After a decade away, AC/DC plots a hard-rocking return Down Under

Its past two Australian tours sold one million tickets in total, and the passage of time has not diminished demand for what the promoter describes as ‘the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band’.

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The nation’s greatest musical export will in November return to Australia for its first tour in a decade, as AC/DC on Monday will announce five stadium-sized shows across the country.

Formed in Sydney in 1973 by the Young brothers, Malcolm and Angus, AC/DC has spent much of its 52 years emblazoned on pop culture thanks to its relentless, uncompromising hard rock attack. Its music is as omnipresent as oxygen and as dependable as the tides.

It’s also reliably big business at the box office: its past two tours here shifted about one million tickets in total, with 2010’s Black Ice selling 520,000 tickets in its first three hours on sale.

The passage of time has not diminished fan demand for what tour promoter TEG Van Egmond describes as “the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band”, either. “They geared up last year and put their European dates on sale, and they sold 1.7 million tickets in the first day,” said tour promoter Christo Van Egmond with a laugh.

“I’ve seen two of the shows over in Munich last year, at the Olympic Stadium, and the band are absolutely on fire. The show is unbelievable; they’re all just in peak form.”

After a seven-year break between shows – thanks in part to the pandemic, during which the band released its chart-topping 17th album, Power Up, in 2020 – AC/DC returned to the stage in October 2023 to play at US music festival Power Trip.

The success of that one-off gig set in train plans for a long overdue world tour, which has included 10 recent sold-out North American shows and will take in a further 15 gigs across Europe before it visits Australia.

AC/DC’s five-city tour will begin in Melbourne on Nov­ember 12, before moving on to Sydney (November 21), Adelaide (November 30), Perth (December 4) and Brisbane (December 14).

The South Australian date includes a headline performance at the Adelaide Grand Final – the renamed Adelaide 500 V8 Supercars event – and it’s notable the band is electing to play in five capital cities, thereby shunning the modern trend for some stadium acts to book only Sydney and Melbourne gigs.

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“They’re not doing an east coast run, where the economics probably were more attractive, if you look for them,” said Van Egmond. “But they want to play Perth, they want to play Adelaide, they want to play all the markets; it goes back to them being fan-­focused over finance.”

That may sound like a smooth salesman’s line from the tour promoter, yet all five concerts will be on sale from Thursday, with no pre-sales, dynamic pricing or VIP offerings to be seen; instead, the bulk of tickets will be priced at $199 each.

“It’s a big show: it’s fun, it’s cheeky, and it’s backed up by this catalogue of incredible music,” said Van Egmond. “It’s a major concert experience, and I think it’s an absolute rite of passage for all Aussies to go to it.”

Brian Johnson has has resumed ownership of the microphone. Picture: Getty Images

Since 2023, longtime vocalist Brian Johnson has resumed ownership of the microphone, having regretfully stepped out mid-tour in 2016 due to serious issues with his hearing.

Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose stepped up for the remaining 22 shows, but as the band’s longest-serving singer – from its seventh album Back in Black onwards – Johnson is the man that most people associate with its distinctive, hard-edged sound, following Bon Scott’s death in 1980. With his hearing issues resolved, back out front is where he belongs.

Its 2015 Rock or Bust tour marked the first time that the good ship AC/DC had set sail without founding member Malcolm Young, who barely made it through the 2010 run after early onset dementia symptoms emerged. He died in 2017, aged 64.

Alongside Johnson and Angus Young, the quintet’s line-up on this tour is completed by Stevie Young (guitar), Chris Chaney (bass) and Matt Laug (drums).

Supporting AC/DC on all dates will be ARIA Award-­winning Melbourne band Amyl and the Sniffers, which in April earned an APRA Music Award for peer-voted song of the year for U Should Not Be Doing That, a smart, sharp ode to ignoring critical voices.

“They’re the biggest punk-rock act Australia’s got,” said Van Egmond of Amyl and co. “They’re blowing up everywhere overseas. They’re also a really fun band, and we thought they were a great match for [AC/DC]; it’s great that they’re supporting a really fast-emerging and hugely successful Australian band.”