AMARCORD: PARIS-ANTWERP

AMARCORD meas "I remember" in several Italian dialects, including the Abruzzese! We will use the title of this Fellini's movie for a new series of entries regarding the cities we've visited, the people we've met and the things that we've seen during our AC/DC European tour! We hope you enjoy this retrospective rock'n'roll journey through Europe with AC/DC and AC/DC Abruzzo!

Tough days for AC/DC Abruzzo's staff.  Life without AC/DC on tour is not the same. While waiting for the next North American leg here's another episode of the Amarcord series: PARIS-ANTWERP

We already talked in detail about the Paris, Bercy shows. In our opinion they were the best of the indoor tour.  There was unique atmosphere, the energy levels were probably among the highest of the whole tour and we felt also the spirit of Bon, who loved the city just like the other boys in the band. You can feel that. We keep lots of unforgettable memories in Paris... It was also nice to meet the German fans and Orangus, whom we had seen the last time in front of the Hammersmith theatre in London in 2003. Seeing AC/DC in Paris was definetely one of our dreams. It came true.

With the Germans

With Orangus

R'n'R croissants

French Food

Bercy Devils

AC/DC Abruzzo's Stirring Committee made the last minute decision to go to Antwerp after the amazing experience in Paris. We couldn't just stop at that time and we felt it was appropriate to add two extra shows. We missed the train we were supposed to take on the 28th because the President's watch was found set 15 minutes ahead of the exact time (for some unknown and mysterious reason...) and we arrived too late. Then the following train was delayed by 2 hours... But we finally arrived in Antwerp at night in the central train station (pretty nice)... 

Obviously we didn't have tickets for the show so we had to use our magical powers to find them without dealing with scalpers. We made it again! The show was great. We loved the venue and the audience... Great acoustics. 

The Belgium stay was also unique because in our day off we managed to meet the band in Bruxelles. It was definetely calm and relaxed comparing to the other occasions we had and it was pretty cool to have time to talk even to busy Malcolm... Obviously all the details can be found in the entries we posted in early March. During our stay we met some other cool fans such as Fabien and Phil and many others... Unfortunately, as you know, the second night in Antwerp was cancelled due to Brian having the flu. So we had to celebrate Stefano's birthday somewhere else ... And rest a little bit before going back home...

ANTWERP - TOURIST INFORMATION

Antwerp is really a small city in Belgium. Very windy. You can see lots of immigrants in the streets and lots of diamond brokers shops. Great french fries and excellent beer. The old town is not too far from the Train Station and there are several buldings of architectural interest. On the contrary the nightlife seems to be considerably slow apart from a couple of striptease clubs and the entire red light quarter which is worth a quick visit. Brussels is a couple of hours away and it's definetely bigger as a city, but still to small for our taste. The Grand Place is very nice. The Charleroi airport (Ryanair) can be reached with a direct train.

Mannekin pis

Grand Place

666

Satanic Forecast

R'n'R Train Station

WE MISS THE ROCK'N'ROLL TRAIN

For those who miss the Rock'n'Roll train, just like us, here's the complete official intro video. It brings back a lot of nice memories... A lot...

Thanks to Capri and Marco290991

WE SALUTE YOU EUROPE!

Almost two weeks passed from the last "We salute you" pronounced by Brian at the Hampden Park. We must confess we do feel some emptiness after Glasgow...

AC/DC Abruzzo offers you an exclusive video of the last song played in Europe by AC/DC plus the final fireworks (and blaspheming in Italian because of the lack of second encores!). Unfortunately, according to the rumours that circulated in the last few days of June, from sources close to the band, this might be the last song played live in Europe in AC/DC's career... We do hope these rumours are false.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (WE SALUTE YOU) + GAY FIREWORKS Live in Glasgow 2009

A secret meeting took place with our correspondant Orangus in Milan last week in order to finalize a project involving the next North American leg. The secret location chosen for the meeting was the Opera Theatre LA SCALA during the second interval of AIDA by Giuseppe Verdi (fantastic!). We cannot reveal all the details of the project but there might be a surprise for AC/DC Abruzzo's readers very soon! 

ORANGUS (aka "The Phantom of the Opera") and The President

TEATRO ALLA SCALA

ABRUZZO - CENTRE OF THE WORLD

As you probably already heard from the news the most important and powerful world leaders gathered in Abruzzo for the G8 summit. It was an idea of the Italian Government aimed to bring attention to the aftermath of the earthquake that hit L'Aquila last April. Apparently everything was kept quite informal in line with the Abruzzo spirit and culture... It was quite curious to see that even President Obama has an Abruzzese attitude, especially when he played basketball and took pictures with the local people. Not to mention the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (above), a true rockstar of politics, with hundreds of million of euros, dozens of beautiful girls around him (a couple of sex scandals too, which is good publicity in Italy!) and deep love for music (see video below). The icing on the cake was the presence of George Clooney and Bill Murray who came for a cup of coffee, some standing comedy (Bill Murray simulated sexual intercourses with the President of the L'Aquila Province) and the promise to shoot a movie in Abruzzo. So when in Abruzzo do as the Abruzzeses do! Ah ah ah ah.

Obviously, the next step would be to bring a big rock band such as AC/DC to play in Abruzzo... If we managed to bring the most powerful leaders to a table yesterday in L'Aquila to make them eat tradition Abruzzese food such as Guitar Spaghetti e Arrosticini skewers that proves that nothing is really impossible in this world!


Abruzzese working dinner

Obama and Sarko focus on important political issues

Obama with local authorities in L'Aquila

Murray loves Italian women



Rock'n'Roll President Berlusconi singing Let There Be Rock while Obama "abball" (thanks to Kapriboy)

GRAZIE ANGUS!!!

As you know AC/DC Abruzzo met Angus on several occasions during the European tour. Each encounter was unique and memorable for us.

Beside being a rock'n'roll icon and a living legend Angus is probably one of the kindest people of this planet. He's surprisingly humble and even shy at times. But always extremely respectful and caring for the fans.

We have plenty of stories from this European tour about Angus. Some of which we can tell and some of which we'll keep for ourselves. But one of the moments that we will never forget was in Budapest, Hungary, just after the show, when Angus decided to come out of the hotel at night, under the rain, to meet every single fan outside, taking pictures and signing autographs. Unbelievable.

AC/DC Abruzzo, together with AC/DC Italia, met Angus in Dublin for the last time before the final show in Glasgow, we talked a bit and we thanked him for this memorable 4-month European tour. Angus gave us the thumbs up again and said CIAO, with the right dose of irony, to all AC/DC Abruzzo blog readers and AC/DC Italia website users!

GRAZIE ANGUS! ARRIVEDERCI A PRESTO!

GLASGOW 2009 – Mission accomplished!

GLASGOW, HAMPDEN PARK STADIUM June 30, 2009

"Ariemmecen a la cas'"

(English: "The time has come to go home")

ROCCO SIFFREDI

Abruzzese actor and Cultural Revolution Leader

SETLIST

1. Rock'n'roll Train
2. Hell ain't a Bad Place to Be
3. Back in Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds
6. Shot Down in Flames
7. Thunderstruck
8. Black Ice
9. The Jack
10. Hell's Bells
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. War Machine
13. Dog Eat Dog
14. Anything Goes
15. You Shook Me All Night Long
16. TNT
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let there be Rock
19. Bonny/Highway to Hell
20. For Those About to Rock

AC/DC Abruzzo made it to Glasgow and our flag was raised in the Hampden Park stadium as promised. "From Wilkes Barre to Glasgow…"

It was a great night for rock’n’roll. One of those night you can't forget. The atmosphere was really special. The audience proved to be one of the best of the tour, very warm and ready to have fun altogether, especially in the pit. Great venue. We got feelings similar to the indoor show in Dublin. During the show we jumped and screamed like crazy, a lot of sweat and some crowd surfing and some “friendly moshing”. We really wanted to have great fun at the last show of the European tour. And we got it.

As for the performance the band put on a hell of a show as usual. Maybe some attentive people might say that they looked a bit tired, especially Angus, but we’re sure that most people didn't noticed. The highlight of the show was Bonny. Ok, they didn’t play It’s a long way to the top, and maybe they will never play it, but it was cool to hear Angus play something different, even if only for a few seconds.

Before the show, in front of the stadium, just by the bagpipe guy, we had met some of our companions in this rock’n’roll journey from Wilkes Barre to Glasgow. Other crazy guys who went to around 30-40 shows only for this tour.... Miscello, Carlone, Orangus, Dirty Shoes, Jeanpippo etc. It really seemed like it all came full circle in Glasgow… It was a nice feeling, especially with the bagpipes in the background…

"Forkone imbrizzicone" in Glasgow

Honestly, it's been pretty difficult to write this entry. The European tour is now officially over. We needed a couple of days of reflection... It was a glorious time for AC/DC Abruzzo. We spent 4 months on the road, on and off, with one of the greatest rock band in the history of music. We attended more than 30 concerts in 12 different countries (maybe more) meeting hundreds of people, making all kinds of rock’n’roll experiences, hanging out with rockstars. It was a dream we had for years after the Hammersmith gig and we will treasure this for the rest of our lives.

But Project AC/DC Abruzzo hasn’t been only a way to share our stories with other hardcore fans around the world. It has been also a way to prove that nothing is impossible and that, if you really want it, you can achieve anything. It wasn't an easy task but we proved that it is possible to create a rewarding lifestyle tailored to your priorities.

The first part of the AC/DC Abruzzo project, now closed, proved undoubtedly successful.

The President looks forward

In the next entry we'll post something special from Angus to our fans!

FLING THING / BONNY in Glasgow!!!

BONNY / FLING THING is the only song added to the setlist. Winning bets will be paid instantly.

Here's an exclusive gift from AC/DC Abruzzo's staff to our fans! 

Enjoy!

Now we go for some quick pasta and try to get to the aftershow party asap... More to come soon!

Last European show for the Stirring Committee and the Vice President...

AC/DC Abruzzo, AC/DC Italia and LittleJack with the Emperor of RnR ANGUS YOUNG!!!

GLASGOW -1

DUBLIN, Punchestown June 28, 2009

SETLIST

1. Rock'n'roll Train
2. Hell ain't a Bad Place to Be
3. Back in Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds
6. Shot Down in Flames
7. Thunderstruck
8. Black Ice
9. The Jack
10. Hell's Bells
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. War Machine
13. Dog Eat Dog
14. Anything Goes
15. You Shook Me All Night Long
16. TNT
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let there be Rock
19. Highway to Hell
20. For Those About to Rock

One day to go! Just a few hours before the final gig of this fantastic European tour... AC/DC Abruzzo can't miss this and will be in Glasgow tomorrow to attend the historic concert at Hampden Park. After that, the European tour will be officially over. Maybe the boys will be back next year, maybe not... 

Yesterday's show in Dublin was just amazing. Maybe Punchestown was not the best venue of the tour (a horse racing track, no seats) but the gig was great anyways. We got to see again the boys performing under the heavy rain (even heavier than Munich). Angus didn't seem to bother too much; actually at times he seemed to use the rain to his advantage for the delight of the audience, like in Let There Be Rock (best song of the night). Brian was in very good shape and so were the other boys. If they are tired, after this long tour, as some say, they fake it very well! We loved the Irish audience and its energy. We also liked the crazy human pyramids before the show and the loud screaming during songs like The Jack and TNT. The Irish really know how to rock! 

Dublin was also memorable because we got to hang out with our North American friends from Canada and the States. Last time we saw these hardcore fans was in Wilkes Barre for the private gig. So we had a great time with BigJack5, Littlebigjack, RockCarole (thumbs up for the performance during the Jack on AC/DC Abruzzo's President's shoulder, by the way LOL), Jeff and Mark from Minneapolis etc. Of course AC/DC Italia was there too and the collaboration with them proved to be really fruitful this time! You'll see something really cool very soon on our websites. It's a shame Capriele and Marco (Polo) won't make it for Glasgow but the Vice President Andrea will be there on their behalf...

SEE YOU TOMORROW IN GLASGOW!

With our North American friends

The Vice President at work in Dublin (despite his conflict of interest)

Super Kapri before the show

Irish human pyramid

Braianno in Punchstown

Angussolo

Malcolmo

YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG



GLASGOW - EXTRA SONG PLAYED - ODDS FINAL UPDATE

Fling Thing 1-1
It's a long way to the top 25-1
If you want Blood 30-1
Gone Shootin 30-1
Riff Raff 40-1
Rocker 50-1
Live Wire 80-1
Touch too Much 100-1
Other 10-1

GLASGOW -2

LONDON, WEMBLEY STADIUM June 26, 2009 

SETLIST

1. Rock'n'roll Train
2. Hell ain't a Bad Place to Be
3. Back in Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds
6. Shot Down in Flames
7. Thunderstruck
8. Black Ice
9. The Jack
10. Hell's Bells
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. War Machine
13. Dog Eat Dog
14. Anything Goes
15. You Shook Me All Night Long
16. TNT
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let there be Rock
19. Highway to Hell
20. For Those About to Rock

From Orangus' personal journal: (AC/DC Abruzzo declines all responsibility for the content)

I bought a ticket from a scalper for only 30£. They also confirmed there's gonna be a golden circle section in Glasgow. Where I was the acoustics was awful and the audience even worse. During the Jack they were not even responding to Angus. Girls were ugly, some boob flashing. Nothing special though. I personally liked the echo effect in the Wembley stadium during TNT just like in the Stade De France 6 years ago, but not this year. They did play Back in Black or White as a tribute to MJ.

Orangus

(more than 40 gigs under his belt)

GLASGOW - ODDS UPDATED

Fling Thing 3-2
It's a long way to the top 18-1
If you want Blood 30-1
Gone Shootin 30-1
Riff Raff 40-1
Rocker 50-1
Live Wire 80-1
Touch too Much 100-1
Other 8-1

There are rumours circulating that the gig in Glasgow will be filmed.

GLASGOW -4

AC/DC Abruzzo's Stirring Committee, with the exceptional presence of the Vice President, met for dinner yesterday near the Adriatic Sea in order to prepare an action plan for the last three shows of the 2009 European Tour. The action plan was prepared. The Vice President will be in London, together with the AC/DC Italia crew. The President will be in Dublin on the 28. And the Secretary General will join them both in Glasgow for the Grand Finale. More details soon. By the way, the guitar spaghetti and the fresh seafood cooked by the President's mother were delicious.



In line with the spirit of the venue of the next show in Dublin, which will take place at the Punchestown horse racing track, AC/DC Abruzzo decided to release the official betting odds about the songs that will be added to the setlist in Glasgow. Place your bets!



Updated BETTING ODDS by AC/DC Abruzzo bookmaking department:

Fling Thing 3-2
It's a long way to the top 22-1
If you want Blood 25-1
Gone Shootin 25-1
Riff Raff 40-1
Rocker 50-1
Live Wire 80-1
Touch too Much 100-1
Other 8-1

*UPDATE*

AC/DC Abruzzo just learned about the tragic death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. Despite his music was not our favourite we recognize the major contribution that he made to the history of music during his career. RIP.

THE GRAND FINALE!

In the past few days AC/DC Abruzzo got some very positive reviews of all the Scandinavian gigs...  

PHOTO GALLERY from Copenhagen (Thanks to Mark and his photographer friend)

Obviously the boys are getting in perfect shape for Grand Finale of the European tour that will take place in Glasgow on June 30th. We can't wait. The main reason is that since Antwerp, we've been hearing rumours from reliable sources about something unique to be played in Glasgow. So we'll go to Scotland hoping for something really special.. And hoping that the boys didn't change their mind... ;-)

AC/DC fans from all over the world are also getting ready for this historic event. They will gather in Scotland coming from Europe, North America, Australia...It will be another milestone for AC/DC fans! AC/DC Abruzzo will meet with some old friends, including some who were in Wilkes Barre with us for the private gig! What a great opportunity to party! Our good friend Stonebreaker recommended the following after-party saying that it will be attended by lots of crazy German fans. Considering the success of the German party in the Latin Quarter in Paris last February we think we're not going to miss this...

http://www.cathouseglasgow.co.uk/events/high_voltage.html

Last but not least, speaking of setlist, here's also the complete exclusive "decoded" video of Dog Eat Dog, Live in Munich May 15, 2009. Enjoy!

FORGET PARIS!

Still thinking about Paris... What a great night for rock'n'roll! Here's some beautiful pictures taken by our friends of www.highwaytoacdc.com from the wonderful Stade De France gig! 

In the meantime the European Stadium tour goes on in the Scandinavian countries before heading back to the UK for the Grand Finale! 

15 Jun 2009, Oslo, Valle Hovin

17 Jun 2009, Helsinki,FI Olympic Stadium

19 Jun 2009 Copenhagen, DK Parken

21 Jun 2009 Gothenberg, SE Ullevi Stadium

Apparently it was pretty cool up there since the whole show was played in the daylight, for obvious geographical reasons... 

Last but not least, for the record, and for the sake of accuracy, here's the setlist for the past (and future) shows. :-)

SETLIST

1. Rock'n'roll Train
2. Hell ain't a Bad Place to Be
3. Back in Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds
6. Shot Down in Flames
7. Thunderstruck
8. Black Ice
9. The Jack
10. Hell's Bells
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. War Machine
13. Dog Eat Dog
14. Anything Goes
15. You Shook Me All Night Long
16. TNT
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let there be Rock
19. Highway to Hell
20. For Those About to Rock

CHE CULO!!!

You never know who you are going to meet on Les Champs Elysées in Paris. Especially the day after a historic rock show at the Stade De France with 76,000 AC/DC fans...

Well, first AC/DC Abruzzo and AC/DC Italia bumped into this crazy fan! After seeing Capriele's tattoo on his arm he insisted to show us HIS tattoo...

WOW! This is a diehard fan!!! Interestingly, this proved to be a very good omen because, after a few minutes, we bumped into Phil "Terminator" Rudd!!! What a old school rocker! Always with the right amount of meannness! A real "faccia da culo" of rock'n'roll.

We almost get excited when we meet him. Obviously, after so many shows AC/DC Abruzzo learned how to deal with him. Phil is a friend of ours, with a bit of nasty rural Abruzzese attitude... We just love him!

And by the way look closer at his t-shirt... Certain things are just meant to happen... AH AH AH AH AH AH

IT'S A BIG FLAG!!!!

AC/DC Italia's and AC/DC Abruzzo's teamwork proved again very fruitful in Paris! After the memorable show at Stade de France a delegation from both sites managed to meet with Angus. We thanked him and quickly talked about a variety of subjects, from the Italian flag following AC/DC around the world to the Tea offered to Angus in Madrid... Angus is one of the coolest people you can meet on this planet!

BTW we also started to do some diplomatic lobbying for the setlist change, mentioning what most diehard fans have been recently telling us...We keep our fingers crossed...

Gabriele, Angus, Andrea and Matteo

SALUTATE IL TRICOLORE!!!!!

Paris Stade de France bowing before the BIG ITALIAN FLAG!!! 

Look at Brian pointing his finger at us (0.35 sec in) while Gabriele, Marcom from AC/DC Italia and the AC/DC Abruzzo staff are raising the flag proudly.

We wonder if Zidane was at the show!

AH AH AH AH AH

STADE DE FRANCE, PARIS, FR June 12, 2009

WOW! What a show!!! We finally got to see the "heaven on earth for rock'n'roll" Brian was talking about in 2001... There's no doubt Paris is magic when it comes to rock'n'roll and AC/DC and attending a show at the Stade De France is always a unique experience! The Majestic soccer Stadium was filled to the brim, even the last level of seats. 80,000 people! It was a wonderful view, even for us who were in the Pelouse Or section (FOS).

The boys really rocked! Excellent performance! The audience was definetely loud and wild although, honestly, we had expected a bit more, having seen the video bootlegs from the 2001 concert. But it was a different "context" considering that it was the last leg of the tour... But everybody seemed to have a great time. As we had told you before no setlist change. I guess nothing will happen before Glasgow. So be it!

AC/DC Abruzzo Stirring Committee spent the entire night with the AC/DC  Italia Staff, just like in Barcelona, and we had a hell of a time together with our Italian flags and Devil's tridents during the show. If you were at the show we're sure you didn't miss that!! AH AH AH AH We got again the thumbs up from Angus during Rock'n'Roll train and even Brian came to play with our tridents several times... We apologise if the view was obstructed at times, but hey, we got the seal of approval from the boys! Besides, we also had to remind the French, after they stole a couple of cups in 1998 and 2000, who are the WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!  And we took the opportunity in St.Denis!! AH AH AH!

Ciao from Paris. 

BREAKING NEWS from Paris!!!

After hearing the rumours about a possible performance of an extra song in Paris AC/DC Abruzzo Stirring Committee decided to deploy the emergency taskforce exceptionally for the first time since Munich. The President immediately reached the French Capital while the Secretary General will arrive tomorrow from London.

Once in Paris the President met with the special correspondent Orangus and discussed the previous conversation that took place between him and Cliff. The unanimous decision to look for Malcolm and seek for explanation was made.

Unfortunately, the AC/DC Pezzonovanta was impossible to find but Orangus and the President did manage to meet with Brian. Brian showed up, with his charming Abruzzese-like attitude, singing a nice song in French. The President took the opportunity to thank him for this memorable tour, a true gift to all the real fans, and to ask him about the special bottle of wine that was delivered to him in Stockholm (which he said he drank and liked a lot). On the contrary, Orangus asked him bluntly about the RIDE ON rumour. Brian, like a father to his son, very gently and diplomatically, made us understand that this will be a remote option.

The President later met also with Cliff, dressed to kill like an old school coureur the jupons, ready for the Parisian night. When he recognised AC/DC Abruzzo's President he smiled and hugged him like an old friend! When asked about the setlist he confirmed in a very clear and incontrovertible manner that there won't be any surprise tomorrow. Ride on won't be played and there won't be any setlist change.

TANT PIS! A demain au Stade De France.