Monday, March 15, 2010

UPDATE FROM TOKYO

From the right Alan, Andrea with other crazy fans...


LETTER FROM THE ROCK'N'ROLL NONNO TO AC/DC ABRUZZO STEERING COMMITTE

Saitama, Super Arena,
March 14, 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

Tokyo March 15, 2010

Hi Abruzzo

Japan is OK but very dull and regimented everybody goes their way without talking. I was on the train into Tokyo this morning, it was silent, nobody talking at all... It is not for me!! Lots of people of all ages wearing clinical masks!! And I think you wouldn`t be impressed with the girls here... but maybe you would...
The shows were good in Tokyo, great seats on the floor, 7 rows from the front 1st night and 8 rows 2nd night right against the catwalk. The crowd were good, up on their feet from the moment the lights went down, just like Manchester!! [man.utd 4 milan 0] Ahahaha
I met up with Andrea so that was good to see him and his wife. He showed me his photos from last night!!
I miss all you guys to have a chat to after the shows. Yesterday before the show a Finnish guy came up to me and asked if I was Alan, said he had been reading your blog so i don`t know what is in that...
Hope tomorrow in Osaka is as good and then it`s back western civilization in Perth for a couple of weeks. So take care my friends and will see you in Europe before long.
Bye for now
Nonno Alan


EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS

PHOTOGALLERY BY VICE PRESIDENT ANDREA



LET THERE BE LIGHT!






Sunday, March 14, 2010

VIDEOS FROM 1st and 2nd JAPAN SHOWS

Ok. After the first delusional highly sarcastic report by Orangus let's get back to business.

Here's a few "MADE IN ITALY" videos from the first and second Japan gigs including an exclusive video of TNT just for our blog. Our first impression after seeing 11 stadium shows in Australia is that the indoor arena stage has become too small and limiting for the current AC/DC physical shape. But we still prefer the more intimate atmosphere of smaller indoor arenas...

Enjoy!


TOKYO MARCH 12, 2010 1st NIGHT








TOKYO MARCH 14, 2010 2nd NIGHT





AC/DC ABRUZZO INVADES JAPAN!!

From our special envoy ORANGUS

Saitama, Super Arena,
March 12, 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

(WARNING: Explicit report. Orangus is widely known for his NON-politically correct reporting style -and lifestyle- Please DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ if you think this might affect your sensitivity)

EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS


Tokyo March 13 2010

Hi everybody! Yesterday AC/DC shook the foundations of Tokyo more than any earthquake that has ever hit the Japanese city before!

I went to the show with Junko Kawamura, one of the most famous opera singers in Japan (soprano). She is appreciated worldwide for her perfect rendering of the Mummy in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. That was her first rock concert in her life. She just loved The Jack and Let there be Rock.

Thanks to our experience in the AC/DC ticket business we managed to exchange our 2 seating tickets (on the side) with 2 floor tickets. I actually quite enjoyed negotiating with female scalpers outside the venue. Yes! FEMALE scalpers!! Japan is truly an advanced country!


The Japanese audience was incredibly warm, before, during and after the show. Maybe it doesn't look like they're going to an AC/DC concert but when the concert starts they know how to rock... Almost like "latin" crowds and definitely more than the Anglosaxons.


The setlist was completely changed, with lots of improvisation and jamming by the band. They even took requests from the audience after the third encore. Unfortunately several lighting guys, technicians and stagehands committed suicide, harakiri style. Others were hospitalised in local mental institutions due to the stress overload.


Orangus


PHOTOGALLERY BY VICE PRESIDENT ANDREA

Riff Raff

Live Wire

Downpayment Blues

The original setlist which was totally changed at the last minute

The Vice president with the Rock'n'roll nonno

Friday, March 12, 2010

PERTH CHRONICLES

Bon's grave in Fremantle

Project Australia by AC/DC Abruzzo has finally come to an end. The Project proved a TOTAL SUCCESS! We're finally back in our Sydney office ready to get reports from the Vice President Andrea and Orangus who are currently deployed in Japan, together with the Rock'n'Roll Nonno Alano, who has been with us before and after most of the gigs here in Australia. Project AC/DC ABRUZZO shall continue!

And now the last two reports from PERTH.

Perth, Subiaco Oval,
March 6, 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

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS

AC/DC ABRUZZO OFFICIAL REPORT


After Adelaide we finally got to Perth, the sunniest city in Australia! The day of the show it was pretty hot. Almost as hot as the third show in Sydney. If you guys were there you know what I mean. The stadium was close to the city centre again so no hassle like in Brisbane... We grabbed a couple of wood oven pizzas from a "mobile" italian pizzeria of some Italians from Bergamo outside the stadium and then got inside ready to rock.

This time we decided to stay on Malcolm's side again. In the standing section there was a typical Australian crowd, quite tame and everyone was standing pretty far from each other, even near the catwalk (alcohol + hot weather= flat crowd). For the first time we even saw a few children standing on their dad's shoulders in the standing section during the whole AC/DC show. Unthinkable in Europe. And the crowdsurfing attempts of Melbourne and Sydney were just a far memory...

We were pretty excited not only because the band was playing in Perth the final shows of this memorable tour but also because there had been rumours during the day about a soundcheck done by the band at the venue in the afternoon. This could mean a setlist change. The setlist change actually took place during the Wolfmother's show. They played Communication Breakdown...

Angus was in dark blue again. Brian was literally on fire! Jumping, screaming, running, talking to the crowd. We rarely saw Brian is such a good shape... It reminded us of the Barcelona gig in June when he even got off the stage during Highway to Hell (!!!) to shake hands with the fans... During The Jack, following AC/DC Abruzzo's concert routine, we asked a woman next to us to jump on our shoulders. This time it was a lady in her 50's. She bluntly told us in the ear before the chorus that she had drunk with Bon Scott when she was 15 (!!!). (Apparently in this area lots of people in their 50's or 60's have a story to tell about Bon and the old times... Walk in Perth or Fremantle with an AC/DC t-shirt and you're likely to be stopped by ladies in their 50's telling you that they had spent time drinking with Bon during their teenage...It happened to us several times!!!).

Anyway, the woman got on the big screen during the Jack together with the AC/DC Abruzzo flag and just a few seconds before the only boobflashing of the night... (Canadian boobs by the way LOL). The woman kept thanking us during the following song. Anyway, Brian kept his crazy rock'n'roll show. We actually thought he had taken one of those Hammersmith 2003 pills... We love Brian!

During YSMANL there were more women, including some grannies. No kidding guys!!! And one of them was even determined to flash!! Crazy stuff!! Only for Perth...

During Let there Be Rock we did our "bonfire" routine as a tribute to the fantastic performance of the band showing our flag. Brian came close on the catwalk and started waving at us and then saluted us, military style. We were really surprised! First time that it happened with such a emphasis during the tour. But it was nice and also very rewarding for us, especially after having talked to Brian in Sydney about Project AC/DC Abruzzo.

Obviously there was no second encore and no setlist change. But it was still a very special show anyway, one of the best of the entire tour....

Perth, Subiaco Oval,
March 8, 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

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS

AC/DC ABRUZZO OFFICIAL REPORT


Altro giro altra corsa. Final show in Australia. Maybe the last one of AC/DC's career. We managed to get in again despite the fact that the show was again a genuine sold out with scalpers selling tickets for hundreds of dollars. But in the last 18 months we survived to much more difficult sold out shows such as for example the Globen in Stockholm or the O2 in Dublin. We were trained well. We are sorry for our Spanish friends from Madrid (including legendary fan "El Rana" with whom we drank a few beers "to Bon" the previous day at the Fremantle cemetary). And also the other friends from Canada and Sydney. We learned after the show that unfortunately they didn't make it to the second show. We salute them.

Again we were on Malcolm's side. Angus was in green. And this time it was his night! What a show! Angus at his best! Malcolm as well was in great shape. It was like the boys wanted to prove they were the best in front of a special crowd, Perth. Great version of The Jack with lots of boobs flashing (but the best remains Sydney second night).

After the show we spotted Margaret Young and Bon's brothers, Graeme and Derek with their families. It was another great night of rock'n'roll. And in Perth you could actually feel the spirit of Bon more than elsewhere...

Outside the stadium we met Doug, the head of the Bon Scott fan club. Really a nice guy. We also met Jean Philippe, a French man who is in the same league as us of crazy globetrotting hard core fans with 40 shows under his belt... He was almost moved to tears while watching the trucks getting loaded with all the AC/DC containers...

That's all from Australia for the moment. See you in Japan!!!

The Secretary General with Rock'n'Roll Deity Angus Young in Perth

Monday, March 8, 2010

Photos from PERTH 2nd night

In the end they DID change the setlist! No, not AC/DC. It was Wolfmother, who played a special song for Perth: Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin!

But who really cares about the setlist? In the end we are for the Rock'n'Roll. And AC/DC proved again that they are the best rock'n'roll band in the world. So we are happy.

On Saturday, we had an amazing performance by Brian. Tonight it was Angus who stole the show. The other boys were just impeccable as usual. And Perth proved to be the perfect place to end this historic Australian tour. A magic place, especially because of Bon. And we are sure that Bon would be happy to see how AC/DC have managed to conquer the world and play the biggest stadiums in Australia in front of three generations of fans! This was definetely a memorable night for rock'n'roll...








Perth - Grand finale in a few hours!

So we couldn't get any confirmation about the soundcheck rumour so we guess a change in the setlist will not take place. Sorry, no time for the official report of the first night. We've been pretty busy with th
e Fremantle expedition yesterday and the flu symptoms we developed here in Perth... 11 shows in a row? I tell you folks, it's harder than it looks!

PERTH March 8, 2010 - SETLIST CHANGE - AC/DC ABRUZZO BETTING ODDS

NO CHANGE 4/5
It's a Long Way to the Top 25
Ride On 35
If You Want Blood 45
Gone Shootin' 50
Riff Raff 100
Rocker 100
Live Wire 100
Touch too Much 100
Other 20

Place your bet

Saturday, March 6, 2010

PHOTOS FROM PERTH - 1st night

No setlist change for tonigh either. But amazing performance of the boys, especially Brian. Here's some exclusive photos from the show!









SOUNDCHECK IN PERTH

According to our sources, the band and part of the crew went to the Stadium to do a soundcheck a couple of hours ago. This probably means a change in the setlist.

PERTH March 6, 2010 - SETLIST CHANGE - AC/DC ABRUZZO BETTING ODDS

NO CHANGE 3-2
It's a Long Way to the Top 15-1
Ride On 25-1
If You Want Blood 35-1
Gone Shootin 35-1
Riff Raff 50-1
Rocker 80-1
Live Wire 80-1
Touch too Much 100-1
Other 20-1

Place your bet