AC/DC, ANZ Stadium – 18th February, 2010

One of the world’s biggest rock acts, AC/DC have not played their original hometown for close to a decade, so this was always going to be a highly anticipated event, and a triple night stand at the ANZ stadium was appropriately large for the occasion. Apart from being a massively corporate international act, with ridiculous amounts of merchandising and all the shit that goes with it, AC/DC are – when you peel away all the crap, a fantastic hard rock band.

Sure, tonight there were giant videos and pyrotechnics (even a short fireworks show after the gig) which made it more of an event for the thousands of fans, but many of us were there for the rock, so bugger the spectacle (and where did all those bogans come from?), let’s enjoy the love of rock!

Ashfield lads Angus and Malcolm Young are the ultimate guitar gods, and along with pommie Brian Johnson’s typical rock scream you have a highly effective rock n’ roll juggernaut. And of course, there are the other two guys that most people don’t know – Aussie Phil Rudd behind a monstrous drum kit and another pom, Cliff Williams on bass.

AC/DC reeled off all the hits we expected – ‘Thunderstruck’, ‘Back In Black’, ‘Dirty Deeds’, ‘High Voltage’, ‘The Jack’, and ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’. And they’re to be applauded for not only playing new material, but four new songs – ‘Rock N’ Roll Train’, ‘War Machine’, ‘Black Ice’ and ‘Big Jack’. Kudos to them for not simply pulling out all the usual big hits from their gigantic catalogue. There were also lesser know songs such as ‘Shot Down In Flames’ and ‘Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be’. Wrapping it up with the epic, eye popping goodness of ‘Let There Be Rock’, AC/DC came back for the obligatory encore of ‘Highway To Hell’ and what else but ‘For Those About To Rock’. Wow, what a show. A shame we’ll never see them somewhere more fitting like the Annandale Hotel – now that would be something special. Of course fan demand would require a year-long residency…

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 * High Voltage * You Shook Me All Night Long * T.N.T. * Whole Lotta Rosie * Let There Be Rock * [Encore] Highway To Hell * For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

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