Mancrush Monday

Bernice:

Well, after a weekend of camping in beautiful - but HOT - weather, I know I am in need of a Monday pick-me-up!

While cranking some tunes to prevent a "case of the Mondays" I got to thinking about all the good times I've had this summer. Of course the biggest highlight of the season for me was getting to take a very special road trip out to Calgary with Kaeleigh so that we could see the Tesla, Poison, and Def Leppard tour together. These are three of my absolute favourite bands and I was actually lucky enough to catch this tour twice this year! It's been a summer of great music, and to be able to see my fave guitar player do his thing twice is not something I manage to do every year...although I have managed the feat twice, once in 2015 as well as this year. :)

So, who is he then? None other than Vivian Campbell from Def Lep. When he's not performing with them, he's also keeping busy with his two other bands; Last in Line and Riverdogs. These three bands all have very different sounds - a testament to his versatility as a musician, to be sure. Prior to joining Def Leppard in 1992, he was also an instrumental member of Dio. He's also done a lot of good work with other bands and musicians through his career. His habit of keeping busy means a lot of great music for me to enjoy - thanks Viv!

I've caught a few nice pics of the man in action over the years over the six or so times I've seen Def Leppard. They vary in quality depending on where I managed to snag a seat haha. I thought I'd share a few :)

At Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB June 3, 2017. It doesn't get better than this!

Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, SD April 22, 2017

At the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB April 29, 2015

I'd also like to share a few recommendations if you wanna check out what this guy can do on the guitar as well - Euphoria by Def Leppard, the Riverdogs self titled debut album, and Heavy Crown by Last in Line. EXTRA nerd points if you track down the tracks he performed on Lou Gramm's Long Hard Look album. I heard that tape a lot in my sister's car as a child, and I'm fairly certain it's the first time I ever heard him play! I'm still quite partial to that album to this day. That's a good start, and you'll be wise to keep listening from there haha. 

Kaeleigh: While I didn't know about Vivian Campbell until Bernice shared him with me, I am very glad she did - and the rest of the band too! (You'll find a lot of my hair metal knowledge starts with Bernice, haha!). I was SO excited to be on his side of the stage for the show this summer, and he's awesome to watch as they perform. As Bernice will testify, I love an Irish accent, and watching the Def Lep home videos with commentary on is one of the best things to do whilst yarncrafting; I love listening to Viv tell a story, and watching the whole band together in some of their candid moments is pretty nice! Of course I can't let this opportunity pass without sharing MY favourite pic from the show - I hope we didn't seem too nutty because we were all-in fangirling so hard he actually made eye contact and directed some guitar pics AT US. Probably to shut us up, which definitely didn't work ;)