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Post by CindyJ on Jul 30, 2019 17:45:58 GMT -8
 This interview contains spoilers for the Las Vegas residency setlist and production.JT & Billy Kidd sat for a chat with Vivian Campbell guitarist from Def Leppard ahead of the band's upcoming Las Vegas residency, Wednesday August 14th at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Interview conducted July 15th. Listen HereVivian: "When we go to Vegas, we have a residency, we intend to mix it up. Make every show a little bit different. So we need to have this catalog of tracks we can play. We're rehearsing some songs we haven't played in, I'd guess, almost 30 years. Every show should be a little bit different from the one before it." Vivian: "We're also in the process of putting together with our Production Manager, a very visually exciting show. A different part of the show that will feature a satellite stage and a more intimate aspect of a Def Leppard performance, which will also see us performing some songs that we've never performed live before. All in all, it's an exciting undertaking. Something that's very different from a normal touring show, and for us it gives us a chance to sleep in the same bed for a month." Vivian: "We have a list that we're pulling from while we're up here in Canada for the next two, two and a half weeks. We're gonna be rehearsing new songs daily. Just today we were working on Billy's Got a Gun. We worked on the song Now from the X album and Slang -- the title track of that album. And there's many, many others we're pullin' out. Like I said, there'll also be a song or two we've never performed live before. It's a bit of a challenge for us to squeeze it all in, but we've never shied from a challenge. We've always been a band that has a very high work-ethic. We've just gotta roll up the sleeves and get into it. It's kinda exciting to do something a little bit different for us." |
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Post by Greta on Jul 30, 2019 19:34:22 GMT -8
My transcript of the JT & Billy Kidd Podcast. As Cindy noted in her original post, there are some spoilers for the Vegas shows included, so heads-up if you’re trying to avoid them!
A couple of places I couldn't catch what he said and just noted the time stamp.
Radio Host: Hey, Viv!
Vivian: Hey, how’s it going?
RH: Good, how are you?
Vivian: I am good, thank you very much.
RH: All right. Are you guys touring in Canada right now?
Vivian: Yeah, we’re playing Quebec City tonight.
RH: How’s that going?
Vivian: It’s going great. We just soundchecked and we’re rehearsing some songs for the Vegas residency, you know. Some old chestnuts.
RH: [laughs] How do you keep sound checks interesting after all these years?
Vivian: [laughs] Ah we don’t. It’s interesting now because we’re playing—you know, we’re actually having to do a bit of homework on the days off and you know we all kind of sat 1:09 to have a listen to this song at sound check. So that’s what we did today and in fact every day of this Canadian run we’re playing a new song at soundcheck and, you know, recapping the old ones. So we’re trying to—the Vegas show is an opportunity for us to do something different from the normal greatest hits show. So many of the songs kind of write themselves into our setlist. You know, we kind of have to play certain songs, the big big hits. You know, but when we go to Vegas to have a residency we intended to mix it up, you know, make every show a little bit different. You know, so we need to have this catalogue of tracks that we can play. You know, we’re rehearsing some songs that we haven’t played, I’d guess, in almost thirty years. Some of them, you know.
RH: Okay, so you’re gonna do new and different stuff for your Vegas residency, huh.
Vivian: Yeah. So every song—every show should be a little bit different than the one before, you know. Keep us out of trouble.
RH: Well, Vegas, you can get in a little bit of trouble there.
Vivian: I know, exactly! That’s why we wanna focus on our work so that we don’t get in trouble.
RH: Yeah, and I’m just interested to get your thoughts on the whole Vegas thing. We’ve been able to take to some of your contemporaries that are doing this now and, all of a sudden, it’s like this thing. 80s rock is in Vegas now. It seemed like nobody was really doing it and then all of a sudden quite a few of you guys are doing it. Aerosmith is doing it now. What are your thoughts on the whole shebang?
Vivian: I think it’s great, you know. It’s a different kind of an audience. You get a lot of the hardcore fans flying out to Vegas and making a trip out of it. And you get a lot of, I suppose, incidental fans, you know, people that happen to be in Vegas and realize that, you know, this rock band that they’ve always wanted to see, you know, happens to be doing a residency, be it Aerosmith or Def Leppard or ZZ Top or whatever. You know, I think it’s perfectly legitimate to do. There was a time, a decade or so, maybe, where a lot of bands kind of thought and said eh, I don’t if I wanna do that; I don’t know if it feels right. But I think it’s perfectly legitimate to do now. And it really does, as a performer, as I said earlier, it gives you a chance to expand your show and do something a little bit different. It gives you a certain artistic license and a lot of leeway to do things that you couldn’t normally or wouldn’t normally do on a touring show. You know, aside from playing different songs every night we’re also in the process of putting together with our production managers a very visually exciting show and a different part of the show that’ll feature like a satellite stage and a more intimate aspect of the Def Leppard performance. Which will also see us performing some songs that we’ve never performed live before.
You know, all in all, it’s an exciting undertaking and very different from something that’s a normal touring show and for us it also gives us a chance to sleep in the same bed for a month, you know? Something we don’t normally get to do.
RH: Can you give us a hint, maybe, of some of the older songs that you haven’t played in a while that you’re—or is it a surprise?
Vivian: Uh, we have a list that we’re pulling from and while we’re up here in Canada for the next two, two and a half weeks, we’re gonna be rehearsing new songs daily. But you know, just today we were working on Billy’s Got a Gun. We worked on the song Now, from the X album, and Slang, title track of that album. And there’s many, many others that we’re pulling out. And like I said, there’ll also be a song or two that we’ve never performed live before.
You know, so it’s a bit of a challenge for us to squeeze it all in. But we, you know, we’ve never shied from a challenge. We’ve always been a band that has a very high work ethic. We’ve just gotta roll up the sleeves and get into it, you know. It’s kind of exciting to do something a little different for us.
RH: You mentioned making sure to focus on work while you’re there. Do you get involved with any of the vices or eccentricities of Vegas? Partake?
Vivian: No. I don’t mind Las Vegas as long as I’m working. And I’ve actually planned work for the days that I’m not working with Def Leppard. I have a project band, a side band, called Last in Line, which is the remnant of the original Dio band of which I was a part. So, you know, we have a couple albums out and I’m always touring with those guys 5:43. Get an Air BnB, see it in a different light.
But yeah, Vegas is not for me. I’m not a gambler, you know. I’m Irish so of course I can drink, so, you know, but I don’t need to go to Las Vegas to do that. It’s an interesting place. It’s not the kind of place that I’d want to spend a lot of time if I’m not there for a purpose, you know? That’s just me.
RH: Well. Speaking of Dio. His hologram tour just came through Dallas. What do you think about that?
Vivian: Well, I haven’t actually seen it. I saw a little bit of video when it was first talked about a couple of years ago. Um, you know, I think if you look at what the Dio Disciples are doing and what Vinnie Appice and I are doing in Last in Line with Phil Soussan and Andrew Freeman, you know, it’s a very very different thing. We’re not only playing the songs that Vinnie and I wrote and recorded with Ronnie from the early Dio albums, but we’re also, we’ve expanded now. We have two albums out. So we’ve kind of progressed beyond that. But I think both bands are certainly valid because we’re both kind of keeping the legacy of that music alive, you know. I mean Vinnie and myself, together with Jimmie Bain, unfortunately Jimmie passed away. We’re very proud of the music we made with Ronnie. You know, the Holy Diver album, the Last in Line album itself from which we took our name, and Sacred Heart, which was the third album and my final album for Dio before I got fired. But, you know, it’s a great body of work.
Both bands are certainly valid because we’re both kind of keeping the legacy of that music alive, you know. Vinnie and myself, together with Jimmie Bain’s excitement, when I play with Vinnie Appice it really just makes me a better guitar player. You know, it’s a great way for Vinnie and I to celebrate our history of those songs, you know, and to have one eye out to the future, you know, with the new songs we’ve written with Andrew and Phil. You know, I think both are serving the legacy of Dio the band and Ronnie Dio the man, you know. Personally I’d rather see a live act than a hologram, but I have not actually seen it in the flesh [laughs] or as much as you can say in the flesh. Uh, you know, I’ve only seen a small video clip, but it’s all good in keeping the legacy of that music alive.
RH: Well you know what this means, Viv. A very very long time from now, I’m sure, you too will be performing as a hologram in Def Leppard one day. [laughs]
Vivian: Uh, yeah, I don’t doubt. It’s an interesting time we live in, I mean, you know, technology is changing things and all of our lives at just an unbelievable pace. Who’d’ve thought we’d all be talking to our watches and cell phones and stuff, you know?
RH: That’ll be some funny rights for you to sign over, to see who gets the royalties from your hologram in the future.
Vivian: [laughs] I’m sure Wendy Dio will get them. She gets everything else, so why not?
RH: You know, I saw you on the Sacred Heart tour when you guys were in Boulder, Colorado, with Dio back in the 80s and I was a huge Dio fan back then, and I was a huge Def Leppard fan. What was maybe your favorite Dio song to play?
Vivian: You know, the Sacred Heart album itself was a difficult record for us to make and as such it was kind of tainted, for me. And I think for some of the other guys too. I mean, Ronnie was separated from Wendy and his mood was really really dark and you know, there was no joy in what we were doing at that stage? Whereas on the Holy Diver album and the Last in Line album, they were both joyous work experiences where everyone wanted to participate and everyone did participate. And you’d go into the studio and you wouldn’t leave when you did your part. You know everyone would be there, encouraging everyone else and really kind of having input on it.
And by the time we got to the Sacred Heart album there was a real division that had started to be sewn in the band, you know, where I think Wendy was trying really to keep Ronnie separate from the band, trying to push it as being a solo act instead of being a band, you know. And we always wrote—those early albums, we wrote them with everyone in the same room, kicking around song ideas. There was a real energy and vitality to that that I think was starting to not be there by the time we were doing Sacred Heart. So it was a strange tour, you know. That was the tour where I could sense it was the end of the line for me, you know, the promise of the original band was not gonna be kept. And I knew that my time [laughs] was usurped. And it certainly did, you know. In a very inelegant fashion, but you know, such is life, you move on. But as a result of all that happened on that tour and with that album and getting fired, it really left a bad taste in my mouth and it took a long long time for me to come full circle and realize, you know, that those early Dio albums were as much my legacy and Jimmie’s and Vinnie’s as they were Ronnie’s. You know, we all created on those records and so they should be celebrated. And I’m really enjoying going out there and playing it. I love playing that stuff with Vinnie again. It really energizes me as a guitar player and makes me better. I think I’m playing better than I’ve ever played in my life and, in fact, doing that really vitalizes me to come back to Def Leppard. I feel better as a member of Def Leppard than I’ve ever been in terms of the performance. You know, all the guys in Leppard, we all have something extracurricular going on. You know, Joe has his Down ‘n’ Outz band that I think he’s got his third album that he’s coming out with that, and Phil has Delta Deep and Manraze, and you know, so when we go and do these things, we come back revitalized for Def Leppard. In Leppard we’re playing better than we’ve ever played, you know. We keep advancing our own show, you know, and making it more detailed so it’s better and better. Life is good, you know?
RH: Well you mentioned it coming full circle and speaking of that, congrats on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I always love watching the telecast, the rebroadcast, I guess, on HBO. I really noticed this year, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it like this, especially when it comes to your contemporaries who’ve gotten in recently, such a celebration for a band. You guys went last, it was awesome, and you in particular got some really cool recognition, I think. How do you feel about all that?
Vivian: We’re all very flattered by it. It’s not something that we expected or were looking for, but it’s nice that Def Leppard, I think, finally got some recognition. Prior to my being in the band—I’m still the new guy in Leppard, you know. I’ve only been here twenty-seven years. But prior to that I was a Leppard fan from day 1. I remember, you know, buying the early singles from the first album and so on and so forth. As a fan of Def Leppard, I was very very surprised that the band got no recognition for either the Pyromania album or the Hysteria album in terms of getting Grammy’s or any industry awards. That for me, personally, always kind of framed my reference for what I think about industry awards. I don’t always think that they go where they’re deserved, certainly not in a timely manner. But I think that it’s nice that Leppard finally got this. I think that my bandmates—I’m not sure about me! [laughs] You know, maybe I just got in by default. But you know, Joe and Sav and Rick and Phil, you know, and the late Steve Clark, they definitely deserve to be there, and Pete Willis too. He was very much a part of the original band. I think it’s a very well-deserved honor.
RH: Well, we’re kind of running out of time, but I wanted to ask about your health. How are you doing?’
Vivian: I’m good, thanks. It’s always been the least of my concerns, even when I first had a cancer diagnosis. At first I was very shocked like you would be naturally, you know, I did six months of chemo, the cancer came back. And I did more chemo and the cancer came back. I got a stem cell transplant and the cancer came back [laughs]. And then, about four years ago, I was very fortunate I got on a clinical trial for this new wonder drug pembrolizumab. It’s, you’ll see it market on TV as Keytruda. It’s the drug I think they’ve given to people with multiple cancer. It really is dependent on a genetic marker that you have in your body and I happen to be one of about 30 percent or something of the population who have this genetic marker. So I’m very fortunate that I’m able to take this infusion once a month and it holds the cancer at bay and there’s minimal side effects and I can go on with my life and do my work.
But to be honest, I’ve always given cancer the big finger, you know, even at my worst when I was doing really hardcore chemo. I was still out on tour. I had no hair, I had no eyebrows, I was throwing up after the shows. But my work has always kept me alive. It’s always given me great joy and great purpose and I was very thankful to my bandmates in Leppard that they allowed me to continue on tour when I was, you know, a bit of liability, considering how ill I was. But it really gave me purpose, you know, and helped me through the worst of it. And I consider myself to be very lucky.
RH: Well, that’s awesome. It’s really good to hear that that’s working for you.
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Post by tsmith on Jul 31, 2019 5:04:28 GMT -8
Good stuff. Have to say though that I really don't believe the crowds in Vegas are that fundamentally different than the crowds they see on a normal tour. I mean, just because they're playing a series of shows in the same place doesn't mean it's the same people in the crowd every night or that every person in the crowd is a die hard fan. So it just irritates me a little that they work so hard to mix things up in Vegas yet refuse to take a similar approach on their normal tours. Frankly, I think almost every show they play on a tour has a whole lot of "die-hard fans". I mean, most people aren't paying $150 or more for a ticket to see a band they "sorta" like. And when they tour I'd bet there are very,very large percentages of people in the crowd that have been to a Leppard show before. Still plenty of reasons to be mixing things up at least a little. Sorry....I know this has been said a million times but setlist talk always fires me up and bummed that I can't make it  At least there's You Tube though  |
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