Despite the fact that AC/DC is considered classic rock , their relevancy in 2008 couldn’t have been more obvious by the deep lines at the arena’s merch booth tables. With mullet heads lined up next to the trendy set and almost a 2 to 1 girl to guy ratio, there wasn’t a genre of fan who couldn’t wait to sport an AC/DC t-shirt. Add that to the thousands of fans wearing lit up devil horns and there was something undeniably cool about AC/DC in 2008.
35 years in AC/DC earned their first Rolling Stone cover, while their 16th album (Black Ice) went number one in 29 different countries and has been heralded as "the biggest debut ever by a mainstream hard rock album. "
Angus Young, now 53, still dons the same school boy outfit and straddles the line between creepy and cool. He hasn’t given up stripteasing either, as he shed his schoolboy outfit during “The Jack” to reveal his scrawny torso before mooning us in AC/DC logo boxers while the crowd sings – “She’s got the Jack. She’s got the Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack!" Angus also hasn’t retired molding his fingers into horns on the top of his balding head or duck walking while head bobbing, as if whiplash was a wish.
Angus’ brother Malcolm, still holds stoic on the right side of the drums, only looking straight forward, while shaking his legs in rhythm. Short and skinny with stringy long hair, he’s starting to resemble Gollum in his older age, as he croaks the chorus, “dur tee deeds and de done dirt cheap.” As the driving rhythmic pulse between AC/DC’s 1-2 punch guitar machine, there is no brotherly jealousy issue present as he lets Angus take front and center,
Drummer Phil Rudd, plays it cool in a black t-shirt and eye glasses, with a trusty cigarette dangling from his mouth. Having spent ten plus years away from the band in the 80’s and early 90’s, Rudd has returned and plays the working man Charlie Watts, displaying steady yet unspectacular drum chops. Meanwhile bassist Cliff Williams hidden beneath his silver locks, makes like an assembly line worker – strong, tough and never breaking the foundation with his thunderous bass lines.
Lead singer Brian Johnson (61), not looking a year younger than 50, appears more the guy you want to share a beer with at a pub than lead singer of a rock and roll dynasty. He had no problem hamming up the crowd with his gatsby hat, sleeveless button down and fitted jeans on the stage’s catwalk. His screechy voiced hasn’t aged gracefully and he might be the band’s weakest link these days as classics “Back In Black” and “Hells Bells,” sounded frail, but his showmanship and stage leadership is still in top form.
Opening with a high production and overpriced opener with video and explosions, AC/DC stormed the stage with their first single from Black Ice, “Rock N’ Roll Train” as the stage backdrop was a large AC/DC logoed locomotive spewing smoke. To the dismay of many fans, the set-list strayed from much of the Bon Scott era, but dug “heavily” into 1977’s Let There Be Rock with– “Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be,” “Let There Be Rock” and “Whole Lotta Rosie.” It was the later two that revved up the evening as"Let There Be Rock" featured Angus ripping a guitar solo before holding the entire arena hostage as ran up and down the catwalk, spinning & twirling on the floor in a circle, then being lifted up on a platform high above the crowd. Then he ran back down the catwalk and stood on the highest part of the stage and urged the audience to holler out of him more dirty blues riffs.
“Whole Lotta Rosie” featured a large “more cushin’ for pushin’ hooker float” that was riding the locomotive and tapping in unison to Angus’ riffs. Clearly the night belonged to Angus, as his appetite for being the band’s mascot and icon did not fade with his receding hair line. He riffed hard and his pentantonic blues chords were played through one handed pull-offs and arena rock chords. And because AC/DC never breaks from their patented formula, the new Black Ice songs “War Machine,” “Anything Goes,” “Big Jack,” and “Black Ice” blended right in with “Shoot To Thrill” and “TNT.”
This was a rock and roll show in all its Beavis and Butthead (Rock!) glory with props, smoke, girls, unison crowd chants ("Thunderstruck") and fist pumping. “Hells Bells” was graced with a large descending bell as the ominous guitar intro crept in. And as Johnson heroically hollered in the “fire!” call for the multiple cannons to blast during “For Those About To Rock We Salute You,” the entire arena had their hands raised to their brows. In AC/DC terms, anybody who wasn’t about to rock was due for damnation.
Setlist
1. "Rock ‘n’ Roll Train"
