DEF LEPPARD's VIVIAN CAMPBELL Excited About THE WORLD TOUR 2023/UK Shows

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Tuesday, 8th November 2022

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Def Leppard 2022

Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell was recently interviewed to promote The World Tour 2023 with audio available.

The World Tour 2023 starts in Mexico City on 18th February 2023.

This first leg features 8 shows in outdoor stadiums across Central and South America.

Vivian spoke to Kerry McLean of BBC Radio Ulster for her afternoon show on 6th November.

The interview was conducted on the 2nd November.

Vivian talked about The World Tour 2023. The Stadium Tour 2022, UK tour, Dublin show, Ireland, Motley Crue, previous bands, guitar playing, joining Def Leppard, his early days, guitar playing and influences.

Listen to the 14 minute interview via the link below.

Vivian's interview starts at 1:40:56 into the show.

Clips were played on Animal, When Love & Collide, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Love Bites and Miss You In A Heartbeat.

Read some of his quotes below.

Listen to the full interview via the link.

The World Tour 2023/Schedule

Vivian says the band are very excited for the tour and revealed it was originally planned to end in Dublin before it changed to Glasgow.

The Stadium Tour 2022

Vivian mentioned that he foudn the tour schedule very easy with the multiple days off between shows and that Nikki Sixx enjoyed helping himself to the band's catering backstage.

Japan/Australia/New Zealand

Vivian mentioned the as yet unannounced tour leg for Japan/Australia/New Zealand whilst talking about his love of travelling on tour.

These dates will of course be played somewhere between August to December 2023 and will likely not be announced until the new year.

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

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).

Vivian Campbell/BBC Radio Ulster - November 2022 Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Kerry McLean Intro

"Now great news for fans of Def Leppard. That the band are heading out next year on a massive world tour. And in the company of Motley Crue no less. There's a double bill and a half for you. And the great news is that they are coming to Dublin to play Marlay Park on 4th July."

"This off the back of having just finished a huge North American run where they played to just under a million and a half fans. Sounds busy. Sounds hectic. And knackering, but not so according to Def Leppard's guitarist and my guest today Viv Campbell."

"We'll hear from him in a just a second. After we got those air guitars quickly worked up with this burst of one of the band's classic tracks."

The Stadium Tour 2022

"That was cushy. That was easy. The Def Leppard summer tour was. I mean it was a really easy schedule when you play stadiums. There's not a lot of back to back shows. A lot of days off in between."

"And, you know, we're at a stage in our career where we kind of pamper ourselves. So it was really actually pretty easy. And it was great. I mean it was very joyous thing to do you know."

"It was a great summer and the audiences were great and the band is playing better then ever. So, you know, I actually found it very relaxing."

"My wife and my dog were with me. It was just like a big vacation as they say. A big holiday."

"And we tour very very well with Def Leppard. We definitely pace ourselves very well at this point in our career. So it's just a joy to do it."

"And it's also great to travel. You know North America is wonderful. But it's really incredibly special to be able to go to places like Japan. You know and New Zealand, Australia. And dare I say Ireland!."

Yeah I was just about to say when do we get a mention in that list

"Yeah well I love going to Ireland for obvious reasons you know. Not just how great the audience is but it's great to get home and see all your friends and family."

The World Tour 2023

"Yeah so I'm excited about the tour. And again my wife will travel with me on that one. Not so much the small dog 'cause he doesn't have a passport."

You're gonna get across here. You're gonna be playing Dublin on the 4th of July. Whenever you do get across do you get the chance to come up the road?

"Oh totally yeah. I always try and work it our that way. The original schedule for the tour had us finishing in Dublin. But now it's Glasgow we finish in. But sure that's close. We'll play Glasgow and I'll come back to Ireland and I'll tag a week or two onto the end of that tour."

"With my wife, you know, and we'll take a bit of a holiday and see family and stuff. And it works out well because July 4th is actually my wedding anniversary. And my wife's wedding anniversary quite by coincidence!, not just mine."

"And July 6th is her birthday. So, you know, we'll have a couple of things to celebrate."

And of course this time around when you're out and touring. You're not going just you and the guys from Def Leppard. You're out with Motley Crue as well

"Yes we are indeed. And, you know, we've known those guys for years. The industry is pretty small, you know, everyone crosses paths at some point."

"Actually it was the UK that we've toured with Motley. The only other time that we toured with them back in 2012."

"And yeah so it'll be great to get back out there. It was a wonderful summer this summer in North America with them."

"You know we don't get to see each other a lot when you play in stadiums. You know you tend to pass each other on golf carts in the bowls of these huge football stadiums, baseball stadiums."

"And so you're sort of yelling at each other as we're heading in opposite directions."

"But Nikki Sixx you know, Nikki would always stop in. We had a chef on tour 'cause we're good at spoiling ourselves. Chef Jeff."

"And Nikki would stop by for food 'case it would smell so good. You know our hospitality area. And he'd come sniffing through the door 'What's that? You guys, what's going on in here?'."

"It's like 'Oh, we have a chef with us'. And he'd go 'We don't have a chef'. Well you gotta pamper yourself a little you know."

"And knocking on the door of 60 or whatever. Actually we're all beyond - we're through the threshold of 60. But there you go. All except our drummer Rick whose birthday was yesterday but that was 59. So he's got a year to go."

Oh he's a young pup then.

"Yeah. But anyway so Nikki would come in and you know see what was cooking and it's good to see them still at it."

"It's a great package to be honest with you. Great night of music altogether."

Not to put any pressure on you but you guys have got a lot to live up to in Def Leppard because your fans are used to a heck of an impressive live show. I mean it that a daunting thing?. Do you think gosh we have to live up to that. Or do you get get excited about going out and performing at that kind of level every time?.

"Oh totally yeah. You know we're very excited about it. It's not daunting."

"We take our work very seriously. I've always said this. We don't take ourselves seriously but the work ethic in Def Leppard is just off the chart."

"It always has been. And I say that from experience, you know, having been in a couple of other, three, four, five, six bands prior to joining Leppard you know."

"So I'm the new guy still after 30 years with Def Leppard. But you know that was the thing that first struck me 30 years ago when I first walked in the door and played with these guys. It was just the level of attention to detail and the pride that is taken in the show."

"I mean our show is spectacular. And it gets better and better and better each successive time. I don't say that from the point of view of patting myself on the back. But it really is because of the hard work that we put into it."

"And we pride ourselves on that and all our vocals are live. Which is something you don't get very often in this day and age."

"You know all the music is live. We do it live and we take tremendous pride in our ability to do that and the visual aspect of the show is something that we always try and raise the bar each and every time we tour."

"So it is a spectacular show and we relish the challenge."

Absolute pleasure to have a chat with you. Thank you do much for being so generous with your time.

"Yeah pleasure to chat and we'll see you next year."

Listen to the full interview - bbc.co.uk

Def Leppard 2023.

Def Leppard - The World Tour 2023 Dates

February

Sat Feb 18, 2023 Mexico City, Mexico @ Foro Sol
Tue Feb 21, 2023 Monterrey, Mexico @ Borrego Sports Center
Sat Feb 25, 2023 Bogota, Colombia @ Parque Metropolitano Simón Bolívar
Tue Feb 28, 2023 Lima, Peru @ Estadio Nacional - (First Show In Peru)

March

Fri Mar 03, 2023 Santiago, Chile @ Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida
Tue Mar 07, 2023 Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Allianz Parque
Thu Mar 09, 2023 Curitiba, Brazil @ Couto Pereira Stadium
Sat Mar 11, 2023 Porto Alegre, Brazil @ Arena do Grêmio

May

Mon May 22, 2023 Sheffield, England @ Bramall Lane
Thu May 25, 2023 Mönchengladbach, Germany @ SparkassenPark Mönchengladbach
Sat May 27, 2023 Munich, Germany @ Koenigsplatz (King's Square)
Mon May 29, 2023 Budapest, Hungary @ MVM Dome (Budapesti Multifunkcionális Sportcsarnok)
Wed May 31, 2023 Krakow, Poland @ Tauron Arena Krakow

June

Fri Jun 2, 2023 Prague, Czech Republic @ Prague Rocks *
Sat Jun 3, 2023 Hannover, Germany @ Expo Plaza
Wed Jun 7, 2023 Solvesborg, Sweden @ Sweden Rock Festival *
Fri Jun 9, 2023 Hyvinkää, Finland @ RockFest *
Sun Jun 11, 2023 Trondheim, Norway @ Trondheim Rocks (Bryggeribyen EC Dahls Arena) *
Wed Jun 14, 2023 Copenhagen, Denmark @ COPENHELL *
Sun Jun 18, 2023 Dessel, Belgium @ Graspop Metal Meeting *
Tue Jun 20, 2023 Milan, Italy @ Ippodromo del Galoppo di San Siro
Fri Jun 23, 2023 Lisbon, Portugal @ Passeio Marítimo de Algés
Sat Jun 24, 2023 Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain @ Auditorio Miguel Ríos
Tue Jun 27, 2023 Thun, Switzerland @ Stockhorn Arena

July

Sat Jul 1, 2023 London, England @ Wembley Stadium
Sun Jul 2, 2023 Lytham/Lytham St. Annes, England @ Lytham Festival (Lytham Green) *
Tue Jul 4, 2023 Dublin/Rathfarnham, Ireland @ Marlay Park
Thu Jul 6, 2023 Glasgow, Scotland @ Hampden Park

* = Festival.

Def Leppard World Tour 2023