Monday, June 6, 2016

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium, London, UK 4 June 2016 - REPORT




 Olympic Stadium, London, UK 4 June 2016 -

    Rock or Bust
    Shoot to Thrill
    Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
    Back in Black
    Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
    Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
    Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
    Thunderstruck
    High Voltage
    Rock 'n' Roll Train
    Hells Bells
    Given the Dog a Bone
    If You Want Blood (You've Got it)
    Sin CityOlympic
    You Shook Me All Night Long
    Shot Down in Flames
    Have a Drink on Me
    T.N.T.
    Whole Lotta Rosie
    Let There Be Rock

Encore

    Highway to Hell
    Riff Raff
    For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Very intense weekend for AC/DC Abruzzo in London with meet and greets with old friends from all over the world, from the pre-party at the Hard Rock Cafe to the "after party" in front of the band's hotel. It's always great to see familiar faces and friends with whom we shared lots of memories since 2001...

VENUE

Apparently, this was the first rock concert organized at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium. Well, we didn't like the venue too much, especially if compared to Wembley Stadium, which was one of the best venues (and shows) of last year tour. Like most Olympic stadiums it "stretches" too much towards the sides, so the atmosphere is not as good as for those "smaller" football stadiums like Stade de France. At least this was our impression. As for the sound, we were in the perfect spot, just in front of the catwalk, and it was excellent. Our friends on the seats said it was good there as well. The front of stage area, separated by barriers from the rest of the pitch (unlike last year) seemed to be much quieter than the area behind, which was a proper GA area. A lot of pogo and crowdsurfing. But Marseille remains the best crowd of the tour.


ANGUS

Very nice new suit for Angus, with a tie with the Union Jack colors. And another amazing performance of the "Absolute Leader" of AC/DC. We could feel the energetic crescendo towards the end, from TNT onwards. All praising words about Angus have become redundant. You just have to come and see him live before it's too late.

SETLIST 

The setlist was not changed. No Touch Too Much and no Gimme a Bullet. Maybe in Manchester, after 5 days of rest something might happen... If You Want Blood is just pure bliss for our ears. We thanked Angus in person for playing it again the night before the show. Same goes for Rock'n'Roll Damnation, and Riff Raff of course, which we heard during this leg for the first time and take the setlist to the next lebel. There was a technical issue with lights during the last songs. No spotlight, basically. Just like Zurich 2015, second night, but without the thunderstorm...




AXL

We met with the guys from AC/DC Italia and we had a word with a few "senior hard core fans" from the '70s near the soundboard (I think where Duff, Slash and Nicholas Cage saw the concert later on). Despite everything it was generally agreed that Axl has been doing a good job, as a professional rock guest vocalist. But for hard core fans like us, who saw so many AC/DC shows, it will be virtually impossible to accept him as a member of AC/DC, but the truth is that he is not a member of AC/DC and will never be. He is a "guest singer". 90% of concert goers don't care too much about him replacing Brian, anyway.

NABUCCO

Orangus was spotted in front the hotel of the band yesterday. Quite unusual as he is always too busy visiting museums and galleries (his usual habitat) during his "days off". He told us that he will attempt to attend the premiere of the NABUCCO at the Opera House in London with Placido Domingo. Quote: "A well performed Nabucco could be as good as an AC/DC concert".

See you in Manchester!



With Christian (and wife) from Argentina

Italian-Scottish friends
Finally some fine dining