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June 5, 2009
Def Leppard Interviews: Joe Elliot And Phil Collen
When it comes to album sales, British rockers Def Leppard are in good company. Very good company. They are, in fact, one of just five groups to have recorded two albums that have earned the RIAA’s Diamond status. Yeah, that’s one level above Multi-Platinum. Who are the other four groups that share this distinction? That would be The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen.
With the U.S. leg of their tour with Poison and Cheap Trick a little over two weeks away, four Country Music Television award nominations (who would have thought?) and the re-release of two of their best-selling albums just days away, there’s plenty for the boys from Yorkshire to talk about these days.
Frontman Joe Elliott recently had a talk with In The News and shared his thoughts about the band’s success and some of the challenges they have faced over a career that has spanned three decades.
Elliott credits the groups success in North America – something that was more elusive in their native U.K. – to the birth of MTV. “In America, it had gone wall-to-wall MTV, everywhere from LA to New York, Toronto to Miami, everyone was watching it, because they’d never seen anything like it before,” he says.
That led to the exposure the group needed, which resulted in a deluge of requests for radio stations to play the group’s music that their new fans had discovered on MTV. It wasn’t long before Def Leppard was headlining tours, playing packed venues with 50,000-plus fans and breaking Led Zeppelin ticket sales records in some U.S. cities.
It’s hard to talk about Def Leppard without mentioning drummer Rick Allen, whose tragic car accident resulted in the loss of his left arm in 1984, a circumstance that, according to Elliott, actually made Allen a better drummer.
“He plays more to the song than the ego. If a drummer can do a complicated fill he will. But if he can’t, you can prove to yourself you don’t need it,” Elliot reports. Something that actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. As an amateur drummer who has the odd distinction of being someone who was never into drum solos, I know exactly what Elliott is talking about.
When asked about whether going on the road again for a 40-city tour will be grueling or great, Elliott responds enthusiastically, saying the group can do “do 40 dates for breakfast!” A confident claim that should make for high expectations among fans who plan to be in the audience.
Guitarist Phil Collen also set aside a little time to talk to Independent News & Media about what he’s been up to and how he managed to survive the decadence of the band’s early years.
Now a vegan, Collen says “I’ve felt weird about eating meat since I was a kid,” and proudly reports that he’s the “picture of health at 51.” Although he acknowledges that there was a time in his life when his health was not a top priority.
Asked about his former reputation as a boozer, Collen admits that his drinking eventually resulted in blackouts. Realizing that he didn’t like being out of control he decided to sober up.
Collen also talks a bit about the group’s disappointment with their record label, and how they do not get the kind of support from them that they think they should be getting. “…you pay a publishing company to protect you — and then everybody’s downloading your stuff and they don’t do anything about it,” he says.
Def Leppard’s summer tour with Poison and Cheap Trick gets underway on June 23rd in Camden, New Jersey.
For the full Joe Elliott interview, check out In The News, and for the Phil Collen Interview see Independent.ie.
February 26, 2009
More Details on Def Leppard Summer Tour
As reported here earlier, Def Leppard plans to hit the road for a U.S. tour this summer with hard rockers Poison. Now we are hearing that the duo will become a trio with the addition of Cheap Trick to the ticket. Fans may recall that Cheap Trick teamed with Heart and Journey last year for a summer tour that stretched into October.
This summer’s tour will start off on June 23rd in Camden, NJ and wind up on September 7th in San Bernardino, CA for a total of forty dates.
"We’re going out with three bands, which limits the amount of time we can play to about 90 minutes," Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliot revealed to Billboard. “When you do your greatest hits and some new material or extra stuff you might throw in, you have got to push and shove and clamp down. No big long speeches from moi. You have to do the AC/DC thing and just bang through everything.”
Tickets for the show, which is being produced by LiveNation, will go on sale March 6th at the LiveNation website.
The show is expected to last about four hours and is being described as an “interactive concert experience,” which will include the use of Bluetooth transmissions for appropriately-equipped attendees who will be able to receive the text messages before and during the show. Other interactive features are also planned.
Although there will probably be other classic acts hitting the road this summer, Elliot says “We’re gonna be touring with some new friends and some old friends and can guarantee it will be the Rock Tour of the summer.” I’m sure the fans and critics will be anxious to see if the show lives up to that bold claim.
July 23, 2008
Journey’s Jonathan Cain Speaks Highly of New Lead Singer
Currently on the road as part of a triple header classic rock tour, Journey’s new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, is reported to be easing into his new role quite nicely and becoming more comfortable onstage.
Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain says Pineada has “found a good balance between movement and singing, working the crowd, interaction with the band, that sort of thing. And then also adjusting to up in the air, off the bus, on the bus, in the hotel room, getting sleep, eating healthy, the meet-and-greets–there’s a lot to get used to.”
Cain goes on to say that Pineda has a good set of habits developed already for life on the road and he sees Pineda as “the kind of guy you want.”
By this time it is well known to Journey fans that their new lead vocalist was discovered by Neal Schon while searching for singers on the popular video-sharing website, YouTube. Making a remarkable story even more remarkable, Pineda was half-way around the world, living in the Philippines.
Journey has been touring and making records for more than 30 years and has over 75,000,000 album sales to their credit. Although they may not be drawing crowds quite as large as they were back on the 1980’s, the group shows no signs of slowing down.
Journey’s current tour has them teamed up with two other legendary classic rock acts, Heart and Cheap Trick. It’s bound to be a show to warm the heart of many an aging rock fan, and is also attracting younger fans that have been finding out that the music from their parents’ generation can be pretty cool.
For more, check out Live Daily.
March 28, 2008
Classic Rock Triple Header Touring This Summer
Three big names from the 1970’s and 1980’s are teaming up for a U.S. tour starting on July 9 in Denver, Colorado. Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick are joining forces for a tour that will finish up on October 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The summer tour will be the first major road trip for Journey since they have been joined by their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda.
As it stands today, the tour dates are as follows:
July 9 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
July 11 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
July 12 – Lake Tahoe, NV – Harvey’s Lake Resort
July 15 – San Diego, CA – Coors Amphitheatre
July 16 – Irvine, CA – Verizon Amphitheatre
July 18 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay Arena
July 19 – Tucson, AZ – Casino Anselmo
July 22 – Council Bluffs, IA – Mid America Center
July 23 – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
July 25 – San Antonio, TX – Verizon Amphitheatre
July 26 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
July 27 – Dallas, TX – Superpages.com Amphitheatre
July 30 – Tampa, FL – Ford Amphitheatre
July 31 – West Palm Beach, FL – Sound Advice Amphitheatre
Aug. 2 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Amphitheatre
Aug. 3 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Amphitheatre
Aug. 4 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Amphitheatre
Aug. 6 – Orange Beach, FL – The Amphitheatre @ The Wharf
Aug. 7 – Nashville, TN – Sommett Center
Aug. 9 – Birmingham, AL – Verizon Amphitheatre
Aug. 10 – Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
Aug. 12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Verizon Amphitheatre
Aug. 14 – Jones Beach, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach
Aug. 16 – Scranton, PA – Toyota Amphitheatre
Aug. 17 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Casino
Aug. 19 – Boston, MA – Tweeter Center
Aug. 21 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug. 23 – Syracuse, NY – New York State Fair
Aug. 24 – Saratoga, NY – Saratoga PAC
Aug. 26 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
Aug. 27 – Washington, DC – Nissan Pavilion
Aug. 30 – Bethel Woods, NY – Center for the Arts
Aug. 31 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Pavilion
Sep. 4 – Watertown, NY – Watertown Baseball Diamond
Sep. 6 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Sep. 7 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Amphitheatre
Sep. 9 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sep. 10 – Indianapolis, IN – Verizon Amphitheatre
Sep. 12 – Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Sep. 13 – St. Louis, MO – Verizon Amphitheatre
Sep. 15 – Kansas City, MO – Midland Theatre
Sep. 16 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center/Casino
Sep. 19 – Seattle, WA – White River Amphitheatre
Sep. 21 – Portland, OR – Clark County Amphitheatre
Sep. 24 – Concord, CA – Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord
Sep. 26 – Sacramento, CA – Sleep Train Pavilion at Sacramento
Sep. 27 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sep. 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
Oct. 3 – Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Pavilion
Oct. 4 – Albuquerque, NM – Journal Pavilion
