Def Leppard is preparing to return to Brazil for the third time in their career on a joint tour with Mötley Crüe , called The World Tour . In an interview with Wikimetal , guitarist Vivian Campbell spoke about the band's new album and expectations for their return to our country.
With 30 years on the road, the English band brings more than just pure nostalgia to the tour stage, also presenting songs from their new album, Diamond Star Halos (2022). The band's first album since 2015, the new release was recorded during the pandemic with a lot of "creative freedom," as the guitarist summarized. "This album reminded us that we were musicians."
Even though Def Leppard has hard rock in its DNA, they've ventured into other musical styles and frequently flirt with pop. But the band's latest release comes at a good time for The World Tour , which will take them to stadiums across Latin America and Europe throughout this year, featuring grandiose choruses and undeniable arena anthems.
“We have an identifiable sound that is defined mostly by our vocals, by the fact that we all sing and we are one of the few bands that have more than one singer. It's not about one voice in Def Leppard, it's about the ensemble and how we use those voices and orchestrate everything,” Vivian Campbell pointed out about the group's true trademark. “And when we play live, there's an extension of that, because we really perform and sing live. Unfortunately, few bands do that nowadays; many use hard drive or play over pre-recorded tracks. And the result isn't the same. In Def Leppard, we pride ourselves on playing everything the audience hears; we work hard and get better and better over time.”
Guitarist for Def Leppard since 1992, when he was recruited to fill the position left by Steve Clark , who died the previous year, Campbell is still "the newcomer" in the band. From the beginning, however, the work ethic of his colleagues was evident: there is a commitment to making the work bigger than each person's ego and, most likely, this characteristic allowed the group to survive losses and tragedies throughout their career.
READ ALSO: Def Leppard and the story of Rick Allen, the drummer who lost his arm in an accident
“It’s not five guys. It’s a band. There’s a collective thought process and there’s a collective ego: we all know that the music is much more important than any one of us and we work to achieve that goal. So, we are a strong team,” he explained. “We serve the same master: Def Leppard.”
The band's last visit to Brazil was in 2017, at SP Trip and Rock In Rio, where they delivered incredible shows that forever erased the memory of the fiasco from 20 years prior , especially at the mega-festival in Rio. “I can guarantee that we're going to put on an even better performance than at Rock In Rio; the band is better now than it was a few years ago, it's noticeable,” he stated. “We're going to make sure the show is a representation of our career, with older songs and more recent ones. We're very confident with the album Diamond Star Halo . In fact, we play many songs from that album in our shows because they fit perfectly with some of the more classic songs.”
Despite being a classic band that reached the peak of its fame in the 1980s, Def Leppard also holds a special place in the hearts of new generations, winning over fans of all ages. On TikTok, for example, there is a growing community of teenagers and young adults passionate about glam and hard rock, with searches for Def Leppard exceeding 245 million views on the video platform.
For Campbell, it makes all the difference to have younger people at the shows, a phenomenon he initially attributed to piracy through free downloads, when young people started to discover older bands and attend concerts.
“I started noticing this fifteen years ago. Historically, our audience is from our generation and our age group, but around that time I started noticing younger people showing up at shows wearing Def Leppard t-shirts and singing along to every song,” he recalled. “And that just grew and grew; today, about 35% to 50% of our audience is young enough to be our children. And that’s very encouraging because our audience is growing, and young people bring a physical energy to the shows, more noise and enthusiasm, and that reaches the stage. We need the fans’ energy for the magic to happen.”
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe will perform in Brazil on March 7th at Allianz Parque in São Paulo. Find out everything about tickets here and watch tour videos here to get ready.
READ ALSO: The story of Def Leppard's unreleased recordings and the failed partnership with Jim Steinman
