AC/DC Live at Wembley Stadium, London, UK 3 July 2024

 

AC/DC Live at Wembley Stadium, 3 July 2024 

If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
Back in Black
Demon Fire
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck
Have a Drink on Me
Hells Bells
Shot in the Dark
Stiff Upper Lip
Shoot to Thrill
Sin City
Rock ‘n’ Roll Train
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
High Voltage
Riff Raff
You Shook Me All Night Long
Highway to Hell
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
T.N.T.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

And it was the day of the great comeback of the greatest rock band in the world at the legendary Wembley Stadium, a venue that has hosted some of the greatest legends of rock and music. The biggest stadium and the biggest stadium crowd of the tour, in London, were ready to rock! We got confirmation that the band was recording the show on video when we saw the extra cameras on stage, near the catwalk, and in other sections of the stadium. Clearly, it was an expensive production and for sure the end result will be amazing.

We got back to our usual spot on the right in the Gold Pitch. Got a new pair of Devils' horns with the cheap stickers replaced by a nice engraved logo and the new tour book. Plus a Wembley T-shirt (though not the tshirt with all the London concerts listed as there were many mistakes in it, including forgetting to list one of the shows we attended in 2010!). Happy to see old friends in the pitch, from Johnny to Hugo. It was also nice to see another young generation of fans in their 20s and 30s, experiencing AC/DC live for the first time!

The stadium filled up around 8 PM for a solid sold-out show, with hardly any empty seats visible. At approximately 8:13 PM, the band was on stage, and it was time to start with "If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)." Angus and Brian took the stage with unprecedented energy, probably aware that this concert would become an official video release. Especially Angus, who seemed to be on another level of energy from previous shows. The guitar touch and the moves on stage were impeccable! More duckwalks than usual and even more attention to details, pleasing the cameras capturing this historic comeback of AC/DC in England. Angus was very stylish in his light blue velvet suit with a burgundy red hat.

The audience was very good and more responsive than expected after the post pandemic smartphone collective zombification. Of course, it wasn't quite the Live at River Plate crowd that jumps and chants for two hours straight, but we were pleasantly impressed by the English crowd's willingness to have a good time together. Very, very few smartphones in the pitch, as opposed to other European venues in this tour. A lot of jumping and chanting, and even a little bit of pogo in certain pitch areas (not in ours, but we could see it on the screens and on online videos). 

The performance of the band was fantastic! The only "issue" was Angus who was really on another level of intensity comparing to the other members! Brian's voice was great as well, maybe not as good as in Zurich and Vienna but still exceptionally good. Songs like "Thunderstruck" and "Shoot to Thrill" were rendered even better than usual, at least to our perception. "High Voltage" had a new, never-before-seen variation from Brian, which we loved. "Highway to Hell" with the flames and thousands of devil horns flashing in the stadium was just epic.

Angus was paying attention to moves and positions, like he knew what to do in front of the cameras to make sure this show could be engraved forever in the history of rock 'n' roll. Matt and Chris also played with higher intensity, especially Matt during "Riff Raff," "Let There Be Rock," and "T.N.T." Again, we got the same impression at PowerTrip of seeing a lookalike of Phil Rudd from the '70s, even with his mouth movements. Only the cigarette was missing. Stevie, very accurate and precise, also contributed to the success of the night.

"Let There Be Rock" was just the final apotheosis for the Gods of Rock 'n' Roll with extremely long and intense solos. The "flying" camera must have captured some great shots while Angus was on the lift as we saw it going up and down. And the solo in the back just proved to everyone that even if that AC/DC music will never get old!

The new Wembley Stadium is definetely a great venue, which is ideal for big rock concerts. Within 45 minutes from the end the venue was almost completely empty. Acoustics, on the other end, left something to be desired, especially in our section. We personally prefer small venues but AC/DC are now too big!

And night one is in the books. It was great to see so many old friends after the gig. Blue, red, and white confetti as the UK flag colors. Unfortunately, we missed Rock 'n' Roll Nonno Alan who was in the audience but we could not meet. But from the Black Ice tour we got Arnaud, Thibault, Spurky, Sven, Spectakulla and the rest of the German mafia. Also we bumped into Breno, with whom we bump into casually since Hammersmith 2003, including Rock'n'Roll Train Video Shoot, all the London gigs and even Venice beach in LA before PowerTrip.

Hopefully for the next show on Sunday! But still, it was a great night to remember for us and for future generations!

 

 

Photo by BrianJohnsonRacing

AC/DC Live at Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich 29 June 2024

 

AC/DC Live at Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich 29 June 2024 

If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
Back in Black
Demon Fire
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck
Have a Drink on Me
Hells Bells
Shot in the Dark
Stiff Upper Lip
Shoot to Thrill
Sin City
Rock ‘n’ Roll Train
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
High Voltage
Riff Raff
You Shook Me All Night Long
Highway to Hell
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
T.N.T.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

And after the two fantastic performances in Vienna, we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland. We had great memories from the two sold-out shows in 2015 and 2010 at Letzigrund Stadium—a small and intimate stadium with a capacity of only 50,000 people. The smallest crowd and, for sure, the hottest tickets of the tour.

After a long train journey from Vienna, we spent a nice evening with Francesco and other local and international friends and got ready to rock the following day.

Again, at the stadium, we decided to stick to the left side of the Golden Pitch section. The band is clearly on a growing trajectory, and we were eager to see how this momentum would continue in Zurich. At 6 PM, the crowd was still distracted by the football match, so it was easy to get close to the barriers, as most people were watching. Once the game was over, they quickly showed the final result on the screen, and we were ready for the 13th show of the Power Up Tour. 

The show started in a packed stadium at 8 PM, still with daylight. "If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)" was performed entirely under the rain adding to the raw, authentic rock atmosphere. Then the rain stopped.

Brian, who is getting into perfect shape, immediately congratulated the Swiss for their 2-0 win at the EURO cup against Italy before launching into his two hours of rock 'n' roll. Being on Stevie’s side again allowed us to enjoy Brian’s performance like in Vienna. He interacted with the front rows, joking with the crowd, dancing and with a lot of Brian Johnson's signature high-pitched screaming and poses. His voice is too good to be true, really. What a performer! During the show we also spotted the iconic yellow bottle from which he drinks in between songs, which brough back memories of the glorious Black Ice Tour days.

It looks like Brian is gearing up to be at his best for the Wembley shows, where close family and friends will be present, and where he will be crowned again as the one and only frontman of AC/DC. The London concert is set to be videotaped, adding another reason for him to be at the top of his game.

Angus Young put on an excellent performance as usual. He’s now unstoppable, whether rain or shine, and full of energy. You can see he is enjoying "Let There Be Rock" more and more, both on the catwalk elevator and in the back. He clearly enjoys the loud noise made by the crowd, which reaches its peak during his solo and "T.N.T." As we noticed in Vienna, now a three-day break is more than enough for the band to recover.

There were some minor technical problems during "Stiff Upper Lip" for Brian, and no burning flames in the back during "Highway to Hell," just the spitting fire effects. As for the confetti, we noticed that the colors change from country to country based on the national flag. For Austria and Switzerland, the confetti was red and white, whereas for Germany it was yellow, red, and black.

The crowd in Zurich was surprisingly vibrant and dynamic but still in line with the usual Swiss "neutral"standards (not much moving or jumping).

Time to prepare for London for two memorable shows! BACK IN ENGLAND!