THE ORANGUS DIARY - LIVE WIRE!

LIVE WIRE

Greensboro 27 August 2016 

It's a Miracle! I am crying... I can't believe it!!!!! If they waited 3 more days it would have been the best birthday gift ever. And they played it very well! Just after If You Want Blood, the best songs in the setlist. Maybe not their best concert ever, but surely one of their best live setlists. I can't wait to take my Gerundia to an AC/DC show. Today we booked her flight from Italy.

Thanks Kurt!

MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM AARHUS

 

Ceres Park, Aarhus, Denmark 12 June 2016 - TOUCH TOO MUCH

  Ceres Park, Aarhus, Denmark 12 June 2016

    Rock or Bust
    Shoot to Thrill
    Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
    Back in Black
    Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
    Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
    Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
    Thunderstruck
    High Voltage
    Rock 'n' Roll Train
    Hells Bells
    Given the Dog a Bone
    If You Want Blood (You've Got it)
    Touch Too Much
    Sin City
    You Shook Me All Night Long
    Shot Down in Flames
    Have a Drink on Me
    T.N.T.
    Whole Lotta Rosie
    Let There Be Rock

Encore

    Highway to Hell
    Riff Raff
    For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)




While Matteo Abruzzo and Orangus are on a 12-hour bus ride to Dusseldorf discussing the after show meet and greet with Axl, Stefano is at the airport with Christian from Argentina and Nonno Alan from the UK. We all agree Aarhus was one of the best concerts of the tour. Despite all the challenges and problems of the this Rock or Bust tour, we are still here for AC/DC. And AC/DC is still here for the fans.

AARHUS

We got to the Aarhus airport the day of the show, basically a few minutes before the band’s private jet arrived. We reached the stadium a 8.30pm and got inside at 9.10pm. The access to the stadium was a nightmare, probably the worst organization/venue of the entire tour (after Imola 2015). Once tickets were checked you would be stuck in line with drunk people to get inside the stadium through tiny gates. With the usual Scandinavian "landscape" of drunk people, street fights and people urinating and dropping beer everywhere.

The venue was pretty small but we liked it. It was a small stadium with a capacity of about 30,000 people. Nice and intimate. The FOS looked packed but in fact there were lots of people coming and going (to buy beers or to go to the toilet) so we were not too far from the stage.

The band played very well from Rock or Bust onwards. You could tell everybody was more inspired than usual. After the energetic performance of Manchester the band was showing they could do even better. The crowd was “sleepy” as expected from a Danish audience. During the intro video the silence in our section was surreal.

Shoot To Thrill and Hell a Bad Place To Be were played very well. Then Thunder and Dirty Deeds, Damnation and Thunderstruck. High Voltage, came out better than before but we still think it should be dropped from the setlist. Rock’n’Roll Train (or Party Train, as Axl likes to call it) sounded better than usual but should be dropped too. Hell’s Bells, Given the Dog a Bone (very powerful) and then If You Want Blood, the new pinnacle of the concert setlist.

And when Axl said they were playing a song for the second time ever, we understood it was “Touch Too Much!”, one of the songs we were waiting for (the other is Gimme a Bullet). After Prague they played it again, and this time, much better than the first time (confirmed by both Spurky and Orangus). What a gift for hard core fans like us| Impossible to describe our feelings while being there.

Then TNT, Whole Lotta Rosie, and a fantastic version of Let There Be Rock with Angus ON FIRE! For the anchors we got to hear again a killer version of Riff Raff.

Aarhus was probably the best performance of the band in Europe 2016. We have felt the crescendo in the last few concerts after London and Manchester.

AXL ROSE

Probably this was Axl’s best gig with AC/DC. Axl has been doing a great job, no doubt about it. His voice is still excellent and he is getting more and more into the character of the AC/DC front singer. Thank God the chair is gone, and soon the cast will be gone too. In Aarhus he danced and walked for the whole concert. He spoke a lot to the crowd in between the songs. To tell the truth we also got to witness a couple of typical “Axl moments” such as when something was thrown on stage before High Voltage and Axl said “Let’s not get fucking stupid here”. Well, we felt the tension there but in the end he didn’t react too much. At the end of the song there was also some remarks regarding the security because, apparently, if we got it right, took away something without his permission (Orangus says he was referring to his sunglasses which were stolen “as a souvenir”).

Anyway, despite these moments of tension, Axl always seemed to be very committed and focused. He kept making witty remarks and comments, from his “ex wife” (before YSMANL) and to his “future ex-wife” (Shot Down In Flame)...

See you in Dusseldorf for the Grand Finale of the European Rock or Bust Tour.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium, London, UK 4 June 2016 - REPORT

 Olympic Stadium, London, UK 4 June 2016 -

    Rock or Bust
    Shoot to Thrill
    Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
    Back in Black
    Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
    Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
    Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
    Thunderstruck
    High Voltage
    Rock 'n' Roll Train
    Hells Bells
    Given the Dog a Bone
    If You Want Blood (You've Got it)
    Sin CityOlympic
    You Shook Me All Night Long
    Shot Down in Flames
    Have a Drink on Me
    T.N.T.
    Whole Lotta Rosie
    Let There Be Rock

Encore

    Highway to Hell
    Riff Raff
    For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Very intense weekend for AC/DC Abruzzo in London with meet and greets with old friends from all over the world, from the pre-party at the Hard Rock Cafe to the "after party" in front of the band's hotel. It's always great to see familiar faces and friends with whom we shared lots of memories since 2001...

VENUE

Apparently, this was the first rock concert organized at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium. Well, we didn't like the venue too much, especially if compared to Wembley Stadium, which was one of the best venues (and shows) of last year tour. Like most Olympic stadiums it "stretches" too much towards the sides, so the atmosphere is not as good as for those "smaller" football stadiums like Stade de France. At least this was our impression. As for the sound, we were in the perfect spot, just in front of the catwalk, and it was excellent. Our friends on the seats said it was good there as well. The front of stage area, separated by barriers from the rest of the pitch (unlike last year) seemed to be much quieter than the area behind, which was a proper GA area. A lot of pogo and crowdsurfing. But Marseille remains the best crowd of the tour.

ANGUS

Very nice new suit for Angus, with a tie with the Union Jack colors. And another amazing performance of the "Absolute Leader" of AC/DC. We could feel the energetic crescendo towards the end, from TNT onwards. All praising words about Angus have become redundant. You just have to come and see him live before it's too late.

SETLIST 

The setlist was not changed. No Touch Too Much and no Gimme a Bullet. Maybe in Manchester, after 5 days of rest something might happen... If You Want Blood is just pure bliss for our ears. We thanked Angus in person for playing it again the night before the show. Same goes for Rock'n'Roll Damnation, and Riff Raff of course, which we heard during this leg for the first time and take the setlist to the next lebel. There was a technical issue with lights during the last songs. No spotlight, basically. Just like Zurich 2015, second night, but without the thunderstorm...

AXL

We met with the guys from AC/DC Italia and we had a word with a few "senior hard core fans" from the '70s near the soundboard (I think where Duff, Slash and Nicholas Cage saw the concert later on). Despite everything it was generally agreed that Axl has been doing a good job, as a professional rock guest vocalist. But for hard core fans like us, who saw so many AC/DC shows, it will be virtually impossible to accept him as a member of AC/DC, but the truth is that he is not a member of AC/DC and will never be. He is a "guest singer". 90% of concert goers don't care too much about him replacing Brian, anyway.

NABUCCO

Orangus was spotted in front the hotel of the band yesterday. Quite unusual as he is always too busy visiting museums and galleries (his usual habitat) during his "days off". He told us that he will attempt to attend the premiere of the NABUCCO at the Opera House in London with Placido Domingo. Quote: "A well performed Nabucco could be as good as an AC/DC concert".

See you in Manchester!

With Christian (and wife) from Argentina

Italian-Scottish friends

Finally some fine dining

LONDON 2016 - Meet and Greet with Orangus.... and Angus.

Orangus

We got to London yesterday and met both Orangus... and Angus.

Orangus seems to be in good shape, despite over 115 ACDC shows (over 60 only in this tour) and the hectic travelling, sleeping in hostels and eating at buffet restaurants all around the world. He lost the concert count, which is not a good sign. But his morale is high and he is already planning his trip to the USA for the gran finale of AC/DC. He is still talking about Kansas City, Brian's last show, proudly saying he was the only one among hard core fans who saw it. He seems to have accepted Axl Rose though. Touch Too Much was a gem, for "serial concert collectors" like him, but he still maintains that Prague was not exactly the best performance of the band, despite the setlist.

Angus was also very happy and with high morale. We quickly met him at night to thank him for playing "If You Want Blood" again in this leg of the tour after Hammersmith 2003 and of course we asked if they were playing more rare songs in London, in particular Touch Too Much and Gimme a Bullet, which was rehearsed but never played live. Angus responded: "I don't know, we will see"... with the usual "Angus Young criptic smile". Very courteous as usual, he shook our hands several times. We found him very relaxed, much more than at the beginning of the tour. We don't think there will be major surprises at the London show, but under the current circumstances, you never know...

With Angus (the night before the show)

AC/DC 20% DISCOUNT ON FANTOGRAPHY!

20% DISCOUNT ON FANTOGRAPHY! (Valid only for a limited time) AC/DC FANTOGRAPHY Photobook + Shipping

Photobook + S/H European Union €47,20 EUR Photobook + S/H Rest of Europe, USA & Canada €51,20 EUR Photobook + S/H Rest of World €55,20 EUR

CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON OUR PHOTOBOOKS

www.acdcphotobook.com

AC/DC Werchter, Belgium 16 May 2016 - THE ORANGUS' DIARIES

Untamed Orangus - 114 AC/DC Concerts and counting- Temperature in Werchter 7°C 

SETLIST

    Rock or Bust
    Shoot to Thrill
    Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
    Back in Black
    Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
    Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
    Rock 'n' Roll Damnation 
    Thunderstruck
    High Voltage
    Rock 'n' Roll Train
    Hells Bells
    Given the Dog a Bone 
    If You Want Blood (You've Got it)   
    Sin City
    You Shook Me All Night Long
    Shot Down in Flames
    Have a Drink on Me
    T.N.T.
    Whole Lotta Rosie
    Let There Be Rock 

Encore

    Highway to Hell
    Riff Raff 
    For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

From the Orangus' diaries - Werchter 16 May 2016

Werchter was my 114th AC/DC. Those fans who have met me know I haven't missed one show since Arnhem last year (except Australia, which is too far). I did all the European shows, North American shows, outdoor and indoor, and saw Brian's last show in Kansas City. I will do as many concerts as possible, probably all the remaining ones. Nobody can stop Orangus, not even Axl Rose.

"If You Want Blood" was the perfect treat in Marseille and I couldn't wait to hear it again in Werchter. I was in Hammersmith in 2003 and had been waiting for this song since then. After the show in Marseille I had a smile on my face for many hours. People must have though I was completely crazy, which is probably true anyway.

The band played very well in Werchter. Probably Marseille was better until Let There Be Rock then, Belgium was better than France. The audience was calmer than France.

After Axl joined the only place I can really enjoy the show is in front of the catwalk. This was there is no chance I can see the stage and him. I can still enjoy the mighty sound of AC/DC and see Angus when he comes forward on the catwalk. I can jump as much as I want there as that spot is almost empty. Let there be (AC/DC) sound!

MESSAGE FROM OVERDOSE FANZINE

As you may well know, AC/DC are one of the most down to earth bands around. Despite their phenomenal success, they’ve never let it go to their heads and maintain a great relationship with their fans. To celebrate over 40 years of rock'n'roll a group of fans from all over the world have gathered together to create the first international AC/DC fanzine: Overdose.

Overdose offers readers exclusive interviews, eye-witness accounts and never before heard snippets and stories from the band’s eventful four decades on the road. 

Here's a sneak peek of the content in the second issue, released on May 20th:

BLAST FROM THE PAST – Photographer Hans Hatwig tells a story about a milkshaking drinking schoolboy

ROCK OR BUST-  Our good friend Arwel Owen gives his story from the first musicvideo recording since Malcolms retir

BREAKING BALLS IN NEW YORK CITY – Ballbreaker album would be the first album since drummer Phil Rudd's comeback to the band. But the recording session wouldn't be as easy as planned..

TOM BOMBO – Discover Tom Bombo and his adventures in our AC/DC comic!

.... and much more.

Get your copy today at www.overdose-fanzine.com

AC/DC STADE VELODROME, Marseille, France 13 May 2016 - PHOTO REPORT

Still thankful to Angus for playing IF YOU WANT BLOOD YOU'VE GOT IT here's a few photos from this great night in Marseille!

More photos on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/matteo.abruzzo