Audio - Interview - Vivian - Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon - 31Jul2019

[CindyJ]

Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon presents Def Leppard guitarist, Vivian Campbell.

During our conversation, Vivian details the band's upcoming Def Leppard Hits Vegas: The Sin City Residency, how it differs from their previous Viva! Hysteria residency, playing material they've never played before, working on new music ideas, working on the next Last In Line album while in Vegas, Jeff Pilson, recording the Vegas shows for a live album/DVD, the possibility of residencies in other cities, Canada and more.

This interview was conducted July 26th 2019

Listen Here

Vivian: "We wanna make it a really special show in Vegas. We've gotta make it something different from our regular touring show, and that's the great thing about doing a residency in Vegas. You really have license to mix it up. We're gonna be playing some songs we've never played and some songs we haven't played in close to three decades."

Vivian: "We wanna keep it a bit of a surprise, at least for the first night. Although it is gonna be different. We are gonna mix it up a little bit night to night.... We want to try and make every show at least different by one song. We haven't even decided on the exact set yet. We're still even debating what we're gonna open with and how we're gonna reveal the show and all that stuff."

Vivian: "There is no specific focus, unlike the Viva Hysteria. That was the first time we'd ever done an album in sequence, and we had to build a show around that. We broke that show up into parts. This show is going to be a bit more career retrospective. There's going to be some very new material that we've never played before as well as some very old material. I think there's a song we're actually working on today that I think I played with the band once in a club in Dublin, which was my very very first time on stage with Def Leppard.... I think that was the only time we ever played this particular song. So, it is more a career retrospective show. We are gonna try and have a part of the show that's gonna be more intimate. Not quite acoustic but we're gonna strip it down and kinda focus on the vocal aspect of the band. It's something that we're pretty well known for is being a hard rock band with really strong vocals -- to put it in a more intimate setting so we can really make that be a focal point of the show as well. It's still being decided literally and it will be right up until the last minute. We're going into Vegas a few days early to rehearse and work on the stage show and how we're gonna present it. It's exciting. It's a different thing for us. It's very different to do a Vegas show than to do a normal touring show."

Vivian: "The other great thing about Vegas is we're not up against a hard curfew. We can play as long as we want. It's a pretty cushy schedule. We're only doing about three shows a week and we're not traveling in between. We'll be well-rested, and I think we'll be well-up for giving people their moneys-worth."

Vivian: "We are actually thinking about recording this one as well as a visual package, but obviously to do that we've gotta make it very, ver different from Viva Hysteria, which we intend to do anyway. It also has to be different from any other live recordings that we've done over the last several years, which is why there's no such thing as a day off here on the road. We're really focusing our efforts on trying to make this Vegas show something very unique, because we know that it has to be unique first and foremost and especially if it's gonna be televised at some stage. If we do that, it's obviously gonna be at the end of the run."

[diva]

Jul 31, 2019 8:10:30 GMT -8 CindyJ said:

Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon presents Def Leppard guitarist, Vivian Campbell.

During our conversation, Vivian details the band's upcoming Def Leppard Hits Vegas: The Sin City Residency, how it differs from their previous Viva! Hysteria residency, playing material they've never played before, working on new music ideas, working on the next Last In Line album while in Vegas, Jeff Pilson, recording the Vegas shows for a live album/DVD, the possibility of residencies in other cities, Canada and more.

This interview was conducted July 26th 2019

Listen Here

Vivian: "We wanna make it a really special show in Vegas. We've gotta make it something different from our regular touring show, and that's the great thing about doing a residency in Vegas. You really have license to mix it up. We're gonna be playing some songs we've never played and some songs we haven't played in close to three decades."

Vivian: "We wanna keep it a bit of a surprise, at least for the first night. Although it is gonna be different. We are gonna mix it up a little bit night to night.... We want to try and make every show at least different by one song. We haven't even decided on the exact set yet. We're still even debating what we're gonna open with and how we're gonna reveal the show and all that stuff."

Vivian: "There is no specific focus, unlike the Viva Hysteria. That was the first time we'd ever done an album in sequence, and we had to build a show around that. We broke that show up into parts. This show is going to be a bit more career retrospective. There's going to be some very new material that we've never played before as well as some very old material. I think there's a song we're actually working on today that I think I played with the band once in a club in Dublin, which was my very very first time on stage with Def Leppard.... I think that was the only time we ever played this particular song. So, it is more a career retrospective show. We are gonna try and have a part of the show that's gonna be more intimate. Not quite acoustic but we're gonna strip it down and kinda focus on the vocal aspect of the band. It's something that we're pretty well known for is being a hard rock band with really strong vocals -- to put it in a more intimate setting so we can really make that be a focal point of the show as well. It's still being decided literally and it will be right up until the last minute. We're going into Vegas a few days early to rehearse and work on the stage show and how we're gonna present it. It's exciting. It's a different thing for us. It's very different to do a Vegas show than to do a normal touring show."

Vivian: "The other great thing about Vegas is we're not up against a hard curfew. We can play as long as we want. It's a pretty cushy schedule. We're only doing about three shows a week and we're not traveling in between. We'll be well-rested, and I think we'll be well-up for giving people their moneys-worth."

Vivian: "We are actually thinking about recording this one as well as a visual package, but obviously to do that we've gotta make it very, ver different from Viva Hysteria, which we intend to do anyway. It also has to be different from any other live recordings that we've done over the last several years, which is why there's no such thing as a day off here on the road. We're really focusing our efforts on trying to make this Vegas show something very unique, because we know that it has to be unique first and foremost and especially if it's gonna be televised at some stage. If we do that, it's obviously gonna be at the end of the run."

Thank you. I wish they would have said this from the beginning of the announcement of the residency.

[notastrangelady73]

I checked and he must be referencing DHTH as that and Rock Rock were the only "rare" songs they played that year when he joined the band. Well those and Stand Up but that was only done in Casper, WY of all places. Weird. The set list at the club in Dublin has both Rock Rock (brought back to follow Stagefright) and DHTH after GOW. Damn what a show they got to see!

So in addition to Billy, guess they are working on Hunter as well for the Residency. Running out of Pyro rarities and I doubt they will add CUF and ANW to those epics. Although it would be nice. But then it would likely be Viva Pyromania now wouldn't it? Sigh.