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ALL CHARGED UP: For a band about to rock on new tour, AC/DC is
ready
Wednesday, August 2, 2000
By John Serba
The Grand Rapids Press
To steal a line from a Spinal Tap song, there wasn't a dry seat
in the house.
The house being Van Andel Arena Tuesday night, when one of the
greatest rock 'n' roll bands of the last 30 years, AC/DC, kicked
off its first tour in five years. And the sold-out crowd was so
excited, so amped to see guitarist Angus Young and his Aussie rocker
pals, people were practically wetting their pants. (Figuratively
speaking, of course.) Indeed, Angus was the center of attention,
decked out in his trademark schoolboy outfit, strutting across the
stage, cranking out chords the size of bull elephants, contorting
his face, mooning the crowd, rolling around on the floor, running
up and down the ramp that extended several rows out into the crowd,
sweating like a horse with Pavarotti on its back and generally not
standing still for more than three seconds.
The guy's a madman, and with every Angus antic, the crowd roared
its approval.
And to top it off, the stage was occupied by a gigantic 30-foot
bronze statue of Angus, complete with fist in the air and clutching
his classic Gibson SG guitar; it also had glowing eyes and little
red devil horns, belched smoke from its mouth and shot sparks and
fireballs at the end of the show -- as if nine zillion lights and
big TV screens weren't enough.
Add in a visibly excited singer in Brian Johnson, a tight rhythm
section in drummer Phil Rudd, bassist Cliff Williams and rhythm
guitarist Malcolm Young and a slew of classic three-chord, no-frills
rock songs, and you've got yourself a Show of Epic Proportions,
a rampaging Incredible Hulk of rock concerts.
All I can say is, "Whew."
As soon as the opening chords to "You Shook Me All Night Long"
rang through the arena at about 900 gazillion decibels -- extreme
volume is par for the course for AC/DC, you know -- the crowd exploded,
singing along with Johnson's raspy sandpaper gravel pit of a voice.
The set was made up of hits old and new, ranging from classic crusty
'70s rockers "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be" and "Let There be Rock"
to new crusty '70s-style rockers "Satellite Blues" and "Stiff Upper
Lip."
The crowd reacted wildly to "Back in Black," "Hells Bells," "Dirty
Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Highway to Hell" and "The Jack," the latter
being a blues-tinged sing-along with the fans filling in the words
to the repetitive chorus, encouraged by an animated Johnson.
Visually, pre-recorded videos and live-camera footage were projected
onto two screens to various degrees of success. The live stuff was
excellent; some of the videos were funny, albeit blatantly juvenile
(some cartoons of questionable taste, silly phallic imagery); that
thumping-speaker image was just cheesy.
The band sounded its best during straight-up, no-frills cuts such
as "Shoot to Thrill," "Whole Lotta Rosie" (my personal favorite),
"Get it Hot" and "Bad Boy Boogie." Those songs, delivered with boundless
enthusiasm, shot down anyone's fears that the band might be a bit
rusty on the opening night of the tour. In fact, the show went relatively
smoothly on its maiden voyage, with only a few production glitches
-- i.e., some occasional feedback or sound problems and some minor
mechanical problems with the giant Angus statue -- that were noticed
only by the most anal-retentive of attendees (ahem).
Yes, a big hit
Otherwise, AC/DC's show was nothing but pure, pedal-to-the-metal
entertainment. They hauled out the cannons for "For Those About
to Rock (We Salute You)." Angus did his bawdy, tongue-in-cheek striptease,
showing us his American flag boxer shorts (and his skinny gluteus).
Johnson seemed pumped all night, amiably talking to the crowd,
slapping hands with fans, thrusting his fists in the air and playing
air guitar. Actually, it's easy to forget that these guys are in
their late 40s and early 50s (Angus' receding hairline not withstanding),
considering they had the spark and spunk of teen-agers.
Generally, AC/DC's show walked the line between extravagance and
irony. Sure, the cannons and statue and big 'ol bell and rising
platforms are classic rock concert cliches that AC/DC helped originate,
but such antics also have plenty of tongue-in-cheek, Spinal Tapped
kitsch value. Either way you look at it, though, it's more fun than
a barrel full of loquacious monkeys.
The overall appeal of AC/DC, I think, lies in the band's no-nonsense,
jeans-and-T-shirt approach to rock 'n' roll. They don't play stupid,
syrupy ballads, they don't ramble off into subpar free-form jazz
odysseys -- they just keep relentlessly cranking out the memorable
three-chord rock songs that have become their trademark, being the
party band for an arena-sized shindig for 12,000 buddies. But next
time, you might want to wear diapers.
Slash, for openers
Opening the show with a half-hour set was Slash's Snakepit. The
former Guns 'n Roses guitarist didn't leave much of an impression,
considering the act's so-so songs basically rooted in the sleazy,
hard, blooze-rock of his ex-band. The fact that he and his cohorts
aren't afraid to dip into GnR material (for example, "It's So Easy")
makes them look and sound like a fair-to-middling Guns n' Roses
cover band, and in general, Slash's playing just didn't sound inspired.
A disappointment, to say the least.
AC/DC Report Card:
Angus Young in action.
Bad boy Angus Young, decked out in his trademark schoolboy outfit,
led AC/DC through a raucous concert Tuesday night at Van Andel Arena.
The band's first-semester grades:
Period 1, Rockin' Out 101: A
Period 2, "Spinal Tap" stylings: A
Period 3, Physical Education: A-
Period 4, Social Graces: D
Period 5, Audio/Visual Club: B
Period 6, Penmanship: Satisfactory
Attendance: 12,000-plus (sold out)
Length of set: Two hours
Number of songs played with the word "rock" in the title: 4
Number of songs played with the word "hell" in the title: 3
Amount of dough for T-shirt: $32; $45 for tie-dyed
Surprising set-list omissions: "Girls Got Rhythm," "Jailbreak,"
"Who Made Who," "Money Talks"
An AC/DC sighting: Angus and Malcolm reportedly ate dinner at Chili's
Bar and Grill Monday night.
© 2000 Grand Rapids Free Press, reproduced by permission.
Special Thanks to John Serba.
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