WATCH: (AC/DC Review) A night of high voltage rock 'n' roll

There are certain sounds that instill a comforting sense of calm in people.

Personally, the sound of Honda VFR 800 vtec at full whack, the sound of Jean Alesi as he redlined the last of the Ferrari V12s and the sound of Gibson SG and Gretsch G6131 guitars pummeling out the soundscape of the band known as AC/DC make the world just seem like a better place.

The Aussie legends [yes the majority of the members were born in the UK] have long reached that upper echelon in the pantheon of rock. They dwell in that area reserved for a minority of acts whose names have become synonymous with the word ‘rock’; bands who have transcended the genre in which they’ve traditionally plied their trade and become veritable institutions.

On Saturday night, August 17, AC/DC rolled into Croke Park, Dublin, the iconic home of Irish sport normally reserved for ‘a whole lotta hurlin’, but on this night it served to highlight the enormous popularity of a band that’s been at the forefront of hard rock for 50 years.

Having been lucky enough to see the band a number of times over the years including when they headlined the Monsters of Rock festival in Donnington alongside Metallica, Motley Crue, the Black Crowes and Queensryche and in their home continent at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, I knew what to expect but that didn’t dampen the anticipation one bit.

At all times the band gave 100 per cent and so it was in Dublin. Yes, the band members are now a lot older than they were in their creative heyday but there are few people, at 69 years of age, who could still move around with the same vigor and enthusiasm as Angus Young. With his long grey hair, he was akin to Gandalf with a guitar but in many ways that was fitting because apart from co-writing some of the most iconic hard rock songs of all time he is still, indisputably one of the world’s greatest living guitar players and seeing him perform live is still magic.

The excitement in Croke Park was evident in the lead-up to the intro tape running and the opening riff of ‘If You Want Blood You Got It’ immediately invoked that warm feeling mentioned earlier. It was loud, it was heavy and it was glorious to once again hear this legendary band at full tilt.

The rhythm guitar duties are now taken care of by Angus and the late Malcolm Young’s nephew, Stevie, and he is meticulous in how he recreates all of those legendary rhythm patterns created by Malcolm; guitar patterns that are completely integral to the band’s sound. Angus might be the guitar God but it’s the overall sum of the parts that has always created the AC/DC sound.

For those unfamiliar, a wall of guitars is the best way to describe the band’s sound in a live setting and in that regard this night didn’t disappoint. The overall mix was excellent with the arguable exception of the vocals, which was unusual because normally the band’s live sound is impeccable.

Notwithstanding the fact that Brian Johnson is closer to 80 than 70, his vocals were slightly drowned out at times and there were times throughout the set when he appeared to have difficulty with his in-ear monitors. Regular gesturing to the monitor soundman offstage indicated that all was not right on the night.

However, that aside, Johnson displayed that inimitable, almost boyish enthusiasm for which he was always renowned throughout the entire set – and what a set it was.

Any band with a back catalogue as impressive as AC/DC will struggle to include everything that people want to hear but the fact the second song in was ‘Back in Black’ implied this was going to be a special night.

This was the last gig on the European tour to promote the band’s last album, ‘Power Up’, released in the middle of the pandemic.

From a personal point of view the third song in, ‘Demon Fire’ was not one of the standout songs on that album, however, in a live setting it took on a life of its own and proved to be a powerhouse number and a great addition to the set.

The set covered a broad, though not all-inclusive cross section of the band’s album output. ‘Shot Down In Flames’, from ‘Highway to Hell’, was like a steamroller before the entire stadium erupted for the opening riff of ‘Thunderstruck’, from ‘Razor’s Edge’ - the album that made AC/DC become mainstream.

If anyone is of the opinion that what AC/DC do is ‘easy’ they should try replicate the rhythm guitar pattern on this particular track. Malcolm Young was arguably very underrated as a guitar player and if ever a track exemplified just how good he was then this is it. Again, his rhythm patterns were executed perfectly by Stevie Young.

‘Have Drink On Me’, ‘Hells Bells’, ‘Shot in the Dark’ and ‘Stiff Upper Lip’ followed and they all packed an enormous punch with the crowd lapping it up.

The next song in the set was my all-time favourite AC/DC track. If all they played on repeat for two hours was ‘Shoot To Thrill’ I would have left happy. That opening riff from Angus never fails to disappoint and in a live setting that song is as heavy as you get and the more welcome for it.

The band’s sound was always based more on overdriving amps rather than ‘distortion’ as such, and while in more recent years the guitar sound has become a little more edgy and dirtier the sound still retains the essence of what made the made inimitable in the first place.

‘Sin City’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Train’, ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’, ‘High Voltage’, Riff Raff’, the list of songs was a veritable feast of heavy rock Heaven.

The chorus of ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ was incredible with the sound of around 85,000 people singing along. Another highlight of the night, it was fantastic to see such an enormous crowd thoroughly enjoying the very loud sound of one of rock’s greatest ever bands.

The final foray saw the band wheel out some very big guns [literally at the end] with ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, ‘Let There Be Rock’, ‘TNT’ and the usual grand finale of ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)’.

Visually the show was fantastic and it very fitting that a lot of the visual camera work displayed shots of Johnson and Young together as they are the long-standing members left in the band with Young, obviously being a co-founder. However, in the aforementioned Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and bassist, Chris Chaney, in place of Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams, respectively, the rhythm section was rock solid throughout. If this tour is to be AC/DC’s swan song on the live front then this was a hell of a way to say goodbye.

The ‘highway to Hell’ has been a long one but it’s been an extremely enjoyable trip. AC/DC, and all who rocked in you, we salute you.