Today’s Blimp Time-Hop

30 years ago this this week, Def Leppard brought the Hysteria tour to Portland! That night will always be an especially memorable one for me. I was 20 years old and had been on air at WBLM for less than a month. The legendary Jose Diaz was my boss and he asked me if I’d be willing to go onstage and welcome the crowd. Up until that point, my view was looking from the crowd to the stage, never from the stage to the crowd. Yikes! Without hesitation, I agreed. When yer 20, yer bold like that I guess. But remember I'd never done this before so on the inside, I was freakin’ out! There’s gonna be like 8,000 Def Lep fans out there! When the time came to walk out and step up to the mic in front of a sold-out Civic Center in that sky-blue satin BLM jacket (see above), I was wicked nervous…until I spoke four powerful letters. When I said, “Good evening Portland. My name is Brian James (a few claps and hoots). Then I said, “And I’m from WBLM.” (the entire place erupted!) My job was to welcome the crowd and it turned out that they welcomed me in the best way possible. Mind-blown...all because of four powerful letters. Letters that will always be bigger than any DJ who ever got to pilot the the Blimp. Now on with the show. Killer music! Killer lasers! In the round! What a night!

Watch great live footage of Pour Some Sugar On Me featuring the return of the Thunder God Rick Allen from the Hysteria tour.

And let's not forget the ass kicking we received from the opening act! A new band to the scene named Tesla!