SETLIST:
1. Hell ain't a bad place to be
2. Shot Down in Flames
3. Back in Black
4. Rock or Bust
5. Shoot to Thrill
6. Dirty Deeds
7. Thunderstruck
8. Playball
9. The Jack
10. Hell's Bells
11. Baptism by fire
12. Shook Me All Night Long
13. Have a Drink on me
14. Sin City
15. TNT
16. Rock N' Roll Train
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let There Be Rock
19. Highway to Hell
20. For Those About to Rock
We just got back to our Arizona headquarter after a long road trip (more that 1700 km in less than 48 hours!). We are exhausted but happy because we were among the very few AC/DC fans who made it to Coachella Festival for the first AC/DC show in the last 5 years! The show was absolutely AMAZING! An unforgettable night of pure rock'n'roll!
THE CROWD
AC/DC were reportedly paid 2 million USD to play Coachella in front of crowd of youngsters in their early 20's, certainly not very interested in rock'n'roll. This hipster subculture of Coachella festival goers was something pretty new to us, as European fans. But we cannot say we didn't like it, including the crowd... Especially considering the presence of a massive number of girls, all "dressed" in the typical Coachella style. Honestly, we've never seen so many girls at a rock show!!!
AC/DC t-shirts were extremely rare. The same goes for the devil's horns during the show, only 5 or 6 in the first rows. Totally SURREAL!!! But cool at same time! Just imagine a show in which the AC/DC plays Whole Lotta Rosie and 99% of the audience doesn't scream ANGUS! A rarity for "concert collectors" like us!
It was immediately clear that the majority of the people was not at Coachella for the music, of course. The social gathering experience is way more important than who is playing on stage. AC/DC or David Guetta is the same for the audience.
The crowd responded mainly to Shook me, Highway to Hell, Thunderstruck and TNT. It looked they still enjoyed the whole show...
Many VIP's were spotted, from Clint Eastwood, to Bradly Cooper, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.
THE PLACE
Not exactly the ideal place for a concert, being in the middle of the desert. But everything was perfectly organized, from parking to the toilet area. Even too organized (and expensive) for our European taste.
The stage was small for AC/DC, similar in size to the one which was used for indoor arenas in 2008. A bit far away from the first row but still very enjoyable for us. And no catwalk! We think this was the first AC/DC complete concert without a catwalk since Hammersmith London 2003...
THE SETLIST
We couldn't be happier. AC/DC are back and they are in terrific shape! We couldn't care less about the setlist, especially considering AC/DC were so close to the end a couple of years ago! But we got to hear Have a Drink on Me and SIN CITY!!! Yes, SIN CITY!!!!!
There were a few mistakes during the concert, the most noticeable one was during Hell ain't a bad place to be. The band started slow with the first songs but they completely changed pace with Shoot to Thrill, one of the best songs of the night! The new tracks Play ball and Rock or Bust probably will sound better later on, during the tour. Baptism by Fire, on the contrary, sounds excellent already! The two gems were a gift to the AC/DC fans who were at Coachella. But we think they will be kept in the future setlists as well.
THE BAND
Honestly, after all the challenges that the band had to go through recently we were not expecting such a powerful and intense rock'n'roll show! The new lineup works extremely well on stage and you can tell they've been rehearsing together for a long time. Brian's voice is in perfect order, Slade brings back a taste of the Razor's Edge era and Stevie Young is doing pretty well in the (difficult) substitute job. Cliff is also in good shape. On the other hand, Angus is from another planet! He is more energetic and active than ever! He duckwalked almost double the time/distance of the typical Black Ice tour concert, with both his knees bleeding at the end of the show. We rarely saw him so focused and attentive. It really looks like he is feeling the high responsibility of leading this band without his brother Malcolm.
The ticket policy and the location made it quite challenging to get there but in the end it was totally worth going to see the official comeback of the greatest band in the world. Despite the compromises made, Malcolm's departure, line up changes etc... AC/DC are back on stage! And that's what really matters!!
EXCLUSIVE PHOTO GALLERY BY AC/DC ABRUZZO
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| Angus in red! |
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| "But you ain't got the guts!" |
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| Stevie Young |
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| Slade is back! |
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| Solid Cliff |
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| For Those About to Rock (We salute you) |
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| If you want blood.... |
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| Marco Italia & Matteo Abruzzo, rare AC/DC fans, properly equipped |
SOUNDBOARD BOOTLEG RECORDING
We are uploading a few exclusive videos. In the meantime here's the entire soundboard recording from the show... :)
