“It’s why you get in a band in the first place, to play live in front of people.
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“It’s, to me, the easiest part of the whole thing - once you stay fit and healthy and that,” he said of touring. That adjustment in lifestyle is one of the things that has allowed Def Leppard to still tour as heavily as it does, said Collen, who hasn’t had a drink in 30 years. I think there’s a lot more professionalism, a lot more integrity.” “It’s a little different than say back in the ’80s. “So yeah, I guess if that’s hanging out with other bands, we definitely do that,” Collen said, laughing.
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He recounts a story about how they had so much fun playing together his daughter wet her pants. The last time Def Leppard toured with Poison in 2012, Collen's daughter and DeVille’s son, both 3 or 4 at the time, became fast friends out on the road. The hard partying of the heyday has given way to things like workouts, family time and side projects.Ĭollen is producing Tesla’s new album, due out at year’s end. The thought of all those rock stars backstage together during the height of ’80s excess conjures up a far different image than the one you’re likely to find today. RELATED: Meet the kid who stole the Green Day show RELATED: Our Journey band singer reviews Journey's show at Resch It’s not a bunch of fake musicians pretending to be something else like karaoke-style.” I think that’s why a lot of people really dig this kind of package. There’s not a lot of integrity and not a lot of sticking together for the right reasons. “You don’t really see that much these days. And Poison, it’s the same four guys,” Collen said. Tesla took a hiatus and is back with its original members except for one person. It’s not like the lead singer or the drummer from some band with a bunch of strangers in there just going back out on tour. “All three bands, it’s the original members. Def Leppard is out with Poison, touring with its original lineup for the first time in more than five years, and Tesla. The sing-alongs to such monster arena hits as “Rock of Ages,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Photograph” and “Let’s Get Rocked,” the vintage Union Jack T-shirts and at least a couple of guys still hoisting lighters are inevitable whenever the band hits the road, but there’s something special about this tour, Collen said.
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for 11 years, so that’s going to be smokin’ hot,” Collen said. When they return to the Resch Center on April 19 for their third trip to that venue, the cold won’t be a problem. It was 1992 - the same year the “Adrenalize” album debuted at the top of the charts - and the British rockers played back-to-back shows to 11,000-plus at Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena. It took Def Leppard five years to release their next album, and by then the heavy metal style had passed by their teased hair and ripped jeans.ĭef Leppard’s last gold record came in 1999, but the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the class of 2018 in recognition of their success in selling more than 100 million records over their long career.After 35 years of touring all over the globe with Def Leppard, it’s a wonder guitarist Phil Collen can recall ever even being in Green Bay, much less a specific show. The album was a 12x Platinum record, but before the band could release a followup, they lost guitarist Steve Clark to a drug overdose and alcohol poisoning. In the mid 80’s, Def Leppard managed to score six straight top 20 single releases, and released their biggest album, 1987’s “Hysteria”. Two songs from the album received heavy airplay on MTV and the album sold 10 million copies worldwide. Soon John Peal, the influential BBC music programmer started playing the record and the band was famous nationally.1981’s “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” got heavy play on MTV in the US, setting the stage for their first major record, 1983’s “Pyromania”. Def Leppard emerged as one of the best hard rock bands of the 80’s, not by being the loudest or the most outrageous, but by capturing the spirit of the new UK hard rock bands emerging at that time and making it accessible to a larger audience.īegun by a bunch of teenagers in Sheffield UK, Def Leppard initially played local pubs before releasing their first EP.