Here's Laurie Compton's exclusive report on LepNet Atlanta '97!

Friday, May 2:
Arrived at our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott, courtesy of the "LepNet Shuttle" (Michele). I flagged her down at the airport by waving at her car (based on her description of it over the phone) and pointing at the Def Leppard logo on my T-shirt.
Our gang checks into our room and soon locate the other LepNetters who have showed up at the hotel. Valerie doesn't arrive until much later. Meanwhile, we freshen up and get acquainted with one another. We realize there is no way we can stick to our original itinerary, so we just "wing it" from this point forward. Everything works out fine, though! We are all wearing Def Leppard T-shirts, and I have handed out little laminated souvenir cards.

We have dinner in the hotel restaurant, not knowing enough about the area to venture forth in search of a decent meal. Finally, during dinner, Valerie and severl others arrive in the lobby. They end up going out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Eventually, we head upstairs to Valerie's room, where a large TV/VCR has been set up, and begin the Def Leppard video marathon. (Most of these tapes courtesy of Becky - is there anything you DON'T have on tape???) I'm not sure how long this went on for...we watched the complete Don Valley Sheffield 1993 concert, the Rick Allen "Fighting Back" special, a Canadian TV interview show from last summer, the Work It Out and Slang videos, an interview from Australian TV, and some other footage. We finally break this up at around 2 a.m. but continue talking in our
room until the early hours. During the night, there are severe thunderstorms. The forecast is for more rain all during Saturday, but...

Saturday, May 3:
Thankfully, the sky clears and it's a beautiful day in the low to mid 70's. We make the three-block walk to the Hard Rock Cafe, where we have a table reserved for lunch. Everyone gets out their cameras and walks around the table snapping photos of our gang. Suddenly, we hear the opening chords of "Rock! Rock! Til You Drop" and our group cheers
wildly! "Too Late for Love" follows. We also located a Hysteria record award and pictures are taken of that. As we are leaving the Hard Rock, we pose for photos outside.

Saturday, May 3, Continued:
Back up the street, we meet at the Radisson Hotel, where we have a function room reserved and several of us have brought our collections. These are set up for all to see, we mingle for another hour, and then we introduce ourselves formally and tell stories about our feelings toward/experiences with Def Leppard. The "Slang" press kits are handed
out, as well as souvenir booklets for LepNet Atlanta 97. The new fan club, Leppard United, is discussed. Pictures, T-shirts, etc. Are distributed. Jon designed the most striking LepNet shirts imaginable!
On to dinner. In several cars, we travel to the Buckhead section of Atlanta and meet up at John Harvard's Brewhouse. A table has been set up for us, and the management has agreed to play "Slang". Lots of applause and cheers when we hear it coming through the speakers. Our waiter claims to be a big Def Leppard fan, but he has never heard Slang until now!
After dinner...on to the Celebrity Rock Cafe. This is the club where Def Leppard played an acoustic gig only months earlier. We all crowd around a space on the wall where they have hung photos from that performance. To our delight, "Armageddon It" is being played over the P.A. system and this draws cheers from our group - unfortunately, the CD
starts skipping halfway through and they have to take it off! We sit sipping our drinks in the main room, and the house band comes on. After their first song, they start making announcements about what "special people" are in the place tonight, and we are introduced as "Members of the Def Leppard Fan Club" - which brings more crazed screaming. We have many more photos taken, then we head off for a couple of other bars.
We are unable to get into the Cheesecake Factory due to overcrowding (no seating), and one of our group is under 21, so they are refusing her entrance to a couple of the clubs. So half the gang heads back to the hotel and the rest of us stay out to check out one more bar. Michele and I ask the lead singer of the band there if they can play a Def Leppard song, but he claims his band mates don't know any of the songs so we are out of luck! Oh well, at least we tried...we head back at about 1:00 and start knocking on doors, hoping to continue the party. The video machine isn't running anymore, but we have a better idea...Jon has brought his guitar and promised us a little run-through of Leppard material, so we sit around his room and sing along to "Two Steps Behind" - we don't sound as good as Def Leppard, but we have a good time trying!

Sunday, May 4:
More talking & socializing until the early hours of the morning...I think I got into bed at 5:15 and woke up at 9:00! We attended a big record show, and Lep items were in abundance! Many treasures were found, and I think everyone left happy. It was like one big family for that weekend. We spent quite a bit of time together and had lots of laughs. Everyone got along just great...it was wonderful to be around so many people who love the band and enjoy talking about them. Can't wait to do this again!

Laurie
"Leppard United" International Fan Club

(Thanx to the one & only LL Kid from the Def Leppard Historia Web Site & Laurie Compton from the Def Leppard fan club 'Leppard United' for their help)