Def Leppard played a San Antonio Walmart 24 years ago today

Sporting a Spurs conference championship T-shirt, Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliot energizes a huge crowd in the parking lot of Walmart on DeZavala Road on Tuesday, June 8, 1999.

Remember when Def Leppard played at a Northwest Side Walmart parking lot? That was 24 years ago today.

The British arena rock band rocked the parking lot for the grand opening of the new Walmart at Interstate 10 and De Zavala Road on June 8, 1999.

The free concert, which took place on a Tuesday, was attended by thousands of cheering fans — roughly between 8,000 and 10,000 "teens in goth gear to diehard rockers in their 50s," the Express-News reported at the time.

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The iconic band behind the hit "Pour Some Sugar on Me" — and other songs you’re likely to hear at a Harley Davidson dealership or on your dad's radio — was in San Antonio to promote the album "Euphoria."

Hector Saldana, the Express-News’ music writer at the time, noted in 1999 that fans staked out the front of the outdoor stage early and that some came from as far away as Florida and North Carolina.

"This was a full-blown rock show with a giant sound system, portable toilets and lots of security," Saldana wrote. "Wal-Mart was prepared."

Saldana wrote that the crowd went wild when Def Leppard Singer Joe Elliot "took off his black shirt to reveal a San Antonio Spurs T-shirt during the 45-minute set."

The band played the hits, including "Photograph," Rocket," "Armageddon It," and, of course, "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

The unusual performance was Def Leppard's only Walmart concert that year, the band's label told the Express-News. A fall U.S. tour was planned but had not been announced.

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"We wanted the biggest Def Leppard market," Scott Douglas, with Island DefJam Music Group, told the Express-News. Def Leppard formed in Sheffield, England, in 1977 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

The San Antonio Walmart show was certainly not the band's last. In 2002, the band played the grand opening of the Walmart Supercenter in North Carolina.

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