Most probable set list.
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar
Bon Scott - Lead Vocals
Cliff Williams - Bass
Phil Rudd - Drums
Supporting: Ted Nugent
Promoter: Ron Delsener
Capacity: 19,500
By Ed, Reno,Nv:
Dont remember set list. Angus ran into audience with guitar, and band played for about 1 hour. It freakin rocked so hard, that Ted Nugent played 3 songs and walked off due to chairs piling up on the floor. It was a short show.
By Rob Sheh, Somerville, New Jersey:
I was at this show, sitting in the Orchestra, Section K, Row 31, Seat 2 and still have the ticket stub. AC/DC was the warm up band for Ted Nugent. I remember not only did Bon Scott have Angus Young on his shoulders and ran through half of the orchestra section but there was a chair fight several rows in front of us. There was a huge pile of chairs during the time AC/DC was playing with people standing on top of them like king of the hill. I had never seen anything like it before or since.
By Bill S, Selden, NY :
Did not know much about ac/dc when this show was announced. it was a long time ago. the songs i remembered are The jack and Highway to hell.very loud and i kept wondering how that guy angus could play so clean while moving the whole time, NYC Loved them and they really gained alot of fans with a stellar show. Also the Headliner Ted Nugent put on his best show. one of the best concert i ever went to.
By Mark Stockwell, Somewhere, NJ USA:
I was there. I was 16. I had never heard of AC DC. They were amazing, my only other comparison at the time was Meatloaf Bat out of hell concert which is a pretty high bar. And they cleared it by miles (no disrespect Meatloaf). Ted came out on top of 30 foot high Marshall amp tower but was so outgunned by the down-unders that the chair fight ensued. Near riot in underground getting to subway, many (hundreds) arrested for tearing up the joint. wow...
By Alex k, Strafford, NH:
I remember being up in the blues for this show and it was LOUD!!! None of us could hear a thing, the whole trainride home. It was the first time I had seen a cordless guitar, not to mention it being played piggybacked thru that chair pile. I have been to MSG hundreds of times and this was the wildest it ever got. Nugent turned it up to eleven, but ac/DC (whom I barely knew) owned it.
By TJ , riverside CA:
This was one crazy concert, sat stage right my usual seat preference for MSG and boy o boy was this one for the record book chairs piled up on the floor which at the time seemed like 20 feet in the air. AC/DC killed it they were the warm up band for Ted Nugent and quite frankly could've been the featured band that night. I will never forget some kid climbing to the top of the chair heap when this NYC cop beat this kid senseless not unusual for NYC cops at this time in the late 70s any way great time to live in NYC great times great shows. The Garden always seemed to bring out the best in most groups and this evening was no exception for AC/DC. Turned me into a fan immediately. That said what a night never to forget.
By Rick Coppola, Cape cora floridal:
I was at the show at Madison Square Garden and I was from Norwalk Connecticut I did not know who the warm up band was but I sold tickets for a local ticket service in Greenwich Connecticut I was at every show even though I was 16 years old it was freaking amazing I remember them going to the audience with him on his shoulders jamming so loud like nothing I've ever seen before never forget. Rick
By Pat M, Long Island:
setlist:
live wire,
problem child,
sin city,
highway to hell,
bad boy boogie,
the jack,
rocker,
whole lotta rosie
The story above amount all the chairs piled up on the floor is absolutely true. Angus did have Bon on his shoulders in the audience. And some fans in the upper blue seats section lit their seats on fire.
By Joe, Newark, NJ:
Took the PATH train over the NYC to see this show. Nugent was not supporting AC/DC. They were supporting him. I went because I wanted to see AC/DC, as I wasn't a huge Nugent fan. Maybe some who were at this show can remember that Def Leppard, almost completely unknown at the time, opened the show! They could barely reach the mic's. Angus did come into the audience, entering all the way to the right of the stage. One song that they did for certain was The Jack, which was their biggest hit at that time. Within a few months of this concert, they were stars. They became headliners and never looked back. Glad that I didn't miss this chance to see Bon. My friends and I had followed AC/DC far before they became known in the US. We all felt that Bon would come to an early death and wanted a chance to see him perform. When we heard that they were playing the Garden, we jumped at the chance. Were you at this show? Write to me at smiley3552@aol.com to discuss.
By Mike, Hillsborough, NJ:
I just turned 13 and my cousin and her boyfriend took my friend and I...sat in the upper blues. AC/DC was just amazing. The volume and the energy was incredible.
There was an empty seat between me and some other guy who was on drugs I couldn't even comprehend at that age but I remember him like it was yesterday. At some point during the show my eyes got as big as softballs as I watched him pull out a switchblade, cut open the seat between us, rip the cushion out, set it on fire and then frisbee'd the flaming cushion over the rail down on to the people below. I could't see where it landed but it was totally out of control.. Then....the chair pile. Sitting so high up we had a hard time seeing what was going on, but when the house lights came on abruptly, there was the biggest chair pile on the floor you could imagine. Everything you read from everyone's review here is totally true and hard to put into words... wish I had pictures. 10 ft high? 20 ft. high? who knows, but people were still throwing after the lights came on. My cousin assessed the situation and got us out of there pretty quick. I will never forget that show as long as I live.
By Larry, West Islip:
Unbelievable show and the image of burning, piled plastic folding chairs is etched in my brain!
By Mike, Hillsborough, NJ:
I was at this show. I just turned 13 and went with my cousin, her boyfriend and my friend. Sat up in the blues. AC/DC was awesome and I really didn't know anything about them. There was an empty seat between me and the one next to me who was on some sort of drug I had no idea about. At some point during the show, the guy took out a switchblade, carved up the seat between us and took out the cushion. He proceeded to set it on fire and frisbeed the burning cushion over the edge of where we were sitting. Soon thereafter the house lights came on and I saw the biggest pile of chairs.....the stories are true ! 10 feet high? 20 feet high? It was unreal. My cousin realized we needed to get out and we did. Awesome show !!
By David Marnell, Secaucus, NJ:
Ed in Reno NV is incorrect, Ted Nugent did not walk off the stage after 3 songs. More correctly, as Bill S, from Seldon NY put it " Also the Headliner Ted Nugent put on his best show. one of the best concert I ever went to." Ted took the challenge from AC/DC and performed equally as well. One of my best concerts ever. I was 18 years old, and prior to that, my other best show ever was Kiss playing at MSG also, (their first time headlining at the Garden) with Sammy Hagar opening up. That was February 1977.
By George harris, United States:
I was at that show with my buddies. I’ll never forget I asked my friend Andy Pemberton who is the opening act was he said some shit band called AC/DC from Australia. It was the most unbelievable concert I ever went to I’ll never forget it what everyone said was true. After the concert we became huge AC/DC fans will never forget it.
By jeff g, kissimmee , fl , usa:
First concert of many that I've attended. I was about 14 yrs old and brand new to the concert scene. I was there to see Ted Nugent. Was completely baffled when a band called AC/DC was playing, never heard of them prior to the night. Needless to say the rest is history, first live band I ever saw in my life was AC/DC !!.....WHAT!!!!
By Tilman, Edison, NJ:
I had seen AC/DC merely two months prior to this show, opening for UFO at New York's Palladium. That concert had been a life-changing experience for me. The memory of nearly getting trampled by Bon Scott, with sweat-soaked Angus on his shoulders, in the hallway behind the orchestra section is unforgettable. I looked straight into Bon eyes and he had a faraway look that remains etched in my mind forever. There was no way I was going to miss them at the Garden. At that point Nugent was still riding high, even though the absence of Rob Grange and Derek St. Holmes indicated that times had changed. I cherish the memory of AC/DC's devastating opening set. Their final Bon masterpiece, Highway To Hell, had come out just a few days earlier and it was at this show they first introduced the now-classic title track to a New York audience.
My brother and I were in the first row of the mezzanine at about center-ice (for you hockey fans) and sure enough, Bon and Angus came right up to us as they made their way through the audience. They were so close I could have plopped the baseball cap with the letter "A" I'd brought with me onto Angus' head. But I had already thrown that onto the stage right before their set, hoping maybe a roadie would take it backstage to Angus--no dice. AC/DC knew what they had with their new album. They knew they were going to the top. The played with such swagger and confidence that following them was a losing game. UFO—albeit without their wonder weapon, Michael Schenker—had found that out. (Eddie Van Halen himself has stated that he dreaded having to follow AC/DC at stadium show they were both on.) Nugent did a bunch of 1979 summer shows with the Aussies on the bill and I wonder if he had any sense that they would leave him in the dust. Indeed, the loin-clothed one’s Garden-headlining days were done after this. The riot that ensued during his set, with chairs piled into a small mountain and cops running after kids drew more attention than his band, who all stood at the edge of the stage looking out at the scene.
I still loved both bands then, but I would never see either the Nuge or AC/DC live again. Bon, my pied piper of rock 'n' roll who'd mesmerized me like no other performer before or since, was gone six months after this show. Though the band rose to unbelievable heights with Brian Johnson, to me they weren't the band I had fallen in love with—one that oozed excitement, ferocious attitude and, thanks to Bon Scott, an element of true danger. With Scott that element of danger was no act, although it was always in service to the spirit of glorious defiance and to serve the kids who came to the shows. He drove AC/DC to the dance and I love that they did, ultimately, conquer the world. Us kids had seen the promise of it and boy, did that band deliver. Unlike the headliner that August night at MSG, AC/DC really did find a universal language that brought people together all over the globe. I am so proud of them but, man, thinking of Bon still breaks my heart. What a rocker.
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