Def Leppard's Phil Collen Ready to Rock Star on Summer Stadium Tour with Journey

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Def Leppard is preparing to launch its Summer Stadium Tour with Journeyand guitarist Phil Collen is excited about what lies ahead.

The two bands previously toured together in 2018, and Collen tells ABC Audio that it’s a duo that works well.

“We always do really well with Journey, even when Journey doesn’t do really well with itself,” he says, adding that he’s a “big fan” of the band.

Collen says that with the recent 40th anniversary of their third studio album, PyromaniaFans can expect the band’s setlist to be “heavily focused on this album.” He also said they plan to clean up some of their previous tours, noting, “We got rid of a lot of unnecessary stuff.”

“When I say that, I mean, you know, stuff that bands do that you don’t realize you’re doing,” he explains. “We don’t have to chat and do this here and there with audience participation that goes on so long that we could actually fit another song in.”

He notes: “We kind of cut things up very surgically and made them a lot more exciting.”

This tour marks another summer of Def Leppard headlining stadiums, and for Collen, it doesn’t get any better than that.

“I think when you start playing, the dream is to be able to do it and, you know, the bigger the better,” he said. “You become a rock star. … It’s really cool.”

Def Leppard and Journey’s Summer Stadium Tour Featuring Special Guests Steve Miller Group And Cheap tipkicks off Saturday in St. Louis. A full list of dates is available at defleppard.com.