Interview Transcript 16th November 2012 - 97.1 The Point KXPT Joe Elliott

Well look who's on the phone. They're going to be doing a residency at the Hard Rock. Welcome to the programme lead singer and frontman from Def Leppard Joe Elliott. Good morning Joe how are you man?.

I'm grand actually I'm all coffeed up. My Sun's just going down but it's been a beautiful day here in Dublin, Ireland. Beautiful blues skies, no wind, mid 50's and I'm digging this it's great. Great run up to Christmas this is.

Joe I have heard you talk about how it's difficult as you gain maturity to hit the same notes you hit as a kid. I know you've been doing those remakes of the songs and stuff. I gotta tell you I saw you out here at Red Rocks, in the amphitheatre, you were amazing. We all went to that show. You were just incredible.

Well, I appreciate the fact that you noticed yeah. It's not a case of of you can't hit them. It's a case of - to do it night after night after night it's very demanding. That's what it is and you know I can totally understand why somebody like Robert Plant doesn't want to go out with Led Zeppelin any more. You know you're bound by your youth. When you're hitting notes when you're in your 20s you think well this is fine. Then when you get a little older things go south when you get in your fifties. The fact is if you pace yourself well and you know you do the honourable thing which is stretch , warm-up, exercise - do vocal exercises things like that. Unless you're sick which there's nothing anybody can do anything about, you should be able to pull it off. I think, you know everybody in this band we've just got better the more we've done it. Everybody sings - the amount of times that we get accused of using backing tapes is actually quite. We used to get angry but now we're flattered. They go they're obviously using tapes! No we don't use tapes at all for our vocals, we've never ever used tapes you know we've practised and we happen to be quite good at what we do. It's hard but you know but what isn't so is climbing Mount Everest but people still do it.

I have seen you guys perform outside, inside, big places, little places and you keep rocking and getting better and better. What's your goal every night when you go on stage?

I just wanna be able to do it with dignity you know. I'm very aware as a fan myself that most people's memory of us isn't always necessarily from a live point of view. Their memory is playing the albums to death in their cars, in their dorm rooms or in their bedrooms. Seeing the videos on MTV and they're familiar with that version of what we do. The version that we do live has to represent the one in people's heads as much as possible you know and do it justification really. So for me it's a case of not disappointing people. I'd hate the idea of anybody coming to one of our shows and going you know what they're not as good as they were.

Well, we're on with Joe Elliott from Def Leppard. Now Joe when you were younger and rocking all over the world. If anybody ever said OK you're gonna do a residency at the Hard Rock and not tour for a few weeks what would you think about that.

Well, if it had been said to me n the last five years I'd have said yeah, please that would be great. The touring part is what - the actual travelling is what can grind you down. It's never the bit when you go on stage. It's the getting there which is the difficult bit. And the fact that we're gonna be based in one place so people are gonna come visit us for a change is a kind of nice reversal of roles really. If somebody had said to me maybe fifteen, twenty five years ago I would've kind of thought. What am I Wayne Newton but now the world has changed. Thanks to people with vision that brought in people like Cheap Trick to do the Sgt. Pepper thing about three of four years ago and then Motley and then GNR and us and of course I mean let's not forget Elton who in my book is still a rocker. You know people doing residencies it's changed. You know Vegas isn't a blue rinse crowd anymore. You know now we've got people - look anybody that comes to Vegas must have got a few bob if you're prepared to throw four or five hundred dollars a night down on a crap table You must've got some spare change you know and it's a younger crowd coming in. and they want value for money and as much as they're coming in to play on the tables and stuff you've got to put entertainment on and it was just inevitable that you are sooner or later gonna get some cool rock people playing there like us, Motley, Elton and Cheap Trick and it will change soon and they'll be more join in and in ten, fifteen years time who knows what you'll end up with.

Out of all the amazing acts that have played a residency the most amazing feat is that Axl Rose has actually shown up every night.

Well good for him. I saw him on Kimmel where he said yeah we're really gonna make an attempt to go on stage on time. So once those words came out of his mouth to everybody in the world's ear they were gonna be watching him like a hawk. So good for them you know.

Well Joe tell us about VIVA Hysteria! at the Hard Rock at which you guys are gonna be doing your residency.

Well this is the great thing like I said. We get our feet under the table we get to travel once in, stay for a month and then leave. We've been asked many times in the past you know. Would you every be interested in performing an entire album on tour. And we've always said not really because when we've toured normally we're promoting something different but now that we've finished the world tour for the Mirrorball album. And we're technically not active. We're writing, we're working underground with the curtains closed if you like. We're not visibly active. So to do something where we get into a smaller environment where we're still on a pretty big stage so we can still put on our show. And it gives us an opportunity as well to mix up the rest of the night because obviously if we're gonna play Hysteria and you know 25 million people own a copy chances are most people are gonna know what song is coming next once we start. So to keep any kind of surprises if you like or you know little twists for the evening that comes in the rest of the evening when we're not playing Hysteria. So that's where - and also we're aware of the fact that just through emails that we've read. There's quite a few people that are going to multiple nights so you have to make sure there's something that you do within the show - within the evening that isn't the same as the night before because Hysteria is gonna be pretty much the same thing.

I'll see you guys in March you should come down.

Transcribed by Def Leppard Tour History.