"FAREWELL TO THE BLACK ICE TOUR"

What we had feared a few seconds after the end of For Those About to Rock in Bilbao has become official, as stated by the official website (acdc.com).

July 9, 2010

After criss-crossing the globe for over 20 months and playing to over 5 million people, AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour came to a close in Bilbao, Spain on June 28, 2010. The Black Ice World Tour took AC/DC to 108 cities in over 28 countries. AC/DC kicked off the tour on the heels of releasing their critically lauded album Black Ice, which soared to the #1 spot on album charts in over 29 countries around the globe. The Black Ice World tour was heralded by fans and critics alike, with the Chicago Tribune calling it “a celebration of all that is great about rock ‘n’ roll,” calling the band’s music as “Rock 'n' roll that outlasts time.” Earlier this year AC/DC’s Black Ice World Tour won a Pollstar Award for Major Tour of the Year.

Yes. According to Pollstar it was the major tour of the year with 1.8 million tickets sold. "No other act has reached 1 million. The band has grossed $177.5 million.". Pretty impressive....

So what now? ... ... We probably need a few more days of reflection...

AC/DC Italia in tears after the Bilbao show

The Vice President trying to fight post-tour depression with irony and sarcasm

The Secretary General feels lost...

The stoic melancholy of the President

THE KOSP ITALIAN SEDUCTION SCHOOL

Ok. We admit we haven't being doing our homework in Europe on this last leg of the tour... The thing is we got spoiled in Australia with too many girls, to the left and to the right... In Europe it's just harder to pick up. It's a fact. Besides, the Kosp apparently got into a serious monogamous relationship and even KK has slowed down his rockstar lifestyle. So we were left without mentors. But we promise we will get back to our training. Now that the tour is over we have plenty of time...

Most of the readers of the blog that we've met during the European Tour 2010 surprisingly told us that they really appreciated the suggestions from the KOSP. So here's a special technique for you developed during the tour.

THE AC/DC ABRUZZO'S PEACOCK ITEM

"PEACOCK—verb: to dress in loud clothing or with flashy accoutrements in order to get attention from women. Peacocking items include bright shiny shirts, light-up jewelry, feather boas, colorful cowboy hats, or anything else that makes one stand out in a crowd." from THE GAME

Believe it or not, the famous AC/DC Abruzzo flag, which has accompanied us around the world for almost 2 years during the Black Ice tour has also served the purpose of "peacock item". On several occasions we managed to pick up girls who got charmed by our Italian/Abruzzo flag, before and after the show (and even during the show). Girls (and sometimes even guys) cannot resist the temptation to make a comment about the flag so they initiate conversation. This is also an IOI (ie. an indicator of interest). After this you just have to employ the techniques you learned from the Kosp and KK to build attraction and to CLOSE the deal... The best time is after the show because you can take advantage of the post-concert euphoria... Unfortunately, now that there are no more AC/DC shows you will have to use your peacock item (flag, devil's horns etc.) at local cover band gigs...

Norwegian girl wrapping herself in the flag after the show...

French girl grabbing the flag at the Stade De France in Paris (later on the big screens during the Jack)

BILBAO 2010 - Is this the end?? (part 7)

"Nobody is gonna slow us down"

This was probably the most intense and powerful song of the Bilbao show. The last "Highway to Hell" of the Black Ice tour... We had to use the Devil's fork for this special occasion (Brian loves it!)

In the last few days we've been trying to accept the idea that the tour is over. Not easy. We'll give you an update on what happened to the crazy Abruzzo crew, including Orangus.

And we also have a special surprise from Brian himself. So stay tuned!

BILBAO 2010 - Is this the end?? (part 6)

"That boy has got the DIABLO in his fingers"

BILBAO 2010 - Is this the end?? (part 5)

During The Jack (with local groupie on the shoulders)

(Photo courtesy of Wholelottamonkey)

On the screens

The next generation of AC/DC fans wants more...

(Photo courtesy of uncle Michel)

BILBAO 2010 - Is this the end?? (part 4)

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (We Salute You)

Last song of the Black Ice Tour

BILBAO 2010 - Is this the end?? (part 3)

THEY SAID: LET THERE BE ROCK...

... AND THERE WAS ROCK!!

Angus's last epic solo in Bilbao...

AC/DC Live 28 June Bilbao, ES San Mames Stadium - THE END (part 2)

Setlist:

Rock'n'Roll Train

Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

Back in Black

Big Jack

Dirty Deeds

Shot Down In Flames

Thunderstruck

Black Ice

The Jack (incl Angus strip)

Hells Bells

Shoot to Thrill

War Machine

High Voltage

You Shook Me All Night Long

TNT

Whole Lotta Rosie

Let There Be Rock

Highway to Hell

For Those About To Rock

AC/DC Abruzzo Official Report

This is it. The Black Ice Tour is officially over. After 2 days from the final show in Bilbao it's still hard to accept it for AC/DC Abruzzo. The Secretary General realised it was the end when he woke up alone in his hotel room in Bilbao the day after the show. The President as soon as his plane touched ground in Rome. The Vice President when he put the Black Ice Album in his cd player after coming back to Abruzzo yesterday. Orangus... well, Orangus disappeared again...

The last concert in Spain acquired a symbolical meaning for the hard core fans maybe even more than Glasgow 2009, Perth 2010 or Wilkes Barres 2008. And most of them were at the show... In the end, although it might have looked like the same AC/DC show it wasn't. You could tell the band put some extra energy on stage for this final gig. And it was probably one of the best performance of the 2010 tour. Just take a look at the video below...

The San Mames stadium is a small and very old soccer stadium, around 40k people of capacity. And it was totally sold out for the show. It was hard even to see people selling tickets outside. It is in the city centre of Bilbao, so just imagine all the streets totally jammed with crazy Spanish fans drinking beer and doing botellon (less than in Seville though). And a lot of noise and pre-AC/DC concert chaos... (which we'll miss...) It reached the peak one hour before the show, since the Spanish fans prefer to go last minute... Total confusion outside...

But we got in and managed to make our way through the standing section. We ended up on Cliff's side, the classic AC/DC Abruzzo's spot, together with Marco of AC/DC Italia. And we watched the whole show jumping and shouting with the other fans. It was a very good crowd, not as hyperactive as for the best indoor venues in 2009 (i.e. Bercy, O2 Dublin or Milan forum) or Donington but it was pretty good anyway! Jumping, pushing and some crowd surfing too... As said before the performance of the band was one of their best.

It was a great night of rock'n'roll... Stay tuned because tomorrow we'll post more stories and two exclusive videos from the final show of the Black Ice tour in Bilbao...

BILBAO 2010 - Is this the end??

Many of the hardcore fans that we've met around the world gathered yesterday in Bilbao to attend the last show of the Black Ice Tour. For most of them, and for most of our readers, the big question is: is this AC/DC's last tour? Is this really the end? The truth is nobody knows the answer. Maybe not even the band. The only certain thing is that Bilbao 2010 will be remembered as another milestone in AC/DC live career. AC/DC Abruzzo was there and with the next posts we will tell you more about it.

PHOTOGALLERY

AC/DC Live 26 Jun Seville, ES Olympic Stadium

Spaghetti alla chitarra

Setlist:

Rock'n'Roll Train

Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

Back in Black

Big Jack

Dirty Deeds

Shot Down In Flames

Thunderstruck

Black Ice

The Jack (incl Angus strip)

Hells Bells

Shoot to Thrill

War Machine

High Voltage

You Shook Me All Night Long

TNT

Whole Lotta Rosie

Let There Be Rock

Highway to Hell

For Those About To Rock

From the Secretary General's Private Journal

I arrived to Seville from Germany the day before the show. The President has been travelling by himself for the last few shows. Basically he's been flying in and flying out just like AC/DC, except he doesn't have a private jet... Not yet, at least...

Seville, in certain areas, really looks like Naples. I loved it! Maybe a more laid back version of the Italian city, but it definitely looks like the south of Italy. Naples had been ruled for a long time by the Spanish, so the similarity is historically understandable... So everything is more dysfunctional than the rest of Europe, from Taxis to bars... And you get the feeling that legality is not a prerequisite... Speaking English here is counterproductive so I used Italian and dialect. Body language was also very useful to communicate with locals.

The President arrived from Pisa, Italy a few hours before the show with Uncle Michel. I heard they had organised a stopover in Italy to have a good Italian meal (seafood). Bastards... I only had two lousy sandwiches for lunch...

After hiring an illegal taxi (impossible to find taxis were before the show) we arrived to the Stadium. Outside the sight was quite peculiar. Lots of people cooking and selling barbecue meat and "home made" cocktails (the infamous "Botellón"). Fans were wearing all sort of bootleg t-shirts but it was too late to buy them because they had been already confiscated by AC/DC security (It has been pretty hard on this tour to get "non repetitive/monotonous" t-shirts like the BACK IN... series...). The show was great. The crowd was extremely loud but it wasn't moving a lot. Still they were jumping a lot, even between the songs and very far from the stage. Ironically, there were more people in the back of the standing section than in front. The performance of the band was impeccable as usual. It's hard to believe that the end is getting near....

Ciao from Bilbao...

Linguine ai calamaretti

Uncle Michel at work

Cacciucco

Cannolo Siciliano

Ingredients for the botellon

R'n'R train

Let There Be Rock in Seville

PHOTOGALLERY from Seville!

Hottest show of the 2010 tour. Around 40 °C. It felt like Australia again... Great energy from the boys and from the Spanish crowd... Here's a few pics. Report soon!

The fourth generation of AC/DC fans is ready to rock!

Spanish sausages before the show

Black Ice in Seville

Braianno

Angusso

AC/DC Live 22 Jun Berlin DE Olympic Stadium

Setlist:
Rock'n'Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
Back in Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds
Shot Down In Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack (incl Angus strip)
Hells Bells
Shoot to Thrill
War Machine
High Voltage
You Shook Me All Night Long
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Highway to Hell
For Those About To Rock

AC/DC ABRUZZO OFFICIAL REPORT

Berlin Olympiastadion. Another majestic footbal Stadium filled to the brim with AC/DC fans. Together with the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, The Wembley Stadium in London or the Stade de France in Paris it is one of our favourite rock'n'roll outdoor venues. Fantastic audience!

Maybe the germans didn't move too much during the show but they definitely sang pretty loud. 2 more show and then everything will be over!

See you in Spain!

PHOTOS HERE

WARM UP PARTY in PANKOW

A big fan gathering took place the night before the show organised by the German fan clubs. Due to the tour commitments we had the time just to stop by late at night and say a quick hello to some friends. Shame we missed the cover band who apparently played very well! But we had fun anyway...

AC/DC Live 20 Jun Dresden DE Ostrahege

Setlist:

Rock'n'Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
Back in Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds
Shot Down In Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack (incl Angus strip)
Hells Bells
Shoot to Thrill
War Machine
High Voltage
You Shook Me All Night Long
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Highway to Hell
For Those About To Rock

From the Secretary General's Private Journal

We had our flight booked for Berlin on June the 20th, early in the morning. So why not adding another show?? Dresden was just a 2-hour drive away.... So the matter was discussed with the President and the motion was immediately passed. Orangus was informed and immediately accepted to join the expedition.

Once in Berlin the President said he had some unexpected business to take care of and decided to stay in his hotel room instead of going to the show. I tried to question his decision but he replied that the show in Paris was his 50th and could not afford another show due to work commitments. Honestly, I don't know what's behind this decision. The President's business is still a mystery to me...

So I rented a car with Orangus and hit the road. We decided to use Orangus' GPS device (which he uses also when he doesn't have a car). The device was probably less useful than a drunk copilot under LSD so we got lost after 30 minutes in the forest near the Schonefeld airport and we had to go back to the car rental office to pick up a new GPS navigator. Honestly I don't know how Orangus managed to drive from city to city during the 2009 indoor tour with that drunk GPS...

Anyway we got to Dresden at 4.15pm, just in time to watch the penalty kick of the Italian soccer team in a bar by the river. We celebrated despite the hostile looks of the Germans. The final score was not what we hoped for but we didn't care too much. We're still the world champions, aren't we? AHAHAH

Orangus kept telling me he wanted to go and visit the Dresden art gallery but I didn't give him the permission. Too late. We had to go to the show. I love that guy but sometimes he just doesn't know how to handle priorities properly. Sex, food and rock'n'roll. Culture comes after.

The venue was a huge plain. Curiously there were more people near the entrance than by the stage. Strange crowd. Just a few devil's horns. And most of the people looked like they were going to a Volkswagen factory instead than a rock show.

I bought myself a good German sausage for lunch. Orangus said he never eats before a show.

The band was in great shape. Probably better performance than Paris. Great show of Brian and Angus. Brian pointed at our flag during Dirty Deeds for about 10 seconds... Orangus was holding the flag behind me so I could point back. Last time we met Brian we had talked about the Barolo wine. He's got great taste for wine and food. No doubt about it. He must have some ancestors from Abruzzo... AHAHAH

On our way back to Berlin I got a good history lesson from Orangus about World War II and the role of Dresden. Then he told me some stories about his coworkers and collaborators such as "Sardina" and "Acciuga". I then taught him something about Italian wines. In return he taught me something about international money laundering techniques... Just kiddin'.... Or maybe not...

Emidio Pepe, probably one of the best Italian producers

German sausage sellers

No time for washing the car, unfortunately

Brian on fire

Jumping Angus

Let There Be Rock 1

Let There Be Rock 2

Orangus' office in Germany

PHOTOGALLERY from BERLIN

AC/DC Live Paris, Stade de France, June, 18 2010

"That's just rock'n'roll,

that's what you're here for"

Brian Johnson - SDF, Paris June 18, 2010

Paris, Stade de France, June, 18 2010

Setlist:
Rock'n'Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
Back in Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds
Shot Down In Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack (incl Angus strip)
Hells Bells
Shoot to Thrill
War Machine
High Voltage
You Shook Me All Night Long
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Highway to Hell
For Those About To Rock

AC/DC ABRUZZO OFFICIAL REPORT

Stade de France, Paris. One of our favorite venues in the world. Huge football stadium, but still very intimate, perfect for a powerful and energetic rock'n'roll show. We couldn't miss this concert for anything in the world. The equation is simple:

AC/DC + Stade de France = memorable/unforgettable rock show.

Words to describe an AC/DC concert and the performance of the band have become superfluous. We firmly believe that there's nothing as good as an AC/DC show and if you're reading this blog you probably agree with us.

After seeing another 80,000 people with three generations of fans packed in the stadium we realised once again how lucky we are to have seen them so many times around the world. This Black Ice tour has been a real gift for the fans, especially for those who had waited patiently for so many years. And it's hard to believe that soon the world will have to deal with the fact that they will stop touring... Hopefully not. See you in Germany!

Shoot To Thrill (with Cammeo of Orangus)

THE AFTER SHOW AT LES HALLES

After the show we went in the Les Halles area for the after show party. It was just a good opportunity to meet some old friends from all over the world and to celebrate the 50th BLack Ice show attended by the President… We had a very good time! See you in Germany!

BigJack5 from Vancouver, the President, Orangus' assistant, the Secretary General and Phillo from Belgium

Croque Monsieur

With French Rosie ...

With legendary AC/DC collector and writer Arnaud Durieux reminiscing about New York 2008