Rock or Bust; indeed.
Cold winds, a non-stop downpour – nothing stopped rock legends AC/DC from blowing the non-existent roof off of Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium September 20th. There were pauses to squeegee the stage, but the veterans – who have been performing over four decades – out-performed most of their younger contemporaries, despite a less than perfect evening of rain, rain, more rain, and wind.
The heavy lifting was done by singer Brian Johnson and guitarist Angus Young, who strutted along the front of the stage, as if trying to make eye contact with every one of the 55,000 fans that packed the stadium to the rafters. Hitting the stage at 8:45pm with "Rock or Bust" – the title track to their latest release, the Australian icons hardly said a word, letting the long string of hits do the talking for them.
Young, of course, is fascinating to watch at 60: still sporting the schoolboy outfit, dancing across the stage while his fingers simultaneously dance on his guitar. Johnson’s voice remained strong despite the cold and wet as he marched across the stage. The rest of the band – Cliff Williams, Stevie Young (who replaced his Uncle Malcolm, who has retired from the band due to dementia) and drummer Chris Slade (returning to the band after drummer Phil Rudd got into legal troubles in New Zealand) hung back, those on the side only really seeing them on the massive screens. Whether this is typical, or due to the rain, is unknown but AC/DC has always been about the songs and the charisma of the Young/Johnson duo, so it worked.
As one of the top-selling bands of all time there was a lot to choose from. "Back in Black" was an early sing along, heads adorned with flashing devil horns bobbing in unison. "Thunderstruck" echoed through the neighbourhood as the crowd sang along, and "Hell’s Bells" – complete with a giant bell hanging above the stage – kept fans’ energy high. All of the things the band is famous for – a giant inflatable for "Whole Lotta Rosie", cannons for "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" – it all happened.
AC/DC receives a lot of criticism, at times, for their music sounding the same. It is an accurate assessment: the show was loud, there were a lot of songs about sex; but it works. Few bands play stadiums in North America anymore. It’s a whole other level of staging and dynamics, and creating something that works in places with no roof to hang rigs from. Certainly bands could do it – sold out gigs this summer by The Foo Fighters and Taylor Swift, for example, probably could also fill the Commonwealth – but it’s the ones like AC/DC that do the big stadium show because, over 40 years, they have mastered it. Out of the many concerts I have personally seen, this was my first in a massive stadium, and the music and experience was not lost in the space. Being in a crowd that size, all singing along, was really an amazing experience that every music fan should have on their concert bucket list.
Yes, it was cold, and traffic was a nightmare. But for two hours AC/DC made us forget all that. By the time fireworks shot above the Commonwealth Stadium for the finale, it was clear that – despite line up changes and advanced ages and 40 years of doing this – AC/DC can still rock. For that, we salute them.