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Def Leppard Tour History Fan Archive.
Steve Brown Says He's Ready To Play With Def Leppard If Needed

Wednesday, 5th August 2015





Steve Brown 2015.
Screenshot by dltourhistory

Trixter guitarist Steve Brown was interviewed recently by Talking Metal Digital and talked about touring with Def Leppard.

Steve stepped in for Vivian Campbell from September to November 2014 when he underwent Stem Cell treatment.

He had to stand in again for Vivian at the start of the US tour in late June playing four shows in San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa, West Palm Beach and Birmingham.

Steve spoke to host Mitch Lafon for his One On One with Mitch Lafon podcast.

They discussed touring with Def Leppard as well as the new Trixter album Human Era which was released on 9th June on Frontiers Records.

Read his quotes below and listen to the full audio - the Lep talk starts at 29:50 mins in. Many thanks to Mitch for sharing the link to his interview.

Steve celebrated his 45th birthday on 13th July.

Visit the 2015 Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

One On One With Mitch Lafon - Steve Brown Interview Quotes

What's it like to play with Def Leppard/Is it bitter sweet?

"Well, it's - of course yeah, it's very bittersweet. My friend Vivian Campbell you know he's dealing with some serious health issues you know. And of course we all have our, our best interests with him and him getting well and he's doing great right now."

"Vivian is a strong man. He's a fighter. He's a great guy. A phenomenal - he's one of my heroes as a kid you know. Like I told him many times. I'm like man, dude I used to see you. You know I saw you 14 years old with DIO. You know now here I am and him and I sitting backstage going over guitar parts and vocal parts. But yeah it's definitely a bitter sweet thing but with that being said. We all know the show must go on. And getting back to it you know Def Leppard those guys have been friends of mine for the better part of 27 years. Since the Hysteria tour. Phil Collen is one of my best friends and like a brother to me."

"So when this all went down back in 2013 when Viv was first diagnosed. You know Phil called me and you know he just said you're the only person we called and this is what you need to do. Most people don't know this and I think I've talked about it before. The reason I got the gig is kind of - guitar playing is secondary. It's the vocals. And you know years ago I think. I don't know what year it was. Maybe 2010 or 2011. Phil and I did this Fox News show - the Mike Huckabee show on Fox News. And that was the first time Phil and I ever played together publicly. We've jammed together and you know sang and had fun and traded licks for years. But that was the first time we ever played and Phil was afterwards - he was like. I was amazed the blend of our vocals and that was the seed that was planted to where he knew we would do something at some point. Not knowing of course under the sad situation you know that it would be with Def Leppard. But he knew as soon as it was known that they were gonna have to get somebody. Phil and Malvin their tour manager were like. We got the guy."

"You know and though I've known Joe and Sav and Rick and Viv for you know for a long, long time. They didn't know me that well. You know Joe knew about 40ft Ringo (side band). 40ft Ringo was actually gonna go out on tour with Def Leppard. I believe on the. I'm trying to think what tour it was. 2002 I believe. You know Joe loved the record and Phil. You know they tried to work it out but we couldn't. So he knew about me to some degree but didn't know all the particulars. And so the long and short of it 2013 I learned - I knew all the stuff already. You know from seeing them. I know the gig so well because I've seen them on every tour multiple times since Hysteria. And it was a very you know a very easy thing. Though 2013 they didn't need me. Viv did great with his treatments and everything."

"So then 2014. Last year on the KISS tour you know they finally called me. Viv told management bring Steve out because they had the Wembley show in September of 2014 and then these other. This Vegas and California shows in October/November of last year. So it was inevitable that I was gonna get to play. So they brought me out on tour last year to do sound checks and rehearse and really get everything tightened up. Get my in ear mix and what can I say. One of my favourite bands in the world and to get to play with them was a dream come true and they are - you know it was a very easy transition. Though there were some you know certain things to overcome. It was a very natural thing and you know there was really no rehearsals for any of the gigs that did with them."

"Phil and I did a brief rehearsal. You know just going over some vocal parts and some guitar stuff before Wembley. And it was just off to the races. They knew that I knew this gig and I knew the role to play. You know it wasn't me being the Steve Brown in Trixter. You know doing the whole Pete Townshend/Eddie Van Halen jumps and running all over the stage. It was a different approach. And they knew that I'd be able to do that and it's very easy and I'm always there for them whenever they need me."






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