christie goodwin photo
By Steve Newton
I’m a lucky guy, ’cause I’ve seen AC/DC in concert a buncha times.
The first time was at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum back in 1983, at the start of the Flick of the Switch tour, right after interviewing a couple of the band members at their fancy hotel.
Then I saw them in 1988 at BC Place Stadium when they were touring behind the Blow Up Your Video LP. That time I managed to weasel my way backstage and get them to autograph my pass. (Wish I’d had a Sharpie instead of a Bic.)
Three years later they were back at the Coliseum, playing two shows on the Razors Edge Tour. I went both nights, living up to my self-imposed Media Slut from Hell label.
And I distinctly remember seeing them in 2001 at the Coliseum on the Stiff Upper Lip tour, because I met Malcolm Young again backstage after the show and he signed my CD copy of Powerage while claiming that it was his personal favourite AC/DC album.
The last time I saw AC/DC in concert was back in 2008 at Vancouver’s GM Place on the Black Ice tour. I remember some fanatical fan prowling the box office offered me $900 bucks for my two complimentary reviewer tickets, but I turned him down. My wife really wanted to see AC/DC for the first time, for starters. And happy wife, happy life.
My enthusiasm for seeing AC/DC in concert started to wane after masterful rhythm-guitarist Malcolm Young stopped performing live with them two years later due to health problems. I also had concerns about Brian Johnson’s vocal abilities, ’cause the guy will turn 80 next year. So when my generous, rock-crazed nephew Jeff offered me a ticket to see AC/DC last night at BC Place, I asked him if he’d mind taking my son Danny instead. I mean, the kid’s 24 years old now. It’s time he learned how to rock.
After years of being mostly into rap music (booooo!), lately the boy’s been getting into John Fogerty, the Allman Brothers, and Drive-By Truckers, so I’m starting to think his opinions about music aren’t so bad. And his one-word review of AC/DC last night was “awesome”.
Jeff was equally impressed by the gig. He’d also paid big bucks to see the band when it played BC Place just last year, and said that this time Johnson’s vocals seemed much stronger, except for during “Thunderstruck”, when his timing was a little off.
The only other complaint I heard about the show was that Angus Young’s 26-minute guitar solo during “Let There Be Rock” went on for too long. But is that really something a bona fide rock fan can legitimately whine about? Too much Angus Young guitar?
So judging by Jeff and Danny’s overall impressions of AC/DC in Vancouver last night, I’m guessing that they rocked alright. Of the 21 songs that they rolled out during the two-hour-plus show, they actually played one more tune from the Bon Scott era than they did from the Brian Johnson era, and you know that can’t be bad.
Here’s the full setlist:
1. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” (from Highway to Hell, 1979)
2. “Back in Black” (from Back in Black, 1980)
3. “Demon Fire” (from Power Up, 2020)
4. “Shot Down in Flames” (from Highway to Hell, 1979)
5. “Thunderstruck” (from The Razors Edge, 1990)
6. “Have a Drink on Me” (from Back in Black, 1980)
7. “Hells Bells” (from Back in Black, 1980)
8. “Shot in the Dark” (from Power Up, 2020)
9. “Stiff Upper Lip” (from Stiff Upper Lip, 2000)
10. “Highway to Hell” (from Highway to Hell, 1979)
11. “Shoot to Thrill” (from Back in Black, 1980)
12. “Sin City” (from Powerage, 1978)
13. “Jailbreak” (from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, 1976)
14. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, 1976)
15. “High Voltage” (from High Voltage, 1976)
16. “Riff Raff” (from Powerage, 1978)
17. “You Shook Me All Night Long” (from Back in Black, 1980)
18. “Whole Lotta Rosie” (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
19. “Let There Be Rock” (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
20. “T.N.T.” (from High Voltage, 1976)
21. “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” (from For Those About to Rock, 1981)
To read over 300 of my reviews of Vancouver concerts that I actually attended, go here.
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