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“In the beginning Back in nineteen fifty-five
Man didn't know about a rock 'n' roll show
And all that jive...”
Along came 1973 and changed all that for a life-long journey through time and history. I was at those two shows on December 6Th/8Th at the Los Angeles Forum. I had to make up for lost times, and got my moneys’ worth.
Saturday, December 6th show, I was seated way off to the side of the stage, Malcolm’s side, and didn’t know what was happening to the front of me. I still had a good view of the band playing except I couldn't see Phil Rudd. It didn’t matter. I was finally here watching the mighty AC/DC doing what they know best. It was a sell-out show and the crowd was on it’s feet including myself. I barely got to see the show because I was too busy banging my head, tapping my feet, singing on cue, and throwing punches in the air. I was sweating with the band as if I was the sixth member. At the end of the show my ears were ringing. The audience was injected with TNT power from Angus Young’s guitar licks.
Monday, December 8th show, I was blessed by the AC/DC Gods with a frontal view of the stage. This time I wasn’t going to be denied what I missed out on Saturday night. The opening act came out on stage. A band from Ireland called, The Answer http://www.theanswer.ie/home.html
rocked to a half filled arena. They belted out six tunes that sounded much like a throw-back to the 1970’s rock scene. You have to be a special band to be touring with AC/DC and they did a great job holding their own on stage. The Answer finished their set and the crew striked the stage. Before the main attraction the screen above showed an animated video of a devil Angus as the train's engineer with the passengers petrified to death, then panned to Brian Johnson enjoying a lustful act. Two devil babes fighting for Angus’s control of the train with no avail, and the band emerged from the wreckage to jump-start the concert with “Rock N Roll Train.”
They played five tunes off of the ‘BLACK ICE’ album and the rest were balls to the wall classics that are known as AC/DC anthems such as, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, TNT, Back In Black, and Hells Bells. Angus does his traditional strip-tease and flashes his AC/DC boxer shorts to the crowd during ‘The Jack.’ Malcolm and Cliff are like soldiers standing in their spots and singing the song’s refrain as Phil pounds away on the drums. Brian’s voice still has that ravage set of human pipes and at 61 years old he was hanging from the giant bell suspended from the rafters. He’s in pretty good shape if you ask me. Angus is all over the stage doing his famous duck-walk and falling to the ground and mocked as if being electrocuted.
During ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, a large inflatable Rosie doll appeared strapped on top of the wrecked train and she’s looking down at the band and rockin' to the song. Apparently, they ended with ‘Let There Be Rock’ and the band leaves. Moments later Angus appears coming up through the middle of the stage with a set of horns and kicked it off with ‘Highway To Hell’ and ended the set with ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
“We roll tonight to the guitar bite.”
AC/DC is a time capsule, they haven't missed a beat...they haven't lost their touch...they stood the test of time. Age has not stopped them from giving us a great performance because AC/DC has stayed true to themselves, and to the music. They always go back to the foundation, the blues, and they never stop learning the craft.
I learned something very special those two nights. I learned to keep the spirit of youth as we get older. I've always believed that and especially more now that I have seen a band as old as I...with the members being twice as old. This is a valuable lesson! The high voltage power of AC/DC is magical, and never to be overlooked.
The band left the stage for good this time. It was sad to see them go, because I don't think I'll see them again. Let's hope and pray to the Gods of Rock that AC/DC will come out with a new album in the future and tour to go with it.
I Salute You!
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Looks looks and sounds like an amazing concert. AC/DC have always been in the top three rock concerts I've ever been to and am a bit disappointed I was unable to see them when they were up my way. Great You Tube feed. I really enjoyed this posting. Cheers!