Def Leppard is gearing up to hit the road this week for the start of their highly anticipated Summer Stadium Tour with Journey. The band is bringing fresh energy and new music, including their latest single, “Just Like ’73.” Guitarist Phil Collen has promised fans a show that is “drastically different” from anything they’ve seen before.
In a recent interview, Collen shared insights into the band’s preparations and what fans can expect. “We changed the whole set,” he revealed. “The stage show is drastically different.” The band has been rehearsing in St. Louis ahead of the tour’s official kickoff on Saturday night, July 6. Collen emphasized the physical demands of the new show, noting, “It’s going to take a lot of energy. There’s going to be a lot of running around. So I’m working out, trying to get the stamina up. Vocally, too. I’m having to sing every single day.”
The new single, “Just Like ’73,” has an interesting backstory. Collen explained that the song originated during the creation of their album “Diamond Star Halos” but wasn’t completed in time to be included. “I originally had the idea to make this drum loop, with a really aggressive chanting thing, like Slade, basically,” he said. Collen collaborated with his friend Dave Bassett, who co-wrote “Kick” with him. They brought in Joe Elliott to write the lyrics for the verse, but the song wasn’t finished until after the album’s release and their subsequent tour.
“Just Like ’73” features a guitar solo from Tom Morello, a collaboration that Collen is particularly excited about. “I love Rage [Against the Machine]. I love the hybrid thing. It was rap, it was metal. It had a really funky groove,” he said. Collen was thrilled when he found out Morello would be contributing to the track.
Def Leppard is committed to avoiding the trap of becoming a nostalgia act. “We’re deathly afraid of – not that we’d ever do this – becoming a nostalgia act. That’s the thing that drives us. We still have brand new ideas and new blood, which is new music all of the time,” Collen stated.
In addition to discussing the new music, Collen reflected on his early musical influences, particularly David Bowie. He recalled seeing Bowie on TV in 1972 and 1973, which had a profound impact on him. “I’d just been to my first concert, which was Deep Purple in 1972 on the Machine Head tour. So, ‘Smoke on the Water,’ ‘Highway Star,’ all of that. Literally, the next year, I saw Bowie on TV. It was just mind-blowing,” he said.
Collen also shared memories of seeing Bowie live for the first time. “It was cool, my mum and dad drove me and my friend, Martin Blackman. Aladdin Sane had just come out and they were still doing the Ziggy Stardust tour. I think they waited outside for like two and a half hours. We went in and it was mind-blowing. Mom and Dad drove us home. I was 15 at that point,” he recounted.
The guitarist also reminisced about his experiences with other legendary musicians. He spoke about playing with Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey from Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era in the Cybernauts, a Bowie tribute project. “It was amazing, as you can imagine. When I saw the [Bowie] show at Earl’s Court, they were playing [with David]. I went and got my Aladdin Sane album and had them sign it, which I’ve never done in my life, so that was really cool,” he said.
As Def Leppard prepares to launch their Summer Stadium Tour with Journey, Collen expressed his admiration for Journey’s guitarist, Neal Schon. “It’s the melody thing, within the confines of a great song. That’s pretty much everything. Any musician can ruin a great song by not listening to the structure and the melody and the singer. The singer is narrating it. So back on those records, Steve Perry had this magical voice that’s just incredible. You want to highlight that and enhance it. Neal did that with his guitar playing,” he said.
Collen also shared his excitement about the tour’s new setlist, which will include some extra Pyromania songs. “We changed the whole set. You know, there’s a whole screen [production] and we’ve been using pretty much the same stuff for like 12 years. So we’ve changed it completely. The stage show is drastically different. It’s going to take a lot of energy. There’s going to be a lot of running around. So I’m working out, trying to get the stamina up and all of that. Vocally, too. You know, I’m having to sing every single day,” he explained.
The band has been rehearsing extensively, including a two-week period in Los Angeles that culminated in a SiriusXM gig. They are now in St. Louis for production rehearsals leading up to the first show.
Def Leppard’s commitment to delivering a fresh and exciting experience for their fans is evident in their preparations and new music. As they embark on their Summer Stadium Tour with Journey, fans can look forward to a show that is truly “drastically different.”
Source: Ultimate Classic Rock, UCR
