A brief interview with Rick about what's been happening with Def Leppard on tour:

January 2003

How was the tour of Japan?

It was the best received tour of Japan to date. People who have followed the band for years said that we sounded and looked better than we had in years.

Japanese audiences are known to be different from others...

They always clap during the song, but stop on a dime when a song ends. You get this wierd, pregnant pause effect. It makes us feel really nervous. The same set we played in Japan when played in another country would last at least a half-hour longer! So you tend to feel somewhat naked.

We figured out that they're kind of hanging on Joe's every word and trying to figure out what he's saying.

Back to the States...

We came back and played another ten shows in the U.S. We started in San Diego with a radio show concert and ended-up in Iowa.

What were the highlights?

The LA show, definitely. I thought everybody in LA was cynical, but it struck me that we were good enough to the degree that nobody in that audience could do anything else but think about the show. There was no room to be cynical about anything.

And the drum circle that preceded it?

I think the drum circle was the reason that it was such a success. The energy followed us. Though it was kind of chaotic, it was really special for me to have all those people who believe in what we're trying to do with Raven Drum show up and be supportive.

What do your bandmates think about what you're doing with the Foundation?

They were around. The rest of the band were curious as to what all that noise was at first. When they came out and saw what was going on, they saw that it was a good thing.

I do what I do with Raven Drum, but I don't shove it in anybody's face. The more of these Raven Drum events we do, the more interest I get from the guys in the band.

What's coming up?

At the end of January, we're back on the road. We're heading to Marbella, in Southern Spain--which, incidentally, is where we made the album "Slang". We're going to make the video for "Long, Long Way Home". The four musicians are going to Spain. Joe is staying in the U.K. to do the miserable, cold, rainy part of the video and we're doing the sunny, Hotel California side of the video.

Where are you playing after that?

Then we go to Dublin to start rehearsing for a European tour. It ends the 27th of February, I think, then we're back to the States to begin a tour in mid-March. I'm not exactly sure where, but there will definitely be more Raven Drum events along the way!!!