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AC/DC, Nov. 17, Wachovia Center
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
AC/DC, Nov. 17, Wachovia Center
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| Photo | Molly Eichel |
The best part about going to see AC/DC is you don't hear the collective audience groan every time the dreaded "This is from our new album!" song intro wheezes out of lead singer Brian Johnson. Hell, you don't even have to listen to their new album to know exactly what you're going to get. I give you a typical AC/DC song: Euphemism, euphemism, euphemism, chorus, euphemism, double entrendre, euphemism, chorus, guitar solo, blatant reference to banging ladies.
So why go? Because you always know they're going to play your favorite song. Or at least, your second and third favorite songs. Because watching thousands of people pump their fists at the same time is awesome. Because, let's be honest, any show where cannons go off during songs, there's a huge blow-up doll in lingerie and the Foxy Lady Cam becomes the Attractive-Middle-Aged-Blonde-Women Cam is always worth the ticket price. Because it's the Brian and Angus show and they are living it up.
(Plus, my college roommate and I talked about going to see AC/DC since we met on the first day of school way-back-when and we finally got tickets. So that's another reason.)
For bordering on rock 'n' roll dinosaur-age, Brian Johnson is jacked. His arms are huge and I'm 89 percent sure he could bench press me. When he sings, he looks like he's sucking on a lemon and he tried a little between song banter but it didn't matter because it's impossible to comprehend anything that comes out of his mouth. But he also worked the catwalk, high fived as many as he could get his hands on and righteously swung from the bell that dropped down from the ceiling during "Hells Bells." Dinosaur? Tyransaurus Rock.
When Angus Young plays guitar, he looks like he's swimming in a sea of pudding and he can't get enough; he constantly moves his mouth, as if he's biting the air around him. He did all of the things I wanted him to do:During "She's got the Jack," he stripped to school boy shorts, giving the crowd a shot of his AC/DC-emblazoned ass. It's weird to think that an entire arena was yelling at a 53-year-old man to take his clothes off. Young, sans shirt, looks like your older uncle. He was always an imposing figure, but then you catch him in weak moment and his true age his revealed. But after you take a second look at Young, you notice it's not his age that makes him look that way. He's always had a scrawny body with a sunken in chest. He looks exactly the same as the devil-horned punk sneering on the cover of Highway to Hell (for the eponymous song, Young rose from below the stage sporting a similar look, horny and all). It was during "Let There be Rock," though, that Young really got to have fun. Rising on a platform at the end of the catwalk, Young flopped on the ground, spun in circles and — performing his classic spasm — rocked the fuck out. But the best part of all was the under-the-stage camera, which captured his Duck Walk from every and all angles.
What to say about the other members? Nothing really. Malcolm Young always looks like a kid excited he gets to play with his cooler bro. Phil Rudd still doesn't feel the need to always hit the downbeat. And Cliff Williams still has nice hair.
But the best part of the entire night and AC/DC in general, is that they all looked like they were having a good time. You get the sense this isn't for the cash (with something like 200 million records sold and three decades of touring, they don't really need it). They look as pleased as pigs in shit to be playing the same set over again and they must go home and thank their lucky stars/whatever Australians pray to that they get to do this whenever they want.
As for the crowd, it was this mix of people you would expect to see at AC/DC and a ton of long-haired kids sitting next to their parents. Every time the lights went down in between songs, the audience twinkled with the light-up devil horns they were hocking at the concession stand. But my all-time favorite guy was the dude on the end of our row who felt the need to take off his shirt so as not to impede his good time.
For those about to rock, we salute you.
This is a lot better review than the shit you get in the Inquirer. Nicely done
I'm from Seattle, and we're looking forward to the show. I've seen them before, and it's always solid. A true rock and roll band. Thanks for the killer review, well done.
You know what really pisses me off. The fact that this band is the greatest rock n roll band in the world, and the critics never but never gave them the merits and the credit they deserve. So, what we do? Well fuck them. AC/DC for life.
This review was hilarious, it was spot on and I actually laughed out loud a few times, mainly about chanting for 53 year old chicken legs to drop his drawers, that Brian Johnson can't remember what city he is in most nights, but it all comes off so non pretentious, It is like going to a restaurant and ordering chicken strips every night, you know what your getting and the cook can't f bomb it up, just like the boys, I think there are alot of us that would go see them every night, because they deliver the goods, and genuinely look like they are enjoying themselves, doesn't seem like a cash grab ala Motley Crue or Kiss....
if i hadn't went to see them with you, then this would totally make me want to go! the under the stage camera will always be a favorite of mine and ac/dc will always be badass as hell!
anyone going to an ACDC concert generally knows what to expect. From the songs they play to people they talk to (that have seen them in concert)-this band plays to and for its fans! No review should discouage anyone that shows the slightest bit of interest to have second thoughts about seeing them. ACDC will remain my favorite band ever! Thanks for performing in Wilkes Barre and Philadelphia!
I Went to the ACDC concert in St. Paul last night. Was AWESOME. Keep rockin' ACDC. AC/DC music video Rock N' Roll Train nominated for a Grammy.
That is the best review of a concert that I've read in a long long long time. Thank you for all those glorious insights and perfect visions. I'm still grinning just thinking about what it must have felt like to be there.
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