Print - Interview - Phil - The Daily Courier - 14Aug2024
Aug 15, 2024 6:24:44 GMT -8
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Stadium Tour talk with Phil Collen of Def Leppard
By CHRIS ORTIZ
Since their last Stadium Tour in 2022, which featured Motley Crue, Poison, Joan Jett and Classless Act, the guys in Def Leppard have been able to sit back and think about how this next go-around for this Stadium Tour 2024, how it will change for the fans, and how it will change for the bands themselves.
Phil Collen, co-lead guitarist for Def Leppard, remembered the 2022 tour very well. Sitting in a hotel room, we connected through a Zoom meeting, and he recalled the heat issues that plagued the band back then. “That particular show (Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City) was 105 degrees by the way, when we went out on stage, it was 105. The hottest one we have ever done was in Austin, Texas, at a race track, 120. Because of the heat, it was melting stuff.”
When asked about the Arizona summer heat, Collen stated that it was because of the roof at Chase Field, which is where the difference was made. “I think that if we were outside, it’d be really, really, hot. Especially that time of the year. Looking at the numbers, they're insane. Everywhere around the world is breaking records this year, and each year it keeps going up. So it is the same old thing, stay hydrated and don’t get dizzy.”
“This tour, is drastically different,” Collen said with a smile on his face when asked about the new tour. “Our friend Frank Bryan designed all of this stuff. He went crazy, it was almost like watching a sci-fi. It is a lot more exciting. We have a whole new production. We have a new stage that is almost like playing in the round; we have three giant thrust that go out that create a ‘B’ stage that we will be running around, and the lights are all different, the screen is way different, and very, very different songs as well.
"We are celebrating Pyromania’s 40th anniversary, all though it is 41 now, and we have the new song now ('Just Like 73' featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave), and the clothes that everyone is wearing, it is just a completely different vibe.
“And the songs, like I said, we’re celebrating Pyromania, so a lot of those songs, and a lot of songs that we’ve never played before, like 'Comin’ Under Fire,' we’ve never played that… EVER. We didn’t even play that when Pyromania came out. So we got that, and some other songs that we’re rotating, and we’re obviously doing 'Die Hard the Hunter,' which has never been a touring thing. We played it in Vegas, but again it is a highlight of the set. It’s got CRAZY production, and it’s all whizzing and banging going off in the background, it’s just a different vibe and a very exciting song.”
This tour, with both Def Leppard and Journey headlining each night, leaving the Steve Miller Band, Heart and Cheap Trick in rotation to play, which was not like what it was two years ago. In the last Tour, every band that was on the bill played at each stop, giving the audience a thrilling five-band show. This time, the tour really only consists of Def Leppard and Journey, with the openers appearing here and there throughout the tour.
For the Aug. 23 stop at Chase Field in Phoenix, audiences will be able to hear only Def Leppard, Journey and the Steve Miller Band, with Heart and Cheap Trick originally supposed to be playing near by at the Footprint Center on Sept. 29, but with Ann Wilson undergoing a removal of a cancerous growth in May, the show has been postponed to a later date.
“Everyone’s got their own kind of agenda; it is just us and Journey for all of it actually, and it’s the third act that revolves.”
There is also the question about the longevity of the band, their tours, and how much more do they have left. Collen said that he is thrilled that they have been playing sold out stadiums basically since the end of COVID restrictions.
“We can keep going, it’s really down to the health of everyone. I feel like I’m 25 years old. I’m really inspired by the (Rolling) Stones. You see Mic Jagger out there, being 81, and he’s like a 40-year-old, sharp person. And that’s pretty cool, it proves that you can do it. Also in sports, you got Lionel Messi, playing for Argentina and scoring goals in Copa America, everyone’s like ‘oh he’s too old now,' obviously not. And Tom Brady, when he retired at 42, without all of the injuries that a lot of NFL players have. They’re the inspirations for us. It’s the proof that you can do that. You just gotta believe in what you do and we thoroughly do.”
As the 20 minutes that was allotted for the interview dwindled down to a few remaining seconds, Collen give one last piece of advice about the band and their future: “As long as you still got stuff to offer, and you’re still really at the top of your game, you can still keep doing it. That’s our theory, ya know. We are 2 years into a 10-year plan. There’s new music, I was writing something yesterday. I don’t have too much free time, but every little second I’m writing in my book, recording stuff. So there’s new music coming all of the time. That’s always exciting. And we definitely got the Hysteria tour in ’27 to look forward to, and it just comes down to what to do in-between.”
Source
By CHRIS ORTIZ
Since their last Stadium Tour in 2022, which featured Motley Crue, Poison, Joan Jett and Classless Act, the guys in Def Leppard have been able to sit back and think about how this next go-around for this Stadium Tour 2024, how it will change for the fans, and how it will change for the bands themselves.
Phil Collen, co-lead guitarist for Def Leppard, remembered the 2022 tour very well. Sitting in a hotel room, we connected through a Zoom meeting, and he recalled the heat issues that plagued the band back then. “That particular show (Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City) was 105 degrees by the way, when we went out on stage, it was 105. The hottest one we have ever done was in Austin, Texas, at a race track, 120. Because of the heat, it was melting stuff.”
When asked about the Arizona summer heat, Collen stated that it was because of the roof at Chase Field, which is where the difference was made. “I think that if we were outside, it’d be really, really, hot. Especially that time of the year. Looking at the numbers, they're insane. Everywhere around the world is breaking records this year, and each year it keeps going up. So it is the same old thing, stay hydrated and don’t get dizzy.”
“This tour, is drastically different,” Collen said with a smile on his face when asked about the new tour. “Our friend Frank Bryan designed all of this stuff. He went crazy, it was almost like watching a sci-fi. It is a lot more exciting. We have a whole new production. We have a new stage that is almost like playing in the round; we have three giant thrust that go out that create a ‘B’ stage that we will be running around, and the lights are all different, the screen is way different, and very, very different songs as well.
"We are celebrating Pyromania’s 40th anniversary, all though it is 41 now, and we have the new song now ('Just Like 73' featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave), and the clothes that everyone is wearing, it is just a completely different vibe.
“And the songs, like I said, we’re celebrating Pyromania, so a lot of those songs, and a lot of songs that we’ve never played before, like 'Comin’ Under Fire,' we’ve never played that… EVER. We didn’t even play that when Pyromania came out. So we got that, and some other songs that we’re rotating, and we’re obviously doing 'Die Hard the Hunter,' which has never been a touring thing. We played it in Vegas, but again it is a highlight of the set. It’s got CRAZY production, and it’s all whizzing and banging going off in the background, it’s just a different vibe and a very exciting song.”
This tour, with both Def Leppard and Journey headlining each night, leaving the Steve Miller Band, Heart and Cheap Trick in rotation to play, which was not like what it was two years ago. In the last Tour, every band that was on the bill played at each stop, giving the audience a thrilling five-band show. This time, the tour really only consists of Def Leppard and Journey, with the openers appearing here and there throughout the tour.
For the Aug. 23 stop at Chase Field in Phoenix, audiences will be able to hear only Def Leppard, Journey and the Steve Miller Band, with Heart and Cheap Trick originally supposed to be playing near by at the Footprint Center on Sept. 29, but with Ann Wilson undergoing a removal of a cancerous growth in May, the show has been postponed to a later date.
“Everyone’s got their own kind of agenda; it is just us and Journey for all of it actually, and it’s the third act that revolves.”
There is also the question about the longevity of the band, their tours, and how much more do they have left. Collen said that he is thrilled that they have been playing sold out stadiums basically since the end of COVID restrictions.
“We can keep going, it’s really down to the health of everyone. I feel like I’m 25 years old. I’m really inspired by the (Rolling) Stones. You see Mic Jagger out there, being 81, and he’s like a 40-year-old, sharp person. And that’s pretty cool, it proves that you can do it. Also in sports, you got Lionel Messi, playing for Argentina and scoring goals in Copa America, everyone’s like ‘oh he’s too old now,' obviously not. And Tom Brady, when he retired at 42, without all of the injuries that a lot of NFL players have. They’re the inspirations for us. It’s the proof that you can do that. You just gotta believe in what you do and we thoroughly do.”
As the 20 minutes that was allotted for the interview dwindled down to a few remaining seconds, Collen give one last piece of advice about the band and their future: “As long as you still got stuff to offer, and you’re still really at the top of your game, you can still keep doing it. That’s our theory, ya know. We are 2 years into a 10-year plan. There’s new music, I was writing something yesterday. I don’t have too much free time, but every little second I’m writing in my book, recording stuff. So there’s new music coming all of the time. That’s always exciting. And we definitely got the Hysteria tour in ’27 to look forward to, and it just comes down to what to do in-between.”
Source
