Def Leppard pumped for summer tour with Journey: 'Why would you want to retire?'

Def Leppard has been shredding stages for more than 40 years, but the band’s hunger to electrify fans keeps escalating.

The quintet of Joe Elliott (vocals), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Rick Savage (bass) is readying its third consecutive summer stadium tour for a July 6 liftoff in St. Louis.

A reliable group of rock rousers, Def Leppard always brings a set list stocked with their crunchy melodic anthems spanning 12 studio albums – “Photograph,” “Let’s Get Rocked,” “Foolin’” and “Armageddon It” a mere sampling – as well as recent fare.

The giddy rocker “Kick,” from their 2022 album “Diamond Star Halos,” has nestled into the live show, and this round of dates will also offer “Just Like 73,” their recently released stomper dusted with shades of Gary Glitter and Slade.

Collen knows that Def Leppard’s set list, as well as its production and staging, needs to continually advance for the veteran band to maintain its relevancy and points to two of music’s stratospheric stars as motivation.

“When you see Taylor Swift or Beyoncé in concert, it’s bringing it to another level,” Collen says. “For us, it’s always been about someone raising the bar and us pushing past it.”

The cheerful, oft-shirtless guitarist chatted a few weeks out from the band’s 23-date co-headlining tour with Journey about staying healthy on tour and his pre-show rituals.

The Steve Miller Band and Cheap Trick join the bill on varying dates; Heart was tapped for three shows, but after Ann Wilson’s cancer diagnosis, Cheap Trick will open July 30 and Aug. 2 and Steve Miller Band Aug. 5.

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Question: You’ve toured with Journey before as well as Motley Crue and KISS, and keep filling stadiums summer after summer. Why do you think people are still coming?

Answer: We really put everything into it. Paul Stanley (of KISS) and I gave each other classic Ibanez guitars and had them in the same room and played each other’s. His is covered in blood. He would get cut (playing) all the time and it’s still there. You put everything into a performance. You sweat and bleed. It’s not going through the motions. I’m 66 and I still go, "Is this the year I’m not going to be able to stand up?" But as long as you put the energy into it … it’s one reason I do martial arts and weight training.

How do you and the guys come up with ways to freshen the production? Do you look to other classic tours or artists for inspiration?

I’m so inspired by Mick Jagger. He’s 80 and dancing around. He’s sharp as a razor blade as well. Talking about Taylor Swift, she works so hard. Regardless of whatever anyone thinks about her, do a day in those shoes and tell me how you feel.

Has it become more challenging to find other bands to go out with you as the other headliner?

It has. Rock is aging out, dying out. Look at all the people we’ve lost the past 10 years. There is no one new replacing them. The last person with that amazing rock-star image was probably Billy Idol in the ‘80s. I’m still waiting for someone with some integrity doing their own thing and doing stuff that we all like.

You’ve been out with Journey before, but have you had any musical interactions with Steve Miller before this tour?

We haven’t toured with Steve and I haven’t met him. I saw him at the Hammersmith Odeon (in London, now the Eventim Apollo) in 1980. And Journey, despite whatever they get up to internally, we get on famously.

Do you ever get tired of being on the road?

It’s a no-brainer to be out there. You’ve written the songs – the hard part – because as inspiring as it is writing songs and recording and finding the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, once it all comes together, the easy part is going on tour.

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At this point, you’re probably more comfortable touring than not.

We’re like spoiled children. You’ve also got the arrested development part where you are like children in your 60s. And we all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to get someone to react. Joe the other day, he brought me to tears with laughter. I can’t even imagine being in a band not like that. It’s all really fun and love and everything. Why would you want to retire?

Fitness has obviously always been a huge part of your life. Has age played a factor in how your workouts may have changed over the years?

Yeah, you just have to be careful with your body. You don’t have to prove anything to the guy next to you in the gym. I research everything and we have an amazing trainer who tours with us.

What is your pre-show ritual?

The warm-ups, the vocal exercises, that’s a given. That starts pretty much two or three hours before the show. Joe is warmed up about eight hours before a show. I’ll do a few push-ups – they're always good to get the blood flowing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Def Leppard readies 2024 tour, Phil Collen interview