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Fan Reviews - 2003
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Leipzig, Ger (Festwiese) 20 Jun. 2003
-
Thomas
- The show was the same as in Oberhausen (read Mike´s review
- I could not better described this great gig!) with one exception:
AC/DC played 2 encores - "Rock´n´Roll damnation"
and FTATR!
Esp. the first hour of the Stones gig was absolutely poor but
when Angus and Malcolm entered the stage for "Rock me Baby"
the crowd went absolutely mad!
During the whole Stones show and afterwards many people screamed
"Angus" and "AC/DC" - they were the real
headliners!
And next day at the front page of our newspaper "Leipziger
Volkszeitung" there was a big picture of Brian and Angus
- the Stones came on page 10 - do I have to say more?
-
Phaedra
- The greatest rock’n roll band on the planet dominated the
Leipzig festival: AC/DC. The combination of Brain and Angus on
stage thrilled the audience ten times more than Mick and Keith
( who is more concerned with maintaining his image and posing
for photographers). Unfortunately AC/DC did not use the opportunity
to present a more unique setlist, but the atmosphere which the
band created in the audience made up for that. It seemed that,
while at AC/DC the audience was energetic and interactive, during
the Stones the audience was just standing there ‘with hands
in their pockets’ most of the time.
Angus and Malcolm also played a 'Rock Me Baby' with the Stones,
which was the highlight of the Stones gig (measured by the response
of the audience).
Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Back in Black
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Thunderstruck
If You Want Blood
Hells Bells (with the bell going up)
Bad Boy Boogie (with striptease of Angus)
The Jack
T.N.T.
Highway To Hell
Whole Lotta Rosie
You Shook Me All Night Long
Let There Be Rock (with Angus solo)
--
Rock’n Roll Damnation
For Those About To Rock (with 2 pair little canons on each side
of the stage)
- Heide Goody
-
It started on April 1st... We saw an announcement that AC/DC
would be supporting the Rolling Stones for 3 dates in Germany.
Yeah right. A hilarious April Fool.
But then we had seen reports of the Stones & AC/DC jamming
in Sydney... And the new dates were confirmed on the Stones
official website...
We'd been talking about having a weekend away, just the 2 of
us. £500 for a weekend browsing Cotswold antique shops
hadn't really motivated us to do anything about it though.
What if we combined a weekend away with seeing a once-in-a-lifetime
concert though?
There was one major sticking point. We had already booked to
see the Stones at Wembley in August. And it was kind of expensive.
It would have been a lot easier to justify without that, but
a combination of wheedling and sulking was eventually successful.
Booking the tickets wasn't easy. We braved the German website,
muddled through the payment and hit a final hurdle - the tickets
had to be delivered to a German address. The gods were on our
side though. I got back to my desk to find 2 messages - ring
your husband and ring Mark in Germany.
"We need a German address or we can't buy them"
"Aha, I might have the answer"
Mark kindly lent us his address so we were on our way.
We learned an interesting thing about the German postmen. They
won't deliver post to an address unless they know that the person
lives there. We were fretting about our tickets not arriving
until Mark put our name on his letterbox, and they were there
within hours.
Day 1
We arrived in Leipzig in the early afternoon. It's a fascinating
place with a mixture of old fashioned gingerbread buildings
and communist era concrete. There's a really fun atmosphere
about the whole place though and one of the first things we
did was to sample the local beer served in tall glasses and
a huge ice cream sundae sitting in the sunshine at a pavement
cafe.
In the evening we went for a drink in a hotel bar. A man sitting
at the bar was wearing a shirt covered in the Rolling Stones
'Licks' logo.
We asked him if he was going to the concert and told him we
had traveled from the UK. The conversation was piecemeal, bits
of English that he knew and bits of German that we knew, but
we found that the conversation flowed like the beer.
It was soon clear that he worked security for the Stones and
had been to the Oberhausen concert. He told us how great it
was, and spoke with reverence about 'the little man' and how
he came on stage with the Stones to play guitar for one of the
songs.
He had work to do so we sat and drank beer while he went off
a few times.
The bar wasn't full. There was the four of us and a group of
people in the adjacent corner.
We picked up on an Australian accent drifting across from there.
Moments later a few more people came and joined them, one of
them looked familiar... We turned to each other " it can't
be Angus - he's got short hair!"
But it was - the Little Man himself - Angus Young.
Some time later someone else joined them. He peered around the
doorpost to check that they were there and strutted in like
a rock star coming onto the stage - it was Brian Johnson. The
loud Geordie accent confirmed it.
We sat for a while, debating what to do. We were sitting in
a bar with the singer and lead guitarist of AC/DC! We felt bad
about disturbing them, but knew that if we didn't say hello
we would regret it forever.
We approached Brian and said that we had traveled from the UK
to see them and that we were really looking forward to the show.
He jumped up straight-away and starting shaking our hands.
"There's Angy over there" he said so we all shook
Angus's hand.
Brian clearly enjoys meeting fans and chatted to us for about
twenty minutes.
They told us about the place where they had lunch, the Auerbachs
Keller and recommended that we ate our lunch there before the
show, because it would keep us going until the end (they were
right).
We dragged ourselves away to leave them in peace. Brian left
after a while but Angus was still around when we left. We waved
to him on the way out "see you tomorrow"
His arm shot into the air as he waved goodbye to us - it was
a pose that was familiar and we saw it again on the stage the
next night.
Day 2
The excitement of meeting Angus & Brian and the prospect
of seeing the concert stopped me getting any sleep. We'd been
up at 4:30 to catch the plane so I really could have done with
it.
We walked to the Festwiese to check where it was. The fenced
off mini-city made it obvious when we got close. Roads were
closed and hundreds of staff were milling around. Fans were
there already as well, queuing to get in early. We took the
sound advice about lunch though and returned at 4 o'clock.
We went into the main standing area and everyone was making
themselves comfortable because the show wasn't due to start
until 6 o'clock. We sat down in the sunshine, soaked up the
atmosphere and the time passed fairly quickly.
The Pretenders were on first. We were kind of hoping that the
old classics like Brass in Pocket and Talk of The Town might
be the order of the day, but instead we got strange new over-political
songs which didn't really hit the spot.
There was a wait then before AC/DC came on, and the crowd started
to tighten up. It became clear to us that we wouldn't be able
to see a thing with all of the giant Germans standing in front
of us. Not to worry, they would surely raise up the video screens.
They were at the same level as the stage so if you couldn't
see the stage you couldn't expect to see the screens either!
But the screens remained where they were. Jumping up and down
and sitting on each other's shoulders was the only way to catch
a glimpse.
"Angus's boxer shorts have got AC/DC on them" I reported
downwards...
Singing along and getting carried away by the incredible atmosphere
was enough to sustain us though. We wondered how it was that
we'd bumbled around Leipzig, talking pidgin German to people
who didn't understand English when 65,000 of them knew all the
words to the songs!
The set was shorter than they would usually play, at an hour
and a half. Brian had told us how the band had sat around trying
to decide which 5 songs to drop and found it incredibly hard
to decide.
Angus and Brian came out onto a central platform during "The
Jack" and were a lot closer to us for a while. I think
they probably heard me singing along because I was doing my
best to out-sing the Germans. I also found that making a huge
noise was a useful tactic when someone really tall came and
stood in front of me.
A few drops of rain fell during "Rosie" but these
came as a blessed relief, and they certainly didn't dampen the
atmosphere.
We didn't know the German word for "more" so we shouted
"more" a lot when they left the stage. I guess somebody
told the band what the Germans were all shouting though (or
maybe they heard us?) because they came back on for an encore.
They'd even brought the cannons along to do "For those
about to Rock".
It's a very strange experience to get to the end of an AC/DC
set and for it not to be the end of the show. The pure exuberant
joy that is AC/DC on stage is exhausting and it seemed doubtful
that the Stones could top such a warm-up.
They started with Brown Sugar. Surely this was a mistake, blowing
such a singalong classic so early on? But then you realize that
the Stones have got so many singalong classics to choose from
that it doesn't matter. Mick Jagger sprinkled some German phrases
into his intros, which the crowd went crazy for. A giant video
screen slid into place so that finally we could see what was
happening. It moved into various different configurations during
the show, sometimes showing one large screen and sometimes being
in four pieces so one band member was on each screen.
Probably the best toys that they had were the giant flame throwers
which shot into the sky during "Sympathy for the Devil".
We could feel the heat off them even though we were several
hundred feet away.
Angus and Malcolm Young came back on stage for a blues number,
"Rock me Baby". The combined guitars sounded incredible.
The noise of the crowd very nearly drowned it out - it was the
combination that everybody wanted to see.
Keith Richards took the lead for two of the songs. He slowed
things down with "Thru and Thru" and then did "Happy"
while Mick took a break.
Chrissie Hynde came back on stage for "Honky Tonk Woman",
along with a risqué animation on the big screen featuring
the giant 'licks' symbol. Confetti was showered over the crowd
at the end of the show, and there was a fireworks display just
to make sure you really knew it was over.
We finally made our way out of the grounds at around midnight,
exhausted but elated. The trip that we'd thought was wildly
extravagant had been worth every penny.
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Hockenheim, Ger (Hockenheimring) 22 Jun. 2003
- Thomas Rothfuss
- AC/DC and the Stones, what a lineup!!! When I entered in Hockenheim
I saw the small stage in the middle of the area and I knew it
was my place to stand.
After the warm-up of The Pretenders, the crowd waited for the
next "warm-up" gig of AC/DC. More than half of the people
had come to see AC/DC I think.
When they came on stage with "Hell Ain't a bad place to be",
the crowd was going mad. Angus played really fantastic and you
could see that they had a lot of fun. After Brian's announcement
"I can see some old friends here, but there are also some
new ones" they played live rarities like "If you want
blood" or "Rock 'N' Roll Damnation". When "Hell's
Bells" started, they raised the original AC/DC bell in the
background.
My personal highlight of the show was "Let there be rock".
While doing his show, Angus came to the small B-Stage where I
was standing and he was really going mad. He went down to the
floor and ran around like the devil himself. I was standing about
three meters next to him and could see everything from a excellent
position. For me a dream had come through.
It was a real AC/DC show, they even did the strip song "Bad
Boy Boogie" and there were also canons at the encore "For
those about to rock".
When the Stones began later that evening, they didn't reach that
level of applause again, only highlights like "Satisfaction"
made the crowd go wild. But when Angus and Malcolm came back to
play "Rock me baby"-a blues- with Keith and Ron everyone
began to scream and it was an atmosphere I had not seen before
in my life. Angus and Ron from the Stones did the famous Angus
walk together!!!
It was a fucking great day at the ring and all the people who
went there won't forget it, I'm sure.
-
Olivier
- 18h30 AC/DC entre sur scene avec 34° à l'ombre sur
le beau circuit d'Hockenheim, le groupe malgré la chaleur
met le feu.On se demande si les gens ne sont pas venus voir AC/DC
plutôt que les Stones, le public portait deux fois plus
de T-Shirt AC/DC que des Stones.
Setlist:
Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Back in Black
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Thunderstruck
If You Want Blood
Hells Bells
Bad Boy Boogie (striptease d'angus)
The Jack
T.N.T.
Highway To Hell
Whole Lotta Rosie
You Shook Me All Night Long
Let There Be Rock
Rappel:
Rock'n'roll damnation
For Those About To Rock
Puis apres une demi heure de concert des Stones, Angus et Malcom
viennent jouer un vieux Blues de BB king, vraiment génial..
Je trouve un truc dommage c'est que les Stones ont fait la seconde
partie, ils aurais du faire la premiere..
-
Franck NEBEKER
- I made the trip from Paris to Hockenheim - and back ? yesterday,
just to see the band deliver a great performance. They all seemed
in top form, and really had the public on their side. 2 songs
I had never seen them play onstage before: Rock'n'roll Damnation
& If You Want blood; these are really made more the stage
as they really get the audience to join in! Hell Ain't a bad place
to be was a powerful starter, and back in black just blasted through
the German sky! Most Bon Scott (that is to say most of the show)
tunes sounded great ? apart from a few spells when Angus really
covered everyone else in the band! An hour and a half (or so)
of pure electricity and energy. Brian gives the impression that
he feels ever more at home and really enjoys himself! The stones
appeared so flat and dull that only Malcolm and Angus jamming
with them managed to enliven their show. It was really worth the
8 hour drive and the 6 hour stay in Germany.
-
Max
- Quand je vis AC/DC pour la première fois, c'était
en janvier 1981 pour la tournée Back in Black... A l'époque
nul n'aurait imaginé qu'un jour ceux-ci rejoignent les
Stones au panthéon du rock, surtout lors d'un même
et exceptionnel concert. 22 ans après l'incroyable est
survenu. Une foule conquise par avance, un show ENORME, une envie
de jouer irrésistible. Setlist agrémentée
d'un bon vieux TNT des familles et d'un R'n'R Damnation ultra
dépoussiéré à faire évanouir
les fans! Ajouter à cela un Rock me Baby avec les stones,
histoire de voir un Malcolm en lead guitar au devant de la scène...
Le concert pris vite des allures de festival Rock. A ceux qui
pensent que les concerts d'AC/DC ne réservent aucune surprise,
que tout est savamment calculé, la seule réponse
est oui... Si ce n'est que la surprise est pourtant bien là...
Dès que le concert se termine, on a envie que d'une seule
chose; qu'il recommence! Une chose est sûre; AC/DC est désormais
là, et le frisson des stadiums est là pour témoigner
qu'il sera encore longtemps, très longtemps...
-
Mauro from Milan
- My friend Spino and me left from Milan Saturday morning by train
and after an 8-hour journey we arrived at Hockenheim camping,
where we met some guys from Stuttgart (they're great!) who offered
us a lot of beer.
Sunday at 11 Am we were at the gates waiting for the opening.
At 14,30 finally the gates were opened, the heat and the sweat
was too much, and this assholes of the security didn't allow people
to get in with water bottles. After a long wait at 18,30 there
they are...Angus comes on stage dressed in blue, cheers the audience
and here we go with HELL AIN'T A BAD PLACE TO BE. Wow, they are
perfect, Brian's voice is absolutely outstanding and Angus kicks
ass! BACK IN BLACK is the next song and Angus finally starts his
duck-walkin, everybody is doing the best they can. "We got
some dirty deeds for you Hockenheim!", and me and my friend
Spino start jumping everywhere. Unfortunately we were behind the
only asshole who didn't give a fuck about Ac/dc. Anyway,THUNDERSTRUCK
is next and Brian comes on our side to pump up the audience here's
the first surprise to us, IF YOU WANT BLOOD, never heard with
Brian. Angus and Cliff change their instruments because they're
all covered in sweat. Then, the sound of the bells started beating
in my heart, and HELLS BELLS was in our ears. It's terribly hot
and Brian announces "we got a song for all the bad boys here
tonight, this song is called Bad boy boogie!" Here is Angus'
strip. During the strip our schoolboy comes on our side and he
puts his shirt between his legs moving it and turning it around
as he always does. And then pants down, to show the black underpants
with Ac/dc written. Angus is in great form and I've got a tear
coming from my eyes for the happiness. The song about a dirty
woman was next, and you know what I mean...THE JACK. Brian comes
among the audience using the big Stones' stage and makes us sing.
The next song is T.N.T, and Spino and me were keeping the rhythm
with the hand because we felt cool. Brian introduces Highway to
hell, and the interested audience (because not all were interested
in Ac/dc show)sang on the chorus. Here comes the moment for WHOLE
LOTTA ROSIE, YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG and my favourite, LET
THERE BE ROCK. During his solos Angus goes to the AC/DC leave
then the stage and left me happy, one hour and a half of kick-ass
rock n roll!
During Stones' set, Mick Jagger announces "Now It's time
for Rock me Baby". The two Young Brothers come on stage and
jam with the Jagger & Co. The audience starts to scream "ANGUS,
ANGUS!"
Just a couple of considerations: 1)Ac/dc are the greatest in the
world. 2) They should not play as a support of someone because
it's a great limit for them in my opinion. 3)Ac/dc show was outstanding,
they really deserve their place in the hall of fame.
We came back to the camping and we had a meeting with Morpheus
happy thanx to Ac/dc. That's rock n roll attitude.
-
Stephan & Armin
- Hell Ain't a bad place to be. AC/DC once again proved to be
the best band on a festival - even it wasn't a festival and AC/DC
was just a support band of the Rolling Stones. Those were immediately
smashed to the ground. Compared to the Stones the atmosphere with
AC/DC was superb. We drove 400km to see AC/DC and it was more
than worth it. The best live band. The majority of the audience
proved to be AC/DC-Fans. See ya on the next tour.
- Fabio
- Che spettacolo ragazzi!
Che bello poter dire:"Ho assistito al più grande concerto
di Rock n Roll di sempre"
E questo grazie ai due gruppi sicuramente più rappresentativi.
I nostri sono apparsi in grande forma,il sound era magnifico,pulito
e potente allo stesso modo.Da urlo le versioni di 2If you want
blood..." e "RnR Damnation".Il pubblico ha risposto
con più entusiasmo alla prova degli AC/DC,il loro stile
no-frills si è dimostrato ancora quello che fa la differenza.
Comunque grandi anche gli Stones,un concerto davvero spettacolare,con
l'aggiunta della ormai leggendaria cover di BB King, Rock me baby,suonata
in compagnia dei fratelli Young.Il pubblico è impazzito!
Grazie AC/DC!
Grazie Rolling Stones!
Long live Rock and Roll
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Toronto, Can (Downsview Park) 'Molson Canadian
Rocks for Toronto' 30 Jul. 2003
- K Ray
- OK - first things first - AC/DC was the best thing about the
Toronto Sars-Stock. The only preceding band that was even mildly
interesting was Rush, who put on their usual smooth and polished
virtuoso gig. But, in all fairness the Guess Who was a joke (though
apparently one shared by many Canadians). And, well, let me just
say the name . . . Justin Timberlake. I can only say two positive
things about Mr. Timberlake - 1) he's good at dodging empty plastic
bottles (a deplorable practice no matter how out of place the
act is) and 2) he didn't do a duet with Brian during the AC/DC
set (see, I had this nightmare last week . . .)
AC/DC rocked - they were the first band that put a real imprint
on the whole 450,000 person field. They were the first band
that EVERYONE stood up for. I was fairly near the back (somewhere
in Michigan I think) and even in the boonies everyone was dancing,
clapping, screaming out lyrics. Great set. Angus was being playful,
Brian sounded great, the band was tight. So, the usual.
OK, here's where I turn negative. While the concert was really
well run, given the massive numbers, there was a noticeable
and almost systematic effort to minimize AC/DC's presence. Three
pieces of evidence for this bold claim. First, in the lead-up,
there was almost nothing in the press about AC/DC - lots on
the Stones (fair enough) and much on Canadian locals (Guess
Who, Rush, Blue Rodeo, etc.). But the Canadian press almost
completely ignored our boys. Second, some local DJ got up to
introduce the BIG SET (the last four acts). In his little intro
he said, and I quote, "there are three of the greatest
acts in rock and roll on stage tonight. Two are Canadian and
one is the reason we're all here." Do the math - Guess
Who and Rush are Canadian, The Rolling Stones are the headliner.
Who is left out? Three, every major band had an introduction
- GW, Rush, even the Stones - EXCEPT AC/DC. I just don't get
the lack of interest in the greatest rock and roll band in history.
The good thing for AC/DC fans is what we always knew: The band
made their statement from the stage. And, with all due respect
to the Stones, AC/DC was the driving force in the crowd that
night.
- Uncle Tommy
- In my opinion AC/DC were the best act of the night for this
huge concert put on in by Molson Canadian or as it was dubbed
by many "SARS STOCK".For the time I was at the show
I was fortunate enough to see many of the great acts scheduled
for the evening including RUSH,AC/DC,THE GUESS WHO and of course
THE ROLLING STONES. I had never before seen this Aussie band perform
and was very interested to hear them indeed. They blew me away
right from the opening riff of Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be. Angus
running around the stage in his school boy outfit acting every
bit the part of the bratty little school kid and Brian Johnson
showing how to truly lead a band like AC/DC through a successful
evening of toe tapping/head-bangin' hits. Highlights of the evening
include Angus doing a strip tease during The Jack to a very enthusiastic
crowd only to pull his trousers down to reveal a pair of boxer
shorts with the Canadian flag on his rear end. Another highlight
was when Angus and Malcolm came out and performed Rock Me Baby
with the Rolling Stones. A wonderful night from start to finish.
Thank you AC/DC,Toronto loves you!
Set List: -Hell Ain't A Bad Place
-Back In Black
-Dirty Deeds
-Thunderstruck
-If You Want Blood
-Hells Bells
-The Jack
-TNT
-You Shook Me
-Rosie
-Let There Be Rock
Encore:Highway To Hell.
The entire set lasted approximately 70 minutes. Also Brian Johnson
has a great sense of humour.What a band!
 Theresa
- ***** for AC/DC for upstaging the Rolling Stones before they
ever hit the stage. The Stones had an excellent set but nothing
beat AC/DC as evident in the reaction of the crowd. The boys had
the loudest response from the crowd during the entire day and
were begged for an encore. I would say what song was the highlight
of their set but I honestly can't decide on one without listing
all of them. Although, highway to hell, back in black and my favourite,
Thunderstruck, were the crowd favourites. All members of the band
were awesome and Brian was excellent but Angus stole the show
with his guitar solos. Perhaps the most entertaining moment was
when Angus did a long drawn out strip act, finally getting down
to just his underwear of a Canadian flag and turning to flash
it proudly to the crowd. Musically, one of the AC/DC highlights
was probably when Angus and Malcolm took to the stage with the
Stones during their set. Keith and Angus? What could be better?
All in all, an excellent performance that outdid all the others,
including the kings of rock themselves, the Rolling Stones. Well
done.
- Katerina T
- HOLY SHIT! AC/DC was fucking phenomenal. They knocked my socks
off... in fact they knocked my pants off, my shirt off, everything!
THANKS FOR AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE! "Dirty Deeds..." was
so damn good. Everything was so damn good. You could tell they
were taking in this moment and realizing all this incredible energy.
I just can't get over how amazing AC/DC was. Tops the best. They
are the best. I love you! hahahahah! Come back soon!
- Samantha Szabolcs
- I am a 13 year old girl from Toronto Ontario who attended the
Stones and Friends concert on July 30 2003 , and let me tell you
right now I thought AC/DC was Better Than The Stones!!!they KICKED
ASS!!!!!!!!that was one hell of concert, there were so many AC/DC
fans there... I was there from 7:00 am - 11:45 pm, but AC/DC was
worth it !!!!they put on an awesome show , played some kick ass
songs and just jammed like crazy... I have one thing to say one
thing... I LOVE AC/DC!!!!!!!!:D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Pat
- AC/DC was awesome at Downsview. They were up for a long time
which was great. They were a real crowd pleaser, especially Angus
with his Canadian underwear. It was my first AC/DC concert and
my first rock concert, I'm only 13. The Stones were good but they
didn't have as much energy as AC/DC. They were also the LOUDEST!!!!Yeah!
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London, UK (Carling Hammersmith Apollo) 21 Oct.
2003
[Check out the excellent Photo
Gallery from Stonebreaker]
-
Rikard "Rik" Hofslagare
- AC/DC at the Odeon - It's been a mantra for longstanding fans
for a long time. A legendary band at a legendary venue ... seemed
but a dream not so long ago. I got the news of the gig way ahead
of time, and the source was so reliable that I made travel arrangements
on the spot. The hardcore had been given marching orders and I
was primed and ready to go after. Come Tuesday the 21st and I
still couldn't quite fathom it ... DC at the Odeon ... oh sweet
mama! Some of us knew what to expect after reports from the soundcheck,
no surprises, but still a small hope lingered ... maybe they'll
pull out "Riff Raff" for a starter, Live Wire ... well
they could, couldn't they? It was great seeing the old venerable
Odeon beeing returned to the hands of rockers after over a decade
of being defiled by Riverdance and the like. And what about this
Carling Apollo Hammersmith shit? Nope, it won't fly with me, it's
the Hammersmith Odeon, period! AC/DC delivered a stunning set
and I think the band have been revitalized by the gigs they've
made starting with the Roseland in April. Angus was simply on
fire and Brian's voice is, if possible, better than ever!
Considering that the show was nearly pulled at the last minute,
and was cut short for the same reasons the performance was nothing
short of absolutely brilliant. A note - Brian didn't say "this
is for the new record" before BIB, he said - This is for
you Record Breakers! By this he paid his respects to all of us
who made the Odeon gig sold-out in 1 minute 40 seconds (it took
within 4 minutes for all the confirmations to go out). He also
said that it was nice to be back home and that the place "sure
smelled the same" :)
The band had smiles on thier faces and the whole show sparkled
with the good mood, not even small hick-ups like when the bell
didn't come down far enough was turned to comedy by a witty Brian,
and when the guns on FTATR only blew smoke without a bang a couple
of times nobody cared. On a more serious note, yes it was sad
that Gone Shootin', What's Next to The Moon and a couple of other
songs were left out of the set, the two mentioned especially but
we got high powered, flawlessly delivered versions of RNRD and
IYWB so I'm not whining. Some of us couldn't help to notice that
the tempo was fast, very fast at times ... almost up to Donnington
'91 fast at times:) Some of us can also swear that Phil had added
a new touch to LTBR, which was furious BTW. The sound was excellent,
at times you weren't listening - you were IN the sound, marvellous!
I could go on and on about this gig -it was simply one of the
best, if not the best gig, I've seen them do all things considered
... and I've seen my share of AC/DC gigs the last 20 years. One
last thing ... I have a feeling that it will just get better from
here!
Oh, I leave you with this: Brian after fookin up the introduction
of RNRD and being set straight by Mal, for the next song (YSMANL)
he walks back to the setlist on the drum riser and reads of
it and says - Oh, I know this one, I wrote it meself!
- Andy Dyer
- I have been a fan since the late 1970's. Only found out about
gig at 5pm on the night of the show.Me and my 15year old daughter
jumped into car and drove up from Kent. We had stood outside for
a couple of hours and a great bloke by the name of Brian gave
me and my daughter 2 tickets for the circle. It was my daughters
first concert. Well I have seen AC/DC a lot over the last twenty
odd years and I must say that I thought they were great. If the
story about Brian being ill is true then he deserves great credit
for the way he got through the show. The atmosphere inside the
Odeon(Apollo) was as good as it was twenty odd years ago even
though there were some people who obviously were not great AC/DC
fans. My daughter said afterwards that it would be impossible
to top what she had seen. I am just so pleased that thanks to
Brian, who I presume works for a magazine or something, we had
got in to see the show. As a hardened fan I have to say that it
was a pleasure to have been there and I just hope that it is not
too long before we can go and see them there again.
Andy and Leighann Dyer
-
Mark Williams
 Awesome
gig. After only ever having seen the band in arenas, it was great
to experience them in more intimate surroudings and especially
as I was right down the front and got to shake Brian's hand three
times!
Even though being where I was meant I couldn't actually hear
the vocals past the loud guitars, drums and bass (and boy was
it loud - my ears are still ringing!) and was crushed against
the barrier all night (I have the bruises to prove it :-) ),
seeing Angus and Brian up close more than made up for it - it
was like having them play in my front room.
Apart from the bell not coming all the way down :-) and not
playing for a bit longer, it was incredible stuff and a great
set list and the band were on top form as usual - they never
disappoint.
Can't wait to see them on a full tour - hopefully in the not
too distant future.
-
Chris Neville
- In both the queue for the tickets and the queue to actually
get in, the atmosphere was brilliant, queuing was actually an
enjoyable experience as opposed to a chore and whetted ones appetite
for the evening ahead. Most of the people I spoke to had come
over to England just for the gig, this included fans from France,
Finland and Italy. There were also T.V. crews around interviewing
fans.
Two Finnish guys who I got talking to managed to get in to
the Apollo with a few others on the previous day to hear AC/DC
carrying out their sound check. They heard several songs and
showed me the pix they had taken on their digital camera.
As for the night itself, well what can I say? It was just as
it was in the late seventies/early eighties when it was the
‘Odeon’, except they had taken the seats out downstairs,
apparently just for this one night. The lighting rig, amps and
everything else was just as it would have been 17 years ago
including the price!
The whole performance saw them really relaxed, despite some
plonker throwing his beer over Angus during the first number
(Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be), just as well he still had
his school cap on! Angus did his strip routine during the Jack,
we all sang the chorus repeatedly as he stripped down to his
shorts!
It was an excellent gig and makes one realise how much intimacy
you miss with the stadium gigs!
-
Tas
 What
a great show, but I must set the record straight for 'bart' from
netherlands, after hell ain't... Brian johnson didnt say this
is from the new record, he said this is for all you record breakers
(refering to the fact it sold out in a record breaking 4 minutes).
Back in black followed and brian forgot the lyrics for the second
verse, which was quite amusing but it shows that they are human.
Great to here 'if you want blood' again. Over all it was an excellent
gig, I have been to see AC/DC on every tour since 1985 and they
did not dissapoint. Hammersmith odeon has always been a great
venue but the 3.5 hour queue to get tickets wasnt much fun. I
agree with the other reviews that there were a lot of people there
that were obviously not real AC/DC fans, which is a shame but
they all seemed to enjoy it, so if it converts more people to
AC/DC fans it can only be a good thing.
Can't wait for the next album and tour.
- Bart Schouwenaar, The Netherlands
- Well, what a night at the Odeon,eehhrr, Apollo. Great venue,
great sound and what an atmosphere. Easy to imagine what it was
like back in the old days.
I do agree as well on what Russell and Simon wrote. Still I have
an other idea about the short setlist.
1. After "Hell ain't..."Brian said, 'this is for the
new record' and then they went on with "Back in Black"
??? 2. They played actually 87 minutes which can fit on a CD (84
min with mixing). 3. Around the PA-system there were these Audience-microphones
directed to us, about 10 or 12. 4. AC/DC still has one album to
release by Elektra. 5.
Munich-Circus Krone is recorded for a DVD. My conlusion will be
that they release both before Christmas in a big box or something!
I hope it will be. After the gig, there was this VIP party upstairs
and Phil and Cliff showed up for a sec. Funny how to see them
walking through the party-crowd and getting not recognised. Strange?
No, I must say this. AC/DC wanted only real fans to show up. Me
and my friends found that half of the audience were NOT AC/DC
fans, just music lovers, a lot of older not-rock'n'roll fans,
and a lot of these young trendy groupiegirls or else. I mean,
there were four French guys, true die-hard fans who followed 'DC
around, they didn't have tickets. And there were more of these
old-school fans who couldn't get in. So what did AC/DC mean by
'only for the fans'?
I hope to see 'em next year in the Arena's doing 2 hour-plus gigs
for everybody!
Bart
P.S. Where were Keith and Ronnie doing "Rock me Baby"?
-
Russell Taylor
- Great atmosphere and superb sound in an excellent venue. A lot
of fans were disappointed that the set list was so short but many
did not know that Brian had been very ill all week. He was in
hospital on Monday night having fluid drained from his lungs and
the gig nearly got cancelled on Monday. I am sure this is the
main reason for Bad Boy Boogie, Gone Shootin and What's Next To
The Moon being omitted from the set list. Still it was a shame
that the set was effectively shorter than their supporting set
for the Stones in Germany earlier in the year. Great effort in
the circumstances though!
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