AC/DC STADE VELODROME, Marseille, France 13 May 2016 - REPORT

SETLIST

    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 City
    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)

We got what you want
And you got the lust
If you want blood, you got it

Like in 2009 the Nouveau Stade Vélodrome of Marseille was completely packed. 60,000 people gathered from all over France (and beyond) to see what is likely to be the last show of AC/DC in France. We knew perfectly well that the French audience is one of the best in the world, along and this was confirmed from the very first song.

Axl was still on his "wheel throne" despite the rumors saying he would stand in Marseille. He had some hesitations on Rock or Bust and at the beginning of Thunderstruck. Overall he sang well like in the previous two shows. He is pushing his voice to the limits and he is doing a great job, as a singer. We don't know if he will be able to sing so well also when standing. Most probably he will pay the price at the end of the AC/DC tour when it's time to go back to G'n'R anyway.

Voice aside, we still have problems in accepting the wheelchair (a major turn off at a rock show) and his constant wardrobe changes. Not to mention the lame comments in between the songs, like he had to explain the meaning of the songs to an audience who grew up with AC/DC... 

From Shoot To Thrill onward, French fans went crazy especially in the moshpit, which reminded us of Bercy 25 and 27 February 2009 or the second night of Bercy. Angus seemed to feed himself with the audience energy and put on an amazing performance. You could see he really enjoyed the show.

The highlight of the night was If You Want Blood (You've got it), a total surprise. I mean we knew that the band had rehearsed it, also in the past, but honestly we didn't expect it. When Stevie started one of Malcolm's most powerful riffs we couldn't believe our ears. The rest was history. AC/DC was playing If You Want Blood, again after 13 years. Last time was Hammersmith 2003...

Axl did a pretty good job on the song, more Bon Style, with two super high pitch long screams. But Angus just stole the show especially during the final part of the song when he went back and forth on the catwalk,  looking down to the crowd first to his right than to his left. He smiled looking at us and at the audience jumping like crazy. This was a true gem and something which help proving Angus' bet on Axl might be right.

In the end 23 songs were played. Among 82 shows I saw I never had such a long setlist. Now it would be nice to hear more rare songs such as Touch Too Much and Gimme a Bullet but honestly we can't complain so far, despite the wheelchair and the wardrobe changing of Axl.

Our faith in Angus is stronger now after the Marseille show. In Angus We Trust! See you in Belgium!