August 25, 2013
Aww, another 1962 birthday! And today’s day in 1962 belongs to none other than Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell. Sure, Viv has been in the rock news a lot lately what with the announcement of the release of Def Leppard’s Viva Hysteria residency in Las Vegas (The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel March 22, 2013 through April 12, 2013), first as a feature in theatres on October 21, 2013 and soon-to-follow DVD (sure to be on my Christmas list), and with his fight with Hodgin’s Lymphoma that he announced on June 10, 2013. Oh, and there are the news reports of his UK tour with his “side” project, Last In Line (I quoted “side” because really it’s a part reincarnation of Dio, minus the late signer Ronnie, and Dio predates Viv’s membership in Lep), and most recently the August 7, 2013, canceling of the remainder of those tour dates because Viv’s illness wouldn’t allow him to do them, of course, with the optimistic statement that they will be back. And sure, I could highlight all of that, but why when it’s already been said? And frankly, it’s just way, way, way too serious and all. So I thought I’d honor Viv’s birthday, and give him a get well card, by telling a little story … oh and by quoting some really funny things Viv had to say.
The story …? Well, it’s the story of Viv on a billboard and it goes something like this. One day in like February or so, when I worked on Sunset, I saw a billboard for the Viva Hystera residency. The billboard was near the Whiskey and featured all five members of Def Leppard, standing in a row. For some reason, okay I know the reason but I’m not telling, Viv stood out. Okay, I’ll tell you; I liked his vest, and I liked his hair. And I liked it that he seemed to be saying (you know if the billboard could talk) you must come to Vegas to see this show Whisper because this is the last fun you are going to have for a long time and seeing as it’s the last fun you’re going to have, this is going to be the best concert you will ever see. Seriously. Viv said that…in his face; he did, I promise. And he has cool hair. And ever since, I can’t stop playing Leppard. And it was … it was the best concert I ever saw. And he wore that same really cool vest. And I still really like vests. And I’ll stop saying “and” now…
I wanted to do a story on Viv, so I looked up all of the serious stuff. I found that really cool pic of him playing a Lep show (above) with his short hair. By the way, I think his short hair — a hair style he had no choice about — is cool, so I don’t feel bad by saying he has cool hair because it turns out Viv can both “rock the locks” with his long hair or rock the high ‘n’ tight “do”. So yay! And so we have Viv fighting on, performing mostly, getting better (I think) and still looking good. Double yay! But what I found today in my search of all-stuff-Viv was way better than all the seriousness. I found Viv answering fan questions on Soundcloud, with links from Def Leppard’s Twitter account. And just to give me even more proof that the Sunset billboard really did tell me the truth — that Viv is a really cool and nice guy who would talk to me, me the unserious one, from that billboard — here’s a sample of the things Viv said in the interview…
In response to a fan question asking what’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to him on stage, Viv said: “that would be falling off it, if you do it as long as I’ve done it, it’s pretty inevitable at some point you’re going to fall off it”. In response to a fan question asking what the secret is to playing and doing chemo at the same time, Viv said: “just keep on keeping on; I’d rather keep working than to sit at home puking. I find that’s a big part of therapy to keep getting on with my life, albeit with considerably less hair.” At some point, he takes a break and tells us it’s “gardener day”, even saying “shut up gardener”, well not to the person, but to the machinery. He’s humble, and not that kind of star-humble where they are about half humble, but actually humble. He said his daughters are his greatest accomplishment. He said he’s proud of any song he “finishes”, calling himself “the world’s greatest song writing procrastinator”. He said his favorite guitar is his first, even reciting the serial number because, according to him “I worked hard to buy that guitar”. He said twice that he likes to walk his dog.
As for Def Leppard, he answered two questions I would have asked. First, when asked what the secret is to that band’s chemistry to getting along with his band mates (a thing I literally hear in Lep’s music), Viv says: “regardless of whatever you do for living, human interaction is needed, so it’s important to brush up on your social skills as it is to be a good singer or guitar player; you have to work effectively with other people whatever your job is in life and being in a band is no different, so that’s part of the big secret to Def Leppard’s success – that we like each other enough and even on the days when we don’t particularly feel like we liked each other, we have respect for each other so we’ve learned to co-exist quite nicely.” And as for whether there will ever be another concert like I saw in Vegas? Viv said: “there is a strong chance of doing that again”! Between the personal levity this man has and the humility over Def Leppard, I came to the overriding conclusion that Viv would be the perfect guest at a dinner party – he’s funny, interesting, speaks in a really cool Irish accent, is friendly, oh and I could hope he would wear the vest because I do so very much love that vest! And better yet, that dinner party could be in Vegas when there is another Hysteria residence, so then we all can go.
As for the topic of choice in the rock press, Mr. Viv’s health, mixed in with all of his levity and talk of bands, he does address his health and the challenges his health poses to touring, saying: “my energy level has definitely been affected by the cancer and the resulting chemo, but I’m happy to say that the energy level is coming back…” I use the punctuation symbol for an omission because he added an important point of philosophy there, something I didn’t see reported anywhere. And I’m torn because he ended his interview with another. The second was Viv’s response to a question asking him to recite his favorite philosophical statement. He recited: Albert Camous, “a guilty conscience needs to confess, a work of art is a confession”. But in his serious answer about the effect of his health on his work, Viv said: “all good, head down, play guitar, it’s a guaranteed cure for anything”. Personally, I think Viv’s own words are the truest philosophy. So, play on Mr. Viv — may your guitar, especially that one you’ve memorized the serial number of, cure you. Oh, and happy birthday!
Links to Vivian Campbell interviews: