AC/DC

AC/DC
Date : 09/08/09
Place : Honda Center, Anaheim CA
Review By ~ Aniruddh (Andrew) Bansal

The doors opened at 7 PM and the show kicked off with the opening band The Answer from Belfast, Ireland. I liked this band when I saw the first leg of this tour last year, and I wasn't disappointed this time either! In my opinion, they are one of the most promising old school rock acts in recent times. They played for around 45 minutes and the set included all of their best songs. My favorite Answer song Demon Eyes was played too. I believe this band will be successful and I wish them all the best.

The AC/DC animation video with the Rock-N-Roll Train started on the stage backdrop at 9 and it really got the crowd going. The anticipation got built up for the rock legends to hit the stage. As the train in the video crashed into the arena, the backdrop exploded open and a giant train engine appeared on the stage. The band appeared with the opening song Rock-N-Roll Train. The stage was massive as it also had an extended platform running down from the mid-point of the stage. Brian and Angus came down the platform several times during the set and it was amazing to get a chance to see them from close-up even in such a huge hockey stadium-size arena. They proceeded with Hell Ain't A Bad Place to Be and then one of the legendary rock tunes Back In Black. Angus displayed great energy during the solo. AC/DC have been around for so long, and there was such a long gap between the Stiff Upper Lip and Black Ice albums that I was finding it hard to believe that I'm getting to see AC/DC playing a show right in front of me for the second time in 9 months!!

A song from the new album Black Ice followed, the song named Big Jack. Then came Dirty Deeds. The chorus was great fun to sing along to. It was nice to see a few changes from the first leg's set list. One of them was the next song Shot Down In Flames. Thunderstruck followed, increasing the energy and intensity of the show even further. The title song of Black Ice was played next. I found the riffs great for some head banging fun. The set had almost reached its half way point and it was getting better and better!

The Jack, including the famous Angus Young strip show came after Black Ice. I've seen flags in past videos, but the AC/DC logo was on the back of Angus's underpants this time. There are very few in this business who are better at getting the crowd going than Angus Young. Brian hopped onto the rope hanging down from the bell before starting Hells Bells. Shoot to Thrill and the new song War Machine followed. It was a nice surprise to see Dog Eat Dog in the set. After another one of the new songs it was time for the best part of the set list, songs number 15 to 20.

The singing-along party got going with You Shook Me All Night Long, leading into the 'Oy! Oy! Oy!' to start T.N.T. Then the huge inflated big-breasted Rosie appeared sitting on top of the engine for Whole Lotta Rosie. After that it was Let There Be Rock, with the long Angus solo. He ran down the platform, soloing all the way and got on to a small ring at the edge of it, which was raised several feet in the air right in the middle of the arena! It was a sight to behold! Breathtaking to say the least! Bits of paper exploded out all over the arena as he reached the peak of his solo. After that he came down and continued soloing. His close-up shots on the huge screen made for an amazing backdrop. They closed out the main set after this solo.

The encore lived up to the excitement of those last few songs with Highway to Hell and all those canons firing during For Those About To Rock. The band thanked the crowd, said goodbye and ran off the stage to huge applause.

The band's performance was as good as ever. They still amazingly have the energy to deliverer night after night of two-hour long sets at full intensity. Angus is the life of the band and Brian does a great job despite being the oldest member of the band. The stage production was beyond massive. The crowd's response was generally very good, but I was quite miffed when I saw people on the floor leave during the new songs and during Angus's solo many times. I just wish that at some point in the future, people would stop treating concerts like movies.

Overall, a show more than worth its ticket cost. AC/DC can continue to rock for as long as they want!