Wednesday, 12th April 2017
Prev  |  Next

Phil Collen Says DEF LEPPARD's 2018 Stage Will Be Totally Different

Def Leppard 2016. Screenshot

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen was interviewed by Boston radio yesterday and mentioned the 2018 world tour stage show.

Phil spoke to Joe Rock of 102.3 WBAB radio in Boston.

Phil talked about playing in Montreal, Live From Detroit DVD, Joe's voice/the band improving, Delta Deep, working with Mutt Lange, the current self-titled Def Leppard album, the setlist choices, the Tesla album, musical influences and the current live show.

Phil revealed plans for a 2018 world tour during an interview in March.

Phil was promoting the show in Uniondale, NY which takes place on 15th April.

Listen to the full 13 minute interview via the radio link.

Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Joe Rock/102.3 WBAB - Phil Collen Interview Quotes

Joe's Voice/Band Improving

"Yeah for whatever reason I think we improve every year. I mean Joe's actually singing better than I've actually ever heard him in my life actually. He's just singing better you know. After that little scare, he took some time off and he's just been doing you know different exercises and all this stuff. And you know that's what opera singers do. That's how they keep in shape. They go, they defy age and all that stuff. So you've gotta take that into consideration if they do it. It's just a lot of rock people are very lazy and they won't do that. I think it's great that Joe's applying it. Like I said you know he's killing it right now. And we all kind of have that kind of attitude where you just get better. I'm a better singer than I was last year. I'm a better guitar player than I was last year. We get a chance to kind of keep improving because we're always playing. So that's kind of - it's a positive. You know we look at it that way."

Choosing The Setlist

"You do that before the tour starts and you kind of have a - what we tend to do. You have a list of songs. Some of them make it and some don't. But this tour we're doing right now. We're actually gonna be playing all the stuff that's on Live In Detroit, the DVD you know. We're actually really promoting that. So it'll be that set. It'll be that show. But again it's different. It sounds different already. Like I said Joe sounds different. I've got a bunch of new guitars. Everything just sounds different. It's a bit more exciting and a bit more aggressive. We constantly keep upgrading even though we're playing some of the same songs, on this tour anyway. And that tends to happen. You obviously have to play Pour Some Sugar On Me, Photograph, Hysteria, Love Bites, Let's Get Rocked. There's a list that you gotta do but - and then we kind of juggle around for the positions really. And you have to figure out where they're gonna work in the set."

"So it's pretty exciting and interesting and when you do a brand new song. You think oh my god this sucks because no one's into it. But hopefully you make it theatrical. You actually make sure that the lights are doing something spectacular or you've got some screens that look like holograms. And you've got all this stuff going off. So yeah it's a constant flow and it just keep changing all the time which does keep it exciting I've gotta say."

New Stage Show In 2018

"Right, we actually were talking about that yesterday because for next year, we're gonna be out next year, we're gonna change it, everything. We're gonna get rid of everything and start from scratch. So that's gonna be interesting. But yeah it really makes a big difference. You have to work some of these things and sometimes they don't work. We yank them and go oh my god that really does suck or this is so fantastic, we've gotta do something like that in another so or whatever. So it's constantly evolving you know."

The Current Live Show

"Well it's on fire. What happened last night you know. We played Montreal which is always historically an amazing town for us. Tesla went on and they were amazing. They killed it. Poison went on and they haven't been on tour since the last time they toured with us in 2012. So there's so much kind of excitement around it you know. It's just a new thing. They're back out there on tour. So that was amazing and then we went on and I actually couldn't believe the reaction. It just blew me away. So id it's gonna be anything like that. You know there's people just like freaking out and we were good and like I said you know Joe's singing the best he's ever sung. So that really helps and we're on fire. So yeah it's great."


Buy 'And There Will Be A Next Time...Live From Detroit' Online


Related News - Phil Collen On DEF LEPPARD Honouring STEVE CLARK At Live Shows

Related News - Phil Collen Looking Forward To Def Leppard's Nassau Coliseum Show

Related News - Def Leppard To Play Four Shows With Aerosmith In South America

Related News - More Def Leppard/Aerosmith South American Dates To Be Announced

Related News - Vivian Campbell Says DEF LEPPARD To Have Big Touring Year In 2018

Related News - Def Leppard Now Confirmed To Play Rock In Rio Brazil In September

Related News - Def Leppard Set To Play Rock In Rio Brazil Plus Chile/Argentina


share this story:





get def leppard news

Stay in touch with the latest updates.


explore def leppard tour history
Phil Collen - Guitar
Phil Collen - Guitar
Phil Collen - Guitar
Phil Collen - Guitar