AC/DC Keeps On Rocking

Monday, 23 November 2009 10:13

AC/DC returned to Florida as one of the last dates on their Black Ice US Tour, and they gave the fans exactly what they wanted at the Amway Arena in Orlando last week: larger than life arena rock. For some 30 years now, AC/DC has delivered hard-hitting, straight-forward rock and they have done it with an inimitable bombastic style that has garnered their fans, and kept them.

Story and photos by John Davisson

Sure, there were all ages at the show as parents brought their kids to experience the ultimate arena rock spectacle that is the AC/DC show. AC/DC shirts were everywhere in the audience, and many couldn’t resist buying the red horns (which glowed in the audience when the lights were low).

At a certain age, most people become enthralled by the AC/DC aesthetic and embrace it as a guilty pleasure. The shows are not much different from the shows on the 2001 tour, except that there were new songs such as “Rock ’n’ Roll Train,” “War Machine,” (dedicated to our soldiers) and the title cut.

And that’s what the fans expect and appreciate, kinda like the carnival that comes to town regularly with the same rides yet always attracts crowds that appreciate the tradition as a rite of passage. With AC/DC you know what you will get and you’re happy about that.

There is not a whole lot of variety to the songs (there are no power ballads, no acoustic sets to show their diversity, no disco hits, just the crunchy 3-chord rock songs with double entendres), but they are familiar friends and the friends were all there. “Back In Black,” “Highway to Hell,” “TNT,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and all of the hits were there to satisfy the fans. “Whole Lotta Rosie” featured a giant inflated Rosie riding the train (which had devil horns) that served as the stage backdrop.

Angus wore his schoolboy outfit and did a striptease down to his AC/DC boxers during “The Jack,” and played a solo on an elevated platform at the end of a ramp that extended almost to the back of the arena during “Let There Be Rock.” Brian Johnson rang the giant bell while swinging from the clapper to start “Hell’s Bells.” There was some pyro and giant video screens. It was a top-notch arena production.

For almost two hours AC/DC fans were treated to the familiar extravaganza and by the time the last cannons fired onstage during “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” the fans in the almost sold-out arena were satiated. There has been talk of retirement but the band has just released Backtracks, a three CD, two DVD, one LP box set of studio and live rarities.

They will be touring in South America and Australia in 2010. Hopefully, with the success of the current US Tour, they will return to the US for another round of dates.