How an AC/DC cover band briefly returned Melbourne to another time

AN AC/DC cover band, with a familiar guitar riff, returned Melbourne to an iconic moment in 1976, when the average weekly male income was $165.80. Beneath, the crowd vowed to reclaim “our” streets, writes Patrick Carlyon.

THE familiar guitar riff ripped from the flatbed truck just after 10.30 on Tuesday morning. B.J. Vernal, of AC/DC cover band Thunderstruck, launched into It’s a Long Way To The Top, then Highway To Hell, in song selections that were never meant to be subtle.

Beneath Vernal’s perch, flags fluttered in support of a dizzying array of interests.

Organisers spoke of 170,000 people at the Change The Rules rally; later, the people would cram city blocks from Flinders St to Collins St to hear about “the muppets” Matthew Guy, Scott Morrison and a long list of Coalition leaders who were said to stand in the way of fairness.

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The crowd would boo how the country was run by “millionaires for billionaires”. They would vow to reclaim “our” streets.

Amid the throng was Premier Dan Andrews, a first pillar in the union movement’s three point plan. Andrews was to win the state election, then the ALP was to win the federal election.

After that, the workers would “change the rules”. ACTU secretary Sally McManus spoke of another time of job security and a fair go.

AC/DC cover band Thunderstruck performs to thousands of people at the Change The Rules rally. Picture: AAP/Julian Smith

Amid the throng was Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: David Crosling

If the rhetoric was fiery — the morning opened with Nazi Germany comparisons by CFMEU heavyweight John Setka — the mood on the street was more measured. There were drums and chants but little aggro and no arrests.

B1 and B2 were there to save the ABC, not far from a wheelchair-bound man who was “proudly atheist”.

Farm workers who “feed you” mingled with gay rights activists. There were dogs, prams and gender equality activists under grey skies and scudding cigarette smoke.

Uniting them in song was Vernal. During Jailbreak, Andrews and Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari posed for a selfie. As the parade turned into Swanston St, Vernal and his band accepted McManus’ request and returned Melbourne, briefly, to another time — an iconic moment in 1976, when the average male income was $165.80 a week.

Premier Daniel Andrews gets a selfie with union leaders, including Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari (right). Picture: David Crosling

Union members rally in Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

In the same place, on a flatbed truck, AC/DC recorded the video clip for It’s a Long Way …, complete with bagpipes. Back then, as with Vernal’s cover version on Tuesday, passers-by stared and clapped.

Vernal lamented the absence of a piper on Tuesday, and pointed out the acoustic difficulties of performing on a moving vehicle.

He was nevertheless chuffed.

The band performed at an earlier rally this year, though not on Swanston St. Asked to play again, he had told organisers: “Bloody oath.”

“I was going to put on a union shirt,’ he explained on Tuesday, “but I thought I better show off the band.”

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