty years, proving that their confidence as they entered the stage in front of the 15,000+ fans was not misplaced.

Gary Cherone is absolutely at his peak, for a man that is touching on 65 years old everything about the performance is incredible. The first thing to note is his voice, it doesn’t sound tired or flat, just on point, with that ever so familiar tone that he has always had. Then there is his movement on stage, the guy packs so much energy and moves in ways that would put a lot of twenty year olds to shame. 

Backing up these vocals is the incredible Nuno Bettencourt, his abilities on guitar were pretty much unmatched in their hay day and even now put a lot of other guitarists to shame.  With Pat Badger and Kevin Figueiredo completing the line up, both bringing their all to the O2 this performance was headline worthy.

‘#REBEL’, ‘Hole Hearted’ and ‘Rest in Peace’ continuing the flawless performance, then there is a nice little tribute before ‘Play With Me’; starting the song with the intro to Queen’s We Will Rock You, a nice homage to a band that Extreme list as one of their influences. That wasn’t the only respect paid though, a fitting one to close the set on, a medley of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘I Don’t Know’, ‘Bark At The Moon’ and ‘Crazy Train’ which was perfectly executed and very well received by the London audience. 

This opener for the evening was nothing short of perfect. High energy hard rock is a great way to get everyone hyped up for Def Leppard. 

Def Leppard’s return to the O2 after eight years feels very much like a celebration of their career, the last time they were here they played their album Hysteria in full. Tongihts show on the other hand is a lot more varied. 

Highlighting the arena with an impressive lighting set up, a massive triangle of lights rise above Joe Elliott and his band of merry men.
As soon as they broke into ‘Rejoice’ the bass drum of Rick Allen could be felt throughout, the vibration could barely be dampened. Being that loud you would think it would be over bearing on the mix, however it wasn’t, it fitted in perfectly and didn’t over power any of the other elements. 

Following up with ‘Animal’ straight into ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ get the whole arena locked in, with them chanting along in a way that you hear in live recordings. The inclusion of ‘Armageddon It’ later in the set reinforced just how stacked their catalogue remains, while newer material such as ‘Just Like ’73’ sat comfortably alongside the classics.

From the first songs, it was clear the band were operating at full arena scale, both musically and visually, The earlier mention of the exceptionally loud bass is very quickly forgotten about, with the sound mix filling every section of the stadium. The band leaned into their melodic strengths throughout the set, with ‘Bringin’ On The Heartbreak’, ‘Love Bites’ and ‘Promises’ each being delivered with such confidence that only gets polished after such an extensive career of touring together. Even when they throw in a cover of ‘Personal Jesus, a somewhat unexpected cover, they nailed adding their own sound to it. 

Having such a large back catalogue of albums, all with their own unique sounds means that there is a chance that the set list can feel messy when chopping and changing between era’s, however this set list has been very well thought out, nothing feels as though it is out of place. Having one of their most recent releases, ‘Just Like ‘73’ played just before 1987’s ‘Rocket’ proves this point. Whilst their sound has varied throughout the years the core Def Leppard sound means that they can get away with this kind of combination. Going from songs that get a crowd singing along to more intricate songs, shows that they have learnt a thing or two over the years about how to keep a show the centre of everyone’s attention. 

The final stretch of the night was where the show peaked, those tunes songs that everyone wanted to hear most. Finishing the main set with ‘Photograph’ would have been an ok end to the evening, However ok is not what Def Leppard are about. The encore starts with the ballad of ‘When Love and Hate Collide’ bringing the tone and energy down a small amount before the big finish. ‘Hysteria’ brings that energy back up, including the earlier version of the intro. Much to everyone’s delight.

Then the big one, it’s cliche, but when you thinks Def Leppard you think this song, ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’. What a finish that was and whilst it was the obvious last song to play that does not make it any less special. An unforgettable show and a very welcome return to the O2. Noteworthy in many ways and an incredible night that showed that the bands that were around at the birth of heavy rock, metal, and all the genres that spawned from that time, have still got the ability to show up and impress every single person in the arena. 

Photo credits: Tom Atkin