THE ADVENTURES OF ORANGUS IN AMERICA III

Albany August 2, 2009 Times Union Center

Hi guys, I’m really sad you missed this. I now you’re not jealous people so I’ll tell you that probably this was the best AC/DC concert of my life (as you know I saw more than 40 shows. Maybe the Circus Crowne's 2003 setlist was slightly better).

Late in the afternoon I bought a ground floor ticket at the box office. I specifically asked that the seat was near the aisle (sector 5, row a, seat 14). When I entered the venue, by my surprise, I found out that it was a very small section, almost half of the forum of Assago in Milan. My spot was just one seat away from the catwalk. Once the concert started Brian came straight to me and shook my hand! (I'm sure he remembers me from our meeting in Paris when we tried to convince him to play Ride On again). The sound was just perfect. Really, I couldn’t get a better seat than this.

The audience was great this time (even if they didn't sing Rosie at all). After the show everybody was cheering and screaming like crazy. I actually thought there was some special event or aftershow party outside. In fact people were just amazingly happy because of the show.

I also managed to meet and talk to some guys who attended the legendary Roseland Ballroom show in 2003 in NYC. Great stories. Although they really loved tonight's show obviously that concert was just in another league…

THE ADVENTURES OF ORANGUS IN AMERICA II

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ Giants Stadium July 31, 2009

Ciao guys,

Yesterday I arrived in my the hotel at 4am and didn’t have the time to write anything, so sorry about that. I almost met Francesca (one of AC/DC Abruzzo's groupie LOL) but there was a last minute problem. By the way, I saw and talked to a Mariah Carey lookalike in the NYC metro today.

I arrived to the Giants Stadium at the very last minute, just like I did for most of the 30 shows I did in Europe. No Ground floor tickets were available so I had to buy a seated ticket for 11$ from a nice guy who actually wanted to give it to me for free. I tried to get to the floor area by using my Italian charm and other AC/DC Abruzzo fieldtested techniques but they didn't work.

Basically, I ended up on the most central spot of the first level of seats. I really felt like Nero the Emperor in the Coliseum. Really a nice feeling although there was no Gladiators show or Hail Caesar added to the setlist. The audience was much colder than the one in Boston but the concert was just great. Excellent acoustics in the stadium, I would say that the sound was one of the best of the entire open air tour. The boys were on fire. I'm sorry you guys were not there. I’m sure some of you might have had something to say about the audience, maybe a bit cold. Before Thunderstruck Brian said something like “Here’s a song from the last album” and then “oops, a little mistake”.

For the record, I heard rumours saying that Rudolf Giuliani and Arnold Schwartznegger are working on a bill in building an AC/DC Memorial in Washington, DC and replace Statue of Liberty with the Angus Statue.

Today I went to eat in Little Italy. There, I met Phil who told me that Italy didn't deserve to win the World Cup in 2006, So a fight broke out. Thanks to the help of some local “wiseguys” and “friends of ours” and we beat him up for good. Just kidding...

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

AC/DC Abruzzo experienced undefined-not to be revealed technical problems in the last few days, (similarly to AC/DC in Zurich last March). For this reason the blog updates were temporarily discontinued. We apologize for the inconvenient.. We will be back very soon with the next chapters of the Orangus' journal.

THE ADVENTURES OF ORANGUS IN AMERICA

From Orangus' Journal - My first trip in the USA

AC/DC Abruzzo declines all responsabilities for any politically incorrect statement, comment or action made by Orangus. 

FIRST SHOW - Gillette Stadium July 28, 2009

Boston July 29, 2009

(...)

So I solved the ticket problem very easily and found a floor ticket at the box office of the Gillette Stadium. The crowd was not too bad and I easily adapted myself to the reserved seating policy they have here in the States... Yes, they really have chairs in the front of stage section!! Incredible! I managed to move and stand in the corridor anyways... 

Great show and great performance. Especially the Let There Be Rock solo... The funniest thing of the show was Brian hanging from the Hell's Bell with the bell oscillating without making any noise... So he kept hanging waiting for something to happen but after a few extra seconds of silence he came down and waited for the beginning of the song. As far as the setlist is concerned, as you already know, the boys played all the classic hits we love such as Touch too Much, If you want Blood, RnR Dannation, Ride on, Down payment Blues etc... 

Unfortunately, I  didn't manage to meet the band but I talked to a guy who told me that the previous day Phil had said a nice "vafangool" to a fan asking for an autograph... We love Phil! 

The public transportation to and from the Stadium seemed to be of a third world country. There was no shuttle bus, special train from Boston so I went by train to a small village not far from the Stadium. There was no taxi there so I, an Irish guy and 3 Americans paid another American guy for a ride (10$ each). There were 6 people in the car. A nightmare. And the parking lot cost 40$!! I even saw a person getting arrested by the Police for jumping over a barrier. 

After the show nobody, neither the Police nor the security personnel, could give me any accurate information about public transportation to go back to Boston. No taxis at all. So after waiting enough time to miss all the trains and busses I decided to hitchhike. After 30 seconds a woman stops:

-Where do you have to go?
-Boston
-Are you crazy?
- Yes
-Ok I get you, where are you from?
-Italian

At this point she started to hug me and kiss me. She wasn't that bad... Maybe a bit mature but she actually looked like Rosie... Her friend, on the contrary, was really ugly. But who cares? Then she told me she helped because she liked my legs (I love jogging and cycling!)... She was hitting on me so intensely that we actually got lost in the parking lot...

TO BE CONTINUED.

BOUGHT MYSELF A CADILLAC...

So here's Brian speaking about his real passion: race cars. And, as you can see, he can actually drive pretty fast!

The story about him pissing on the Sputnik in Russia was told to us in Stockholm by Brian in person. Hilarious. He also told us a couple of other cool stories about rock'n'roll and race cars. One, very interesting, was about Cliff and Brian driving on a circuit and having some unexpected problems... You'll find the details on Brian's forthcoming book.

AC/DC Abruzzo's correspondant Orangus touched base with us a few hours ago. Despite a few problems at the US customs office he managed to get to America safe and sound. If he doesn't get lost or kidnapped again he will be attending the Massachussets show tomorrow...

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Even if the meeting took place not too far from Hollywood last year it's not a casting for a remake of one of the best movies by Sergio Leone (although these faces would be perfect for a Spaghetti Western! AH AH AH). Thanks to Kosp for sending this cool picture.

For the record, we just learned that AC/DC Abruzzo's correspondant Orangus, aka Belfagor, is currently on an ALITALIA flight heading to New York JFK...  Good luck for this new adventure!

AC/DC ABRUZZO TUTORIALS: HOW TO TAKE A PHOTO WITH PHIL "TERMINATOR" RUDD

"VENI, VIDI, VICI"

("I came, I saw, I conquered")

Julius Caesar

Taking a look at our friends' profiles on Facebook and at the pictures with the band members posted on the Internet by other fans around the world we noticed a pattern. Most hard core fans only managed to take photos with Angus, Brian, Cliff and Malcolm during the last tour. But why is Phil "Terminator" Rudd so rarely found next to a fan in a picture? There are many theories circulating but we will not focus on them this time. Nevertheless, it is a fact that only a very small group of fans can boast a photo with one of the meanest and coolest drummers of the history of rock'n'roll.

AC/DC Abruzzo Stirring Committee is gladly part of this small group of privileged fans. But how was this possible? Here's our secret techniques revealed exclusively for AC/DC Abruzzo blog readers!

AC/DC ABRUZZO TUTORIALS: HOW TO TAKE A PHOTO WITH PHIL "TERMINATOR" RUDD

First of all, you have to embrace AC/DC Abruzzo's philosophy and believe in our core principle (i.e."Impossible is nothing"). Then, you have to prepare yourself to work pretty hard.

To start, there are a few books that must be read attentively to obtain the necessary theoretical background and understand the psychology of the target. These preparatory readings are:

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

Maximum Rock 'n' Roll by Arnaud Durieux, Murray Engleheart

The Game by Neil Strauss

Playboy: 50 Years: The Photographs by James R. Petersen

While understanding and learning warfare techniques, AC/DC history, pickup strategies and the inspirational qualities of big breasts it is also essential to train actively in the gym. Several sessions are required to improve your physical strength, responsiveness and stamina.

AC/DC Abruzzo working out before the Milan shows in March

Then, you will have to focus on your target. Gather personal information and anecdotes about Phil from reliable sources. Watch as many interviews as possible, such as this one:



Once the preparation and the training are complete you MUST go in the field. At least a dozen AC/DC shows must be attended and Phil must be observed carefully. Especially, pay particular attention to the final "horns gesture" he does to greet the fans after the end of FTATR. If he raises his hand high waiving at the audience it means he enjoyed playing there (this happened in only in Paris Bercy, Milan Forum, Dublin 02 and a few others). This is a sign showing that Phil will have a more "flexible attitude" with fans the following day. Prepare to attack.

AC/DC Abruzzo decided to make the decisive move in Dublin, in April after a few months of observation and training (and two failed attempts in Paris and Milan which resulted only in autographs).

Once we spotted the target, we immediately identified the weak points linked to location, presence of bodyguards, possible escape lines etc. After assessing quickly all these factors we decided to implement the classical PINCER MOVEMENT technique.


The President approached the target from the front and said "Hello Phil, we are two fans from Italy, would it be possible to take a quick photo with you?". In the meantime the Secretary General had taken position in the rear closing all paths to escape. The potential obstacles had been all disarmed previously. The target looked around for a few seconds then understood he had to surrender. "Sure, my dear!", he replied. Victory was ours. We took our trophy photos. "Thank you very much, Phil. Great show yesterday by the way!".

The first student to reap the fruits of AC/DC Abruzzo's tutorial was Mathieu from Marseille, an apprentice and good friend of ours, who managed to take this picture with Phil on Les Champs Elysées in Paris last June thanks to our assistance and guidelines.

THE BOSS SALUTES ABRUZZO

After the declaration of love made by Madonna during her show in Milan a few days ago thanking God her father was from Abruzzo (the town is called Pacentro) and the donation of 500,000$ for the reconstruction of the cities destroyed by the earthquake, Bruce Springsteen also paid homage to the strong and gentle people of this region. Yesterday night, in Rome he dedicated an entire song to Abruzzo (My City of Ruins, originally written for the 9/11 events). According to the press, guitarist "under boss" Steve Van Zandt, also known as Silvio Dante, met with some fans from Abruzzo outside a radio station... They listened to their stories and later on persuaded the Boss to play something special... It's a real shame AC/DC didn't play this summer in Italy...