26 June 2009 (gig)
27 June 2009
Tonight the sold out audience in Wembley Stadium waits eagerly in anticipation for the Godfathers of hard rock to grace us with their presence. AC/DC's reputation goes before them, they've been knocking out the tunes and knocking audiences dead since 1973. No one's expecting any big surprises. We know exactly what we're gonna get tonight, no Ballads,no Bullshit, just an onslaught of no nonsense rock n roll.....
We hear the rumblings of a train and see an impressive backdrop of a life size model of an angry looking half derailed steam train onstage and before we know it the band has kicked in to the first single from 'Black Ice', 'Rock 'n' Roll Train', and we're off !
Next up is 'Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be' followed by the Monumental 'Back in Black' (one of 4 tracks we get from the album of the same name tonight), the opening riff of which is played on several thousand air guitars around the stadium, as well as quite a lot of inflatable guitars which a lot of people have brought with them to play along with Angus.
There's a great crowd here tonight, a whole spectrum of age groups, and a hell of a lot of flashing red devil horns, everyone of them shaking heads and fists along to the non stop onslaught of rock.
'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' and 'Thunderstruck' are sung almost word for word by the audience, lapping up every second it. Next up is 'Black Ice', one of five tracks from the new album. These new tracks fit in the playlist comfortably and sound great, however I think most of us would have been happy with just a couple of new ones and a few more classics instead, but hey, they're here to promote the new album, so no complaints.
During the hard chugging along of 'The Jack' we get the customary striptease of Angus, all the way down to his AC/DC emblazoned boxers, and during the instrumental breaks the eagle eyed cameramen manage to hunt down all the good looking ladies sat shoulder high,some of them lapping up the attention and bearing all on the big screens to rapturous applause from largely male audience!
The band are faultless in their performance tonight as is generally taken for granted from these consummate professionals.Angus still runs around the stage and plays up just like the schoolboy he's dressed as for most of his life. Brian Johnson seems to have boundless energy and effortlessly demands attention from his audience, good work for a 61 year old!
The giant bells toll, and we all know what we're about to receive. The Classic 'Hells Bells' is followed, as it is on the 'Back in Black' album by 'Shoot to Thrill'. Then after another couple of newies, we get 4 set closing monster anthems. The Guys belt out 'You Shook Me All Night Long' , followed by 'TNT' complete with a chorus of 'Oi,Oi,Oi's' from the crowd and real flames shooting up from the Runaway train on stage......The Stage then goes dark,the unmistakeable riff of 'Whole Lotta Rosie' kicks in and the re-lit stage now shows an enormous inflatable Rosie straddling the Train and rocking back and forth, a great accompaniment to this belter of a Rock n Roll tune.Over 30 years old, and as with the rest of their back catalogue, semmingly immune to the ageing process.
Finally, the all out assult of 'Let There Be Rock' kicks in, the angry riff triumphantly whipping up the audience into a frenzy. Angus runs about like a madman, up and down the runway to the mini platform the middle of the crowd, before ending up on a raised platform at the back of the stage to wow the audience with some awesome guitar solo acrobatics.The guy is in complete control of his axe!
The Guys leave the stage, but of course we know we're getting an encore, they can't leave us yet........they don't disappoint. Yet another simple but hopelessly catchy monster riff kicks in and we're on the 'Highway to Hell'. The Giant Screen Backdrop simply showing a raging hellfire. The Band of course finish with 'For Those About To Rock' and are duely saluted by their 70,000 or so fans.
AC/DC's performance is faultless, this coupled with great sound, fantastic stage props and effects, and a hard rocking audience, makes for an awesome unforgettable experience. Rock 'n' Roll at it's Best.
Setlist -
Rock n Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place To be
Back In Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bells
Shoot to Thrill
War Machine
Dog Eat Dog
Anything Goes
You Shook Me all night long
TNT
Whole lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Encore:
Highway To Hell
For Those About To Rock
