THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 8

FREMANTLE - Part 2

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THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 7

FREMANTLE - Part 1

The Pilgrimage of AC/DC Abruzzo to the grave of legendary Rocker Bon Scott

Whiskey on the rocks

Fremantle Cemetery March 7, 2010 - The President and Oscar "El Rana" after the 4th beer

EL RANA - Mateo, 40 years I waited to come here. 40 years... I wanna stay here now...
THE PRESIDENT- What do you mean Oscar?!? You wanna sleep here tonight?
EL RANA - No Mateo... I wanna stay here forever...

The Bon Scott Memorial

We had planned to go to Fremantle on March 7, after the first show in Perth. We had waited many years to visit the grave of Ronald Belford Scott, one of the greatest rock'n'roll legend ever existed. It was part of the promise we had made after the Hammersmith show in 2003. And finally the day had arrived. Being there on the year of the 30th anniversary of his death, after 10 AC/DC shows in a row in Australia was something really special and meaningful for us.

We arrive early in the afternoon. From the moment you spot the arch built only a couple of years ago you can tell the place has something magical.... A small small group of people are already inside, chatting and drinking, in a very respectful way. We stop in front of Bon's grave to pay our tribute to the Legend. We stay there for a few minutes observing the plaque and all the gifts that were brought from fans coming from all over the world. "Carry Me Home" is played by a small radio a few metres from us...

A big guy with curly hair waves at us. He wants us to join him. He recognizes our T-shirts from the 2003 Hammersmith show in London. He's got one too...

Hola. Me llamo Oscar. Pero todos me llaman "El Rana"... Oscar speaks only Spanish. He tells us about his bar in Madrid, about his huge bootleg collection, about the debts he made to come to Australia, about the memories from the legendary 2003 Hammersmith gig, about the fact that he doesn't have a ticket for the last show in Perth but decided to come anyway... You could clearly see in his eyes that spark that you find in all hardcore AC/DC fans when they talk about their passion... He keeps handing us bottles of beers in the meantime, which we all dedicate "TO BON"...


We stay there for almost 3 hours, sitting on the grass and sharing stories and meeting people who pass by... Families with children, people who live a few blocks away, miners from the outback and fans. Lots of fans... Each of them has a story or a reason for being there... For us it is the promise we made in London after the Hammersmith show, for John it is the promise he made to his mate who died a few weeks before. For Oscar it is simply the dream of a lifetime.

Oscar is right. You could feel there was something special, ephemeral, spiritual in the air...

After the 4 beers we are feeling a bit drunk but we have to go back to Fremantle to buy our pentacles in the Fremantle market before it closes... We say Ciao to all our friends and we get a lift from the guy of the Highway to Hell Tour, who just stopped by. We jump on his "rock'n'roll tram"and head for the market...

The Grave of Bon Scott on March 7, 2010

El Rana and his disciples from Spain

Another beer "to Bon"

THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 6

FOOD AND BEVERAGE DEBAUCHERY (OZ STYLE)

Pasta & Rock'n'Roll

We know that being on tour can be a Highway to Hell. Especially for Italians, who cannot settle easily for the mediocre food you find around the world... And it's really tough! Especially when you are away from Italy for months because you're on tour with AC/DC. Australia has been a real challenge for us. And it still is.


THE SECRETARY GENERAL (Italian cuisine and wine expert): I always manage to provide an effective solution to AC/DC Abruzzo food problems in every country we go. But I got to admit that here in Australia it's been pretty tough. I mean, here even to make a simple PASTA AL SUGO with some fresh basil becomes a challenge...

During the Australian tour we've been through all sort of food misadventures, especially when we didn't have a kitchen to cook our own pasta etc. We always try to book hostels or apartments with a semi-professional kitchen that can be used by guests, by here in Australia, with all these backpackers who survive with those disgusting $ 0.99 instant noodles, the quality standard is much lower than elsewhere. So we've seen all kinds of food aberrations, from fake Chinese Parmesan to totally tasteless mozzarella... Surprisingly, even the quality of the vegetables is lower than in Italy. We still can't figure out why, considering the sun they have here in Australia. It must be the distribution to big supermarket chains that mess everything up. Still, probably nobody cares here about taste and freshness of food (at least in the cities)... In the end we even saw people putting ketchup on spaghetti or eating "garlic bread" thinking it's BRUSCHETTA!

As for the wine, the situation is a bit better. But still very challenging. At least the Australians are developing a good taste so it is possible to find some good bottles of wine from Europe. But, as Brian told us in Perth, sometimes your dinner in a posh restaurant in Australia becomes a nightmare when you find out that they only have Australian wines on the wine list!! You ask the waiter and he will confirm that they have nothing from Italy or France! Unbelievable! Even for Brian Johnson!

Anyway the Australian wine production looks like it is improving comparing to a few years ago. But still you see things that will be unthinkable in Europe such as wine in 4-litre boxes. Yes! They sell wine in plastic bags put inside cardboard boxes. But we gotta admit that it's marketed so well that most backpackers who go shopping for wine will come out carrying a few BOXES of wine... We won't tell you what they do to filter wine (actually we will: EGGS, MILK and FISH!!! Read the small prints!).

As for wine bottles, forget about the cork! Here is the kingdom of the SCREW CAP! The future of "sustainable" wine making... But the biggest scandal we saw, as far as wine is concerned, a proper contradiction in terms, is the NON-ALCOHOLIC WINE. 3000 years of glorious history, from the Ancient Greece to Italian traditional wine making and aging techniques, destroyed by this oxymoron...

Fake arancini alla Bolognese (???) - Only 13.5$ each

The most famous OZ food specialty

Wine in box (don't read the small prints!)

The infamous non-alcoholic wine

The picky Secretary General with a disappointing OZ pizza

THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 5

The adventures of AC/DC Abruzzo in Sydney continue. It's not easy to describe properly the magic of this city, from the majestic beauty of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House to the perfect waves and hotties of Bondi Beach...

So we'll let our friend Brian Johnson, a true Rocker and Roller, always displaying "Abruzzese-style" attitude and charm, explain some of the landmarks of this fantastic city...

THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 4 - BEST BOOBS PARADE OF THE WORLD TOUR

"Tits out for the boys
Tits out for the boys"
TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIAN SONG

This post is intended to document a peculiar cultural phenomenon witnessed by AC/DC Abruzzo in Australia and it is to be used for research purposes only.

In the last 2 months we have received many emails from our fans and readers asking for more details and evidence about the "boobs flashing" we've been mentioning in our reports from Australia. Considering the founding principles of Project AC/DC Abruzzo, we couldn't say no.

So, without further ado, and with the blessing of our friend and mentor Brian "Get them out if you've got them" Johnson, the real promoter of this wonderful initiative in all Australian stadiums, AC/DC Abruzzo presents:

THE BEST BOOBS PARADE OF THE BLACK ICE TOUR
ANZ STADIUM - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 22 FEBRUARY 2010

photos from the AC/DC Abruzzo private archives

Yes! This was only in one night! We've got more in our archives but that's enough for the moment. Don't be greedy!

AC/DC Abruzzo would like to take this opportunity to thank the generous and compliant ladies of the third Sydney show, the video director for capturing so well the essence of The Jack and You Shook me All Night Long live on the maxi-screens and Brian for his very effective persuasive skills... We also salute the infinite power of Rock'n'Roll!

THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 3

Among the 11 exclusive videos we've published so far about AC/DC Abruzzo's Project Australia this was the most successful one with almost 20,000 hits in less than 2 months... We wonder why...

EARTHQUAKE IN ABRUZZO - 1 YEAR AGO

Today is the first anniversary of the terrible earthquake that devastated L'Aquila, the main city of Abruzzo. The earthquake hit at 3.32 am on April 6 2009 killing 308 people. Thousands were injured. The majority of the people lost everything.

We were in Spain at that moment and fortunately we didn't experience this terrible event directly. But those who followed our blog at that time remember that we were under shock for several days having friends or relatives affected directly by this catastrophe.

Today AC/DC Abruzzo participates in the official commemoration that takes place in L'Aquila and in the whole country of Italy. We are physically far away from Abruzzo but emotionally we feel very close. Our thoughts go out to the strong and gentle people of L'Aquila.

THE AUSTRALIAN CHRONICLES 2

The organization of the final European leg of the Black Ice World tour continues. After the unexpected addition of the two Spanish shows (which obviously can not be missed) AC/DC Abruzzo has been facing some extra organizational challenges.

Despite some unexpected problems with the Internet connections (Australian USB modems are the most unreliable and expensive of the Western Civilization) the Steering Committee has worked around the clock in the past few weeks. The aim was not only to book flights, trains, hotels etc but also to find the money to afford them! I told you folks... it's harder than it looks!

Yesterday AC/DC Abruzzo Vice President met with Marco from AC/DC Italia for a delicate diplomatic dinner in Abruzzo, to discuss the future plans of the joint venture. Obviously in front of a few dozens arROCKsticini, the most iconic and delicious food specialty from Abruzzo... Pretty unfair considering what we had to eat here in Australia for our our Easter lunch.

Orangus has disappeared again. Nobody knows where he is. He will probably show up again in Sofia...

The Vice President, the arrosticini and Marcom in Abruzzo

PHIL "HARDCORE ROCKSTAR" RUDD

We met Phil on a number of occasions during the Australian tour. We always applied the AC/DC Abruzzo strategical model and everything always worked just fine.

Kidding aside, Phil is a true rockstar, no doubt about it. And the more we meet him and talk to him (just a few words per time, obviously) and the more we are convinced about that he has a genuine, pure, mean, old school rock'n'roll soul.

He loves his cigarettes. He loves his drums. He loves women. He loves rock'n'roll. And, as we found out in Sydney, he just loves to play "HIGH VOLTAGE" live...

(After the second Sydney show)

The President: Hey Phil! Thank you for playing High Voltage. It was amazing tonight
Phil: Thanks... I actually quite enjoyed it myself.

:O

Watch the video from the show. 3 min 30 sec in you'll get Phil "Goldfish" Rudd at his best. HERE

With some Irish friends and a surfboard signed by Phil

Phil's drumsticks after the Perth show (from a friend's private collection)

KOSP ITALIAN SEDUCTION SCHOOL - ORANGUS

Orangus' style with women is definitely less sophisticated than the Kosp's and KK's and it tends to be more direct. He seduces women with his Italian charm and strong confidence and he doesn't apologize for it. Although KK and KOSP don't endorse this style of seduction, they recognize that it can be very powerful in certain situations. Sometimes women want to be seduced. But only by Alpha men. Being Alpha is the key to successful direct Game.

Orangus' direct game with women doesn't not include Pick Up lines (like the ones used in Can I sit Next to You for example) or techniques to spark attraction but it relies mainly on the so called "caveman" style mixed with Italian gentleman charm.

Orangus picking up his Japanese target