AUSTRALIAN HIGH VOLTAGE ROCK'N'ROLL + GRAMMY

"All you gotta do is plug me into HIGH
I SAID HIGH
HIGH VOLTAGE ROCK'N'ROLL"

In the last few days there's been extensive coverage of the New Zealand shows even here in Australia. The greatest rock'n'roll band in the world is approaching their homeland for a historic 11-dates tour... Apparently the demand for tickets has been 4 times that of 2001.

We personally can't wait to hear High Voltage played live in Melbourne. It's such a classic and iconic song from the Bon Scott era... It's a shame the band decided to drop Dog Eat Dog but we heard that this wasn't one of Brian's favourite songs to sing. Anyway we are really impressed with the amazing job Brian does on High Voltage, at least listening to the few recordings circulating so far...

10 more days and we'll get our rock'n'roll fix...



GRAMMY 2010

Just for the record, AC/DC just won their first Grammy for War Machine as Best Rock Performance of 2010. But we don't know if this is good news or bad news.

HIGH VOLTAGE LIVE - FIRST CLIP

Now we have pretty definitive proof that it wasn't collective hallucination. AC/DC did change the setlist and they really played HIGH VOLTAGE yesterday night in Wellington!!!!
We did get goosebumps listening to the new live version of this AC/DC classic....
Brian does an incredibly good job on this (showing that he can still sing this type of songs). Also we love Phil's heavy drumming style, Malcolm and Cliff's background vocals and Angus' solo... We can't wait to hear this in Australia!!!

HIGH VOLTAGE ROCK'N'ROLL IN NEW ZEALAND!!

Wellington, NZ Westpac Stadium
Jan 28, 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

This time due to budget limitations we were not in New Zealand and we can't confirm this setlist as 100% accurate. But it is totally compatible with what we have heard early on from our reliable sources.

We can't wait to hear HIGH VOLTAGE live in Australia!!!!

PROVERB OF THE MONTH + RECIPES + SETLIST CHANGE

"Gire e riggire, lu porche àrriv à lu pire"

ITALIAN: Gira che ti rigira il maiale finisce sempre legato al suo palo
ENGLISH: Eventually the pig will always end up tied back to the pole*
*The pig was usually tied to a pole in Abruzzo farms. The Abruzzo pig breed is very hyperactive and lacks discipline.

There are different interpretations for this traditional saying from the rural culture of the region of Abruzzo. The most common one is that nobody can escape his destiny. Good or bad. Another one is that you need discipline and strong work ethics if you want to achieve your aims.

LA PORCHETTA

Considering the protagonist of this month's proverb, the Abruzzo's pig, worshiped in all its forms, we will now take the opportunity to mention another food specialty of our beloved region (apparently even Brian loves it). THE PORCHETTA!! This tasty mouthwatering specialty originally from the Lazio region is also very popular in Abruzzo and it reaches the pinnacle of taste in the Campli area. Especially in the form of the "porchetta sandwitch". This delicious variety of pork meat with its subtly fragrant flavor derived from the rosemary, fennel and sage is so juicy and tender then it melts in your mouth. It's one of the most tasty and famous rock'n'roll food specialties of our region together with Arrosticini and Guitar Spaghetti.


And now, after the cultural lesson on Italian food and culture, let's go back to business and rock'n'roll.

SETLIST CHANGE:

Yesterday, AC/DC rehearsed a new song in Wellington which was not on the setlist. This DOES NOT MEAN that the song will be played tonight at the first Wellington show for sure. It might be played on the second night or later on in the tour just like it happened in Oslo, when the boys rehearsed Shot Down in Flames and then decided to play it in Stokholm... Or they might just drop it like Gone Shootin' at the Hammersmith show (they had rehearsed it the previous day). Of course, we don't want this to happen and it would be nice to hear If You Want Blood again. Some bagpipes on stage would be nice too... :-P
In the meantime BUON APPETITO!

IRON MAN 2 + NEW ZEALAND

After the official announcement of Donington 2010 the Shoot to Thrill video for Iron Man 2 was also released yesterday. The video is just amazing! Beside Brian's voice that sounds fantastic, almost like in 1980's (AHAHAAH) we really loved the live footage from the Buenos Aires show. Considering this tasty antipasto we believe that the complete live DVD will be another milestone in the videography of the band, just in the same league as Paris 1979, Donington 1991 or Madrid 1996. We just can't wait to watch it!

By the way you can see the AC/DC Italia's flag 5 minutes 11 seconds in. Considering they keep showing the Italian flag in the official videos (from Wilkes Barre to Buenos Aires) we must assume that the director and the band must like it too!




UPDATE ON THE TOUR
According to our sources Malcolm, Cliff and Brian left Sydney for New Zealand yesterday. The soundcheck with all the members of the band will take place today and the first show in Wellington tomorrow. Fingers crossed for some setlist change...

DONINGTON 2010!

Yes we heard it here in Sydney, directly from the horse's mouth! We even raised our schooners of Coopers with our friend Ross Young to this great news which confirms that AC/DC will play again the Donington Festival!! Another page of Rock'n'Roll history wil be written next June in England. AC/DC Abruzzo will be there.

The official announcement will be made in about 24 hours here:

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/

And now some more photos from the 2009 European tour courtesy of Stonebreaker, our friend since the 2003 Hammersmith gig...

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

RIP ALEX

AC/DC Italia and AC/DC Abruzzo have recently learned about the sudden departure of one of the greatest AC/DC fans in the world. Alex had been a fan and a friend of the band since the 1970's. We had the honour to meet him and talk to him on several occasions both in North America and Europe during the Black Ice tour. His enthusiasm and passion for AC/DC were contagious. We send our condolences to his family and to all those who will miss Alex.

New York 2008 - Marco, Andrea, Nonno Alan, Brian, Arnaud and Alex

EMPERORS OF THE ARENAS

While warming up for the Australian tour here's some of our best pictures from the 2009 European Indoor tour. The Arena shows in Europe were so intimate that we are still thanking the Gods of rock'n'roll for having had the privilege to attend most of them and be so close to the boys...

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer