For Those About To Rock.... (AC/DC in general)

Member Name: jeffjen

Product:	AC/DC in general
Date:	01/07/09 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing live act

Disadvantages: None

I was lucky enough to get tickets to see AC/DC last night at Hampden Park, Glasgow. They are one of my favourite bands, and I have never seen them live, and to be honest I thought I never would!

They have not toured for years, but shortly after the release of their new album 'Black Ice' last year, it was announced that they would be embarking on a worldwide tour. And so, the mad rush for tickets began!
I sat at my laptop on the morning they went on sale, fingers constantly refreshing the page until 10am when ticket sales opened, and to my relief ( and amazement) got straight in and bought two tickets for myself and my partner. I realised later, just how lucky I was when it was said the tickets had sold out in an hour and many people were left disappointed.

Fast forward to last night.......

AC/DC live was on of the best concerts I have ever been to! The band: Brian Johnson, Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd, showed no signs of their age, and guitarist Angus Young was amazing. He is now 54, but showed no signs of slowing down, as he duck-walked from side to side, ran down the centre stage, and lay on his back, whilst still playing his guitar.
At one point he was raised up on hydraulics in the centre of the crowd, and gave the crowd an unbelievable 20 minute guitar solo!

The stage set-up was impressive, with the band coming on at 8.30pm following a short tounge-in-cheek cartoon set on a train, where suddenly the screen splits, and a large steam train bursts through onto the stage and off the tracks as the band appear and kicked off with 'Runaway Train' from their new album 'Black Ice'.
The whole of Hampden Park were on their feet, and chants of 'Angus, Angus' rang out as the band powered their way through some old classics such as 'Shoot To Thrill', 'Highway To Hell', 'Let There Be Rock', 'TNT', 'Hells Bells','Dirty Deeds' 'You Shook Me All Night Long' and 'Back In Black'.
'Thunderstruck' was one of my favourites of the night.

The newer songs such as 'War Machine', 'Black Ice' and 'Big Jack' were equally well received and I loved 'Anything Goes' which is one of my favourites off the Black Ice album.

Highlights of the night were Angus' guitar solo which just went on and on, and I don't know how he manages it! Also his famous 'strip' routine during 'The Jack' was as funny as ever, as he kept pausing and lifting his hand to his ear in a gesture to make the crowd scream louder! 'Whole Lotta Rosie' was another favourite, complete with large inflatable 'Rosie'.

The band were very very loud and the sound was really good. I have been to a few outdoor concerts and problems with the acoustics can be a problem, but that certainly did not happen last night.
Angus had promised it would be special, as last night was the final date of the European Leg of their tour, and also it was his homecoming gig, ( he and his brother Malcolm were born in Glasgow). Angus paid tribute to his Scottish roots by performing 'Loch Lomond' as the intro to 'Highway To Hell', much to the crowd's delight as a big cheer went up before we all sang along.

A couple of surprise extras to the set list were thrown in too such as 'Dog Eat Dog' as the band played for 2 hours 15 mins, before ending with 'For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) complete with cannons firing, before they finally left the stage and fireworks exploded into the night.

Thousands of fans poured out of the stadium looking like they had put in a performance themselves! Not just the die-hard 30, 40 and 50 somethings (like myself) but also a lot of young fans too, proving AC/DC after all these years are still attracting and reaching out to the younger generation.
One young lad told us he had been to a lot of festivals and seen a lot of bands, and nothing came close to last night. I think everyone left very happy - and exhausted!
I'm not sure if they will tour again, as rumour has it that this will be their last, although nothing official has been said. I would say judging by the way they performed last night, they showed no sign of tiring yet, so who knows what the future holds? I am just happy that whatever they decide, I did get to see them once.

I will conclude by saying last night was one of the best concerts I have ever been to, and the newspaper had wrote 'Hampden roar will welcome AC/DC for the loudest gig of the year!' - they were right!

Summary: One of the best live acts you will ever see.