Def Leppard News - JOE ELLIOTT Comments On DEF LEPPARD/JOURNEY Stadium Shows (Video)

Monday, 22nd January 2018

JOE ELLIOTT Comments On DEF LEPPARD/JOURNEY Stadium Shows (Video)

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Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott was interviewed live in New York earlier tonight about the 2018 tour and video is available.

Joe spoke to Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM live along with Journey's guitar played Neal Schon as part of their press tour.

They talked about Journey's lack of UK shows, DL's 1980 US tour, DL's recent touring, the 2018 North American tour, set times, playing stadiums, Neal's other bands/touring with Journey, Joe's love of touring, Journey's personal issues, DL's issues with Pete Willis, Phil joining, Steve's problems, Vivian joining, the RARHOF, the Hysteria & More UK tour, DL's back catalogue streaming/download, DL's longevity, both band's setlists and each others favourite songs of DL/Journey.

Joe revealed more details about the North American tour such as there being no opening act apart from at the stadium shows. This will give more time to each band to play 90 or 100 minute sets.

This would also appear to confirm there will also be no opener act before Cheap Trick in the UK. Giving more time for a full 22 song Ded Flatbird/Hysteria setlist (see 2013 show pages).

And unlike the (not so good) interview the other day. Neal revealed he does know more than one DL song!.

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

Eddie Trunk - Joe Elliott/Neal Schon Interview Quotes

2018 North American Tour/Did you guys flip a coin?

Neal - "We're gonna flip. Yeah we're gonna flip flop every day."

Joe - "Yeah. We're not gona flip a coin. that would screw the crew up big time."

Neal - "No we're gonna flip a coin once and then we're gonna flip flop from there out."

Joe - "58 shows which are possibly already 60 which may even extend. So we're looking at 50 arenas. You've got the LA Forum, Madison Square Garden. Ten stadiums, and actually at the stadiums they will headline five, we will headline five. And then in the arenas it'll be 25/25."

And the same set time?

Joe - "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Neal - "We're gonna have plenty of time for both bands to play. I mean I'm excited because it's not a three band bill."

You're not gonna add another band?

Joe - "Only in the stadiums because you can open them earlier. But in the arenas. Say if we're gonna go on first. We;ll go on at like 7:30 and play til 9. And they'll go on at 9:30 and play till 11 or whatever it is. So an hour 40, hour 30 or whatever we can squeeze in."

Stadium Dates

Joe - "Yeah we've got like Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field."

Neal - "There's a bunch of them. they're so new I don't have them memorised."

Joe - "Listen both bands are more than capable to just play the amphitheatres for the rest of our lives. We were doing 25,000, 26,000 people last summer in these amphitheatres. So we could've just done more of the same, but when it was put to us that. You think about how we were in 2006. We were both doing OK. We were both very successful bands. We weren't in bowling alleys you know. And 12 years on we're actually bigger than we were then because we've worked really hard."

"i don't think you've stopped touring. We haven't stopped touring and of course when the suits get talking to each other and they said look, you know, we have this great idea. It really worked 12 years ago. Let's get you guys back together but out you in bigger places. And it's like, you know, it's just a logical kind of progression really."

UK Hysteria & More Tour/No Hysteria Album In The USA

Joe - "No it is not, no. This is just gonna be whatever set we choose, which we haven't even thought about yet. We're doing 11 shows in the UK and Ireland in December where we're playing Hysteria & More. And it may, you never know, once we've done that, 'cause we did it in Vegas five years ago. So it's actually had it's, you know, we've done 12 shows as it were in the US. Now we're gonna do 11 in the UK. So that's a kind of, you know, a balance. But once you do that and word gets out. People start knocking on the door going well why don't you come and do it in Argentina and Japan or whatever. So we don't know where it's gonna go."