AC/DC Brisbane: Rock dinosaurs power up for age-defying show

Five decades on, the question on AC/DC fans’ lips is whether the rock veterans can still cut it after all these years. We hit their opening Brisbane show to find out.

Brian Johnson out front of AC/DC at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Annette Dew

The trouble with waiting your whole life to see a band of AC/DC’s stature is you miss seeing them in their prime — or, in the case of dearly departed founding members, seeing them altogether.

The good news is, aside from the exceedingly rare glitch, they appear to still have it, as evidenced by the first of the two Brisbane shows on their PWR⚡️UP world tour, at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday night.

And the biggest fan in the house may well have been Amy Taylor of support act Amyl and the Sniffers, who couldn’t quite believe she had the honour of opening for rock royalty, leading the audience in a call-and-response: “AC...” “DC!!”

With fellow support band HEADSEND they got punters in the mood with retro punk and grunge respectively, with Taylor forgetting to preface NSFW song Jerkin’ with a language warning.

“But this is Queensland, so that’s OK.”

As the sun sank in the west, the stifling summer heat gave way to a cooling breeze and the main event neared, thousands of flashing devil’s horns illuminated the capacity crowd.

While the snarling Taylor was a modern-day Chrissy Amphlett, it was Angus Young who brought the schoolkid shtick, and didn’t look as ridic as one might expect for a septuanarian in his fetching burgundy velour uniform.

His legs still look more than respectable, and he performed more duckwalks than a man his age has any business doing.

Aside from the obligatory monolithic high-definition screens alternating between stunning animations and warts-and-all close-ups of the band members, the stage setup was rather spartan. But when you’re AC/DC, all you really need is a great wall of Marshall amps.

And five decades on it’s still astonishing how much they can do with a handful of simple chords, which reverberate to your core, particularly in the closing crescendo of each song.

Brian Johnson and Angus Young at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Annette Dew

At their age they could be forgiven for regrouping for several moments between songs, and for occasionally taking a while to click into gear, such as in the slower-than-expected intro to signature megahit Thunderstruck.

And some of the higher-tempo lyrics did test the vocal limits of frontman Brian Johnson, notably Back in Black and You Shook Me All Night Long (in which he substituted “Australian” thighs)

But once they hit their straps the decades melted away, and they belted out bangers like men half their age.

Rounding out the current line-up were rhythm guitarist Steve Young, bassist Chris Chaney and drummer Matt Laug.

The nucleus of AC/DC may have hailed from Scotland, and the band may have long since left our shores, but we’ll always claim them as our own.

And Johnson confirmed as much, remarking in the middle of High Voltage: “This is Australian rock ’n’ roll. This came from Van Dieman’s Land 50 f---ing years ago and spread all over the world.”

It was one of the few times he addressed the crowd, preferring to let the music do the talking and merely hoot his approval between songs.

And like a gesticulating grandpa he flailed around with triumphant fist pumps and gyrations Peter Garrett would be proud of.

For his part, Young had the audience in the palm of his hand, often playfully cocking his ear to check they were still with him (they were).

He donned devil’s horns of his own for Highway to Hell, which he’d lost by the end, forcing him to substitute his own fingers.

And the extended solo for Let There Be Rock seemed to go on for half an hour, starting on the walkway with levitating platform and confetti explosions, and ending high above the rear of the stage as individual guitar notes rang out and Young was drenched in sweat.

Brian Johnson at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Annette Dew

Unlike fellow rock dinosaurs Metallica, who played this venue a month ago, they didn’t save their biggest hit for last: Thunderstruck was front-loaded in the setlist, leaving room for them to roll out a literal nine-gun salute for traditional closer For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).

AC/DC play Suncorp Stadium again on Thursday night.

Setlist: If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It), Back in Black, Demon Fire, Shot Down in Flames, Thunderstruck, Have a Drink on Me, Hell’s Bells, Shot in the Dark, Stiff Upper Lip, Highway to Hell, Shoot to Thrill, Sin City, Jailbreak, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, High Voltage, Riff Raff, You Shook Me All Night Long, Whole Lotta Rosie, Let There Be Rock. Encore: TNT, For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Angus Young at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Annette Dew