Interview -- Joe -- Las Vegas Sun, Aug142019 AUDIO AND TRANSCRIPT
Aug 14, 2019 6:52:57 GMT -8
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Post by Greta on Aug 14, 2019 6:52:57 GMT -8
Happy Residency Day #1, folks! Here we go ...
New interview with Joe. Interview starts at about 00:06:10 and ends at about 00:15:20.
Listen HERE.
Host: Let me start by offering you a late congratulations on the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. That’s pretty amazing.
Joe: It is. The more time passes, you find out more facts that you never thought about. Like apparently as of right now, there’s only 330 artists in the Hall of Fame. And if someone had said to me in 1977 when we first put this band together that we’d be one of them one day, I’d be like going, “Yeah righto.” [laughs] Well you know, it’s yeah, it’s been a hell of a ride really since kind of about 18 months ago when we started getting whispers of possibilities of it all. You know, we were like—you know, we weren’t avoiding it, but we were just oblivious to it really ’cause we just really never thought we’d be invited, you know, ’cause you did get the impression over the years that it was the exclusive club for the cool kids … which we never thought that people would consider us to be. So we just plowed our own little furrow, you know, and got on with our career never really expecting anything. But then when we heard about the fan vote—which again, by the time we found out about it had been going on for about three or four years—it made a huge difference in our, I don’t want to say appreciation or our acceptance of it, if you like. But if the fans were involved, which we would consider the real people, then it puts a whole new twist on it. So it was nice for them that we got in this year.
Host: So you guys are headed back to Vegas for a new residency show at Planet Hollywood this summer. Why was now the right time to come back to Vegas for this residency and do it bigger than you did before?
Joe: Well, because last year was an enormous commitment to an American tour. We went out with Journey with these 60 shows, you know, between 10 stadiums and 50 giant arenas, all that kind of stuff. We just can’t come back a year later and expect to do the same thing, you know, but we didn’t want to kind of just disappear out of sight, you know, so it was the perfect year really. We’ve got—the year started off for us with the Hall of Fame and then we’re currently in Europe. I mean as I speak to you we’re having a day off in Oslo in Norway. We played a place called Trondheim last night, which is [laughs], it has to be near the Arctic Circle because in the middle of June or towards the end of June it was 46 degrees, which is like freezing cold! [laughs] Yeah, and it was raining and it was windy and it was outdoors and it was kind of difficult, but you know, good crowd.
And we’ve got Oslo tomorrow night and then we’re heading to Germany and then we got Spain and then we’ve got three weeks in Canada. So we kind of, we haven’t been other than in Brooklyn for the Hall of Fame. We haven’t been in America this year at all. But to go over in August for what is essentially 12 shows in one city, we consider that kind of off the beaten track from what you’d called the regular touring situation. So it was the perfect year for us to come back and do it.
You know, we haven’t been there since 2013—six years ago since we did the Viva Hysteria residency—and this one is going to be vastly different to that though. We’re not doing the same show, and hopefully we won’t do the same show twice either. We’re rehearsing a ton of songs that we’ve either not played for a long time and never played ever and mixing them in with the ones that we couldn’t get out of the room if we didn’t play, so it will be interesting to pick the set every time we play because you know, there are certain songs we have to play. And when I say that, I’m not saying that because other than we wanna play ’em, you know. When we say we have to play ’em it’s not a case of saying there’ll be a lynching if we didn’t, though there could possibly be one, I don’t know. But with us we’ve never been scared of the hits. You know, it’s like our mantra has always been “if you can’t handle the responsibility of writing a hit then don’t write it.” I’m more than happy for the rest of my life while I’m physically able to sing Photograph, Rock of Ages, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Foolin’, you know, whatever. I’m more than happy to do it because you get such a kick doing them onstage in front of an audience that feels the same way I feel when I’m out front watching McCartney doing Helter Skelter or the Stones doing Give me Shelter or whatever, you know. You transpose yourself into that situation. You never get bored of doing the songs. You may do in rehearsals, but not so much in front of an audience. So it’s a perfect time to do it. You know, it’s 12 shows. It’s over three weeks. I’ve got mates there. We get to sleep in the same bed for 30 days, you know. [laughs] What’s wrong with this picture?
Host: When you guys did that Hard Rock residency a few years back, did that teach you anything about Las Vegas or the Las Vegas audience that you didn’t already know before? Because you guys have been coming to Vegas for many years on tours and stuff like that, but it’s a different, like you just said, it’s a different animal when you’re here for weeks like that.
Joe: Yeah, we’ve done Vegas the same way as we’ve done New York, LA, San Francisco. You’re in for the night, you’re out. You know. I’ve got friends in Vegas; I’ve stayed there before. You’re aware of Vegas through TV shows and just reputation that you read about it. For us Brits that didn’t set foot in America till I was 21 years old, the Vegas that we were aware of was like the Ocean’s 11 original version, if you like. And it literally was the Deans Martins and the Sammy Davises and the Sinatras and the Wayne Newtons that we were aware of. Kind of an elephants’ graveyard where you went to when you die sort of thing.
So what you’re getting now is you’re getting these short residencies where you’re in and out. You’re not there for 10 years unless you’re Celine or Elton, which is again, it’s become cool to do that. But for us it’s nice to be part of the “new” Vegas if you like, because you know, we’ve seen over the last 10 years or so residencies from the likes of The Who, Prince, ourselves. I think Bon Jovi may have done one; I’m not sure. Aerosmith, you know, Motley Crüe, etc., as well as just the obvious solo artists like your J-Los and your Britneys and stuff. Because rock is accepted now, it’s cool. It’s a whole new Vegas now. It’s very modern; it’s digital. It’s all swanky and Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s not so much Ocean’s Eleven anymore, you know, and I like that. I like the fact that on the odd day off we’ll have we can go and see other stuff that you can only dream about seeing when you’re not there, like Love if it’s still on, the Beatles one, you know, the Cirque de Soleil thing. I’ve seen it twice already and I would go and see it every day from a different seat if I had the chance.
So, you know, they did—the main difference for me as a human being—the main difference between this residence and the one six years ago is that one was in April when the temperature was actually kind of normal? [laughs] But on this particular residency, it’s going to be like 110 I’m told. It’s anywhere between 110-120 degrees’ temperature, so outdoor jogging’s off. [laughs] It’s going to be, you know. It’s going to be a different piece looking after the body and looking after, you know, just making sure that you can actually get up on stage and perform those nights because it is a desert. It’s dry. It’s not a great—oddly, for somewhere that’s a residency for a lot of singers, it’s not the greatest environment for a singer. You know, you need like humidifiers the size of cars in your room, you know.
So there’s you know, there’s the little details that we have to take care of. I mean we wouldn’t have said yes if we didn’t want to do it; nobody’s pushing us to do anything. It was the opportunity to come back and do a vastly different show to the last time that we came. It’s gonna be a big production. We want it to look and sound good. I mean that’s the whole point to doing a show these days. It has to be a visual feast as well as an audio feast if you like. And it’s just great that it can be kind of intimate even though it’s going to be bigger than it was last time. It’s still a theater in the center. It’s not a massive arena. So you’re closer to the crowd and that gives it a totally different energy as well. And as I said, we get to change the setup as often as we like for the 12 shows that we’re there. So I’m sure there’ll be some people going “Oh I didn’t get to hear such and such” but they’ll get something else instead and they can trade off stories of regret or delight, depending on their point of view, you know. It’ll be an interesting month.
Host: Def Leppard opens tonight at Planet Hollywood.
SOURCE
New interview with Joe. Interview starts at about 00:06:10 and ends at about 00:15:20.
Listen HERE.
Host: Let me start by offering you a late congratulations on the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. That’s pretty amazing.
Joe: It is. The more time passes, you find out more facts that you never thought about. Like apparently as of right now, there’s only 330 artists in the Hall of Fame. And if someone had said to me in 1977 when we first put this band together that we’d be one of them one day, I’d be like going, “Yeah righto.” [laughs] Well you know, it’s yeah, it’s been a hell of a ride really since kind of about 18 months ago when we started getting whispers of possibilities of it all. You know, we were like—you know, we weren’t avoiding it, but we were just oblivious to it really ’cause we just really never thought we’d be invited, you know, ’cause you did get the impression over the years that it was the exclusive club for the cool kids … which we never thought that people would consider us to be. So we just plowed our own little furrow, you know, and got on with our career never really expecting anything. But then when we heard about the fan vote—which again, by the time we found out about it had been going on for about three or four years—it made a huge difference in our, I don’t want to say appreciation or our acceptance of it, if you like. But if the fans were involved, which we would consider the real people, then it puts a whole new twist on it. So it was nice for them that we got in this year.
Host: So you guys are headed back to Vegas for a new residency show at Planet Hollywood this summer. Why was now the right time to come back to Vegas for this residency and do it bigger than you did before?
Joe: Well, because last year was an enormous commitment to an American tour. We went out with Journey with these 60 shows, you know, between 10 stadiums and 50 giant arenas, all that kind of stuff. We just can’t come back a year later and expect to do the same thing, you know, but we didn’t want to kind of just disappear out of sight, you know, so it was the perfect year really. We’ve got—the year started off for us with the Hall of Fame and then we’re currently in Europe. I mean as I speak to you we’re having a day off in Oslo in Norway. We played a place called Trondheim last night, which is [laughs], it has to be near the Arctic Circle because in the middle of June or towards the end of June it was 46 degrees, which is like freezing cold! [laughs] Yeah, and it was raining and it was windy and it was outdoors and it was kind of difficult, but you know, good crowd.
And we’ve got Oslo tomorrow night and then we’re heading to Germany and then we got Spain and then we’ve got three weeks in Canada. So we kind of, we haven’t been other than in Brooklyn for the Hall of Fame. We haven’t been in America this year at all. But to go over in August for what is essentially 12 shows in one city, we consider that kind of off the beaten track from what you’d called the regular touring situation. So it was the perfect year for us to come back and do it.
You know, we haven’t been there since 2013—six years ago since we did the Viva Hysteria residency—and this one is going to be vastly different to that though. We’re not doing the same show, and hopefully we won’t do the same show twice either. We’re rehearsing a ton of songs that we’ve either not played for a long time and never played ever and mixing them in with the ones that we couldn’t get out of the room if we didn’t play, so it will be interesting to pick the set every time we play because you know, there are certain songs we have to play. And when I say that, I’m not saying that because other than we wanna play ’em, you know. When we say we have to play ’em it’s not a case of saying there’ll be a lynching if we didn’t, though there could possibly be one, I don’t know. But with us we’ve never been scared of the hits. You know, it’s like our mantra has always been “if you can’t handle the responsibility of writing a hit then don’t write it.” I’m more than happy for the rest of my life while I’m physically able to sing Photograph, Rock of Ages, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Foolin’, you know, whatever. I’m more than happy to do it because you get such a kick doing them onstage in front of an audience that feels the same way I feel when I’m out front watching McCartney doing Helter Skelter or the Stones doing Give me Shelter or whatever, you know. You transpose yourself into that situation. You never get bored of doing the songs. You may do in rehearsals, but not so much in front of an audience. So it’s a perfect time to do it. You know, it’s 12 shows. It’s over three weeks. I’ve got mates there. We get to sleep in the same bed for 30 days, you know. [laughs] What’s wrong with this picture?
Host: When you guys did that Hard Rock residency a few years back, did that teach you anything about Las Vegas or the Las Vegas audience that you didn’t already know before? Because you guys have been coming to Vegas for many years on tours and stuff like that, but it’s a different, like you just said, it’s a different animal when you’re here for weeks like that.
Joe: Yeah, we’ve done Vegas the same way as we’ve done New York, LA, San Francisco. You’re in for the night, you’re out. You know. I’ve got friends in Vegas; I’ve stayed there before. You’re aware of Vegas through TV shows and just reputation that you read about it. For us Brits that didn’t set foot in America till I was 21 years old, the Vegas that we were aware of was like the Ocean’s 11 original version, if you like. And it literally was the Deans Martins and the Sammy Davises and the Sinatras and the Wayne Newtons that we were aware of. Kind of an elephants’ graveyard where you went to when you die sort of thing.
So what you’re getting now is you’re getting these short residencies where you’re in and out. You’re not there for 10 years unless you’re Celine or Elton, which is again, it’s become cool to do that. But for us it’s nice to be part of the “new” Vegas if you like, because you know, we’ve seen over the last 10 years or so residencies from the likes of The Who, Prince, ourselves. I think Bon Jovi may have done one; I’m not sure. Aerosmith, you know, Motley Crüe, etc., as well as just the obvious solo artists like your J-Los and your Britneys and stuff. Because rock is accepted now, it’s cool. It’s a whole new Vegas now. It’s very modern; it’s digital. It’s all swanky and Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s not so much Ocean’s Eleven anymore, you know, and I like that. I like the fact that on the odd day off we’ll have we can go and see other stuff that you can only dream about seeing when you’re not there, like Love if it’s still on, the Beatles one, you know, the Cirque de Soleil thing. I’ve seen it twice already and I would go and see it every day from a different seat if I had the chance.
So, you know, they did—the main difference for me as a human being—the main difference between this residence and the one six years ago is that one was in April when the temperature was actually kind of normal? [laughs] But on this particular residency, it’s going to be like 110 I’m told. It’s anywhere between 110-120 degrees’ temperature, so outdoor jogging’s off. [laughs] It’s going to be, you know. It’s going to be a different piece looking after the body and looking after, you know, just making sure that you can actually get up on stage and perform those nights because it is a desert. It’s dry. It’s not a great—oddly, for somewhere that’s a residency for a lot of singers, it’s not the greatest environment for a singer. You know, you need like humidifiers the size of cars in your room, you know.
So there’s you know, there’s the little details that we have to take care of. I mean we wouldn’t have said yes if we didn’t want to do it; nobody’s pushing us to do anything. It was the opportunity to come back and do a vastly different show to the last time that we came. It’s gonna be a big production. We want it to look and sound good. I mean that’s the whole point to doing a show these days. It has to be a visual feast as well as an audio feast if you like. And it’s just great that it can be kind of intimate even though it’s going to be bigger than it was last time. It’s still a theater in the center. It’s not a massive arena. So you’re closer to the crowd and that gives it a totally different energy as well. And as I said, we get to change the setup as often as we like for the 12 shows that we’re there. So I’m sure there’ll be some people going “Oh I didn’t get to hear such and such” but they’ll get something else instead and they can trade off stories of regret or delight, depending on their point of view, you know. It’ll be an interesting month.
Host: Def Leppard opens tonight at Planet Hollywood.
SOURCE