It didn’t take vocalist Brian Johnson long to lay out his ambitions for AC/DC’s headline show at Wembley Stadium. “We’re going to have some fun and play some rock ‘n’ roll,” he promised the sold-out crowd on Wednesday night. True to his word, the legendary band delivered a set of rock classics with a constant, smirking swagger.
The opening battle cry of If You Want Blood (You Got It) saw him unable to resist a little bit of air guitar, while the cartoonish Let There Be Rock closed out the main set with confetti and a 10-minute masterclass in guitar solos from Angus Young, who switched effortlessly between pantomime hero and guitar god as he worked the crowd.
The rock disco staple Back In Black was played within the first five minutes of the gig, while Young donned a pair of devil horns for the thundering Highway To Hell.
Backed by a wall of amplifiers, and videos of fire, lightning, and speeding cars, there was absolutely nothing subtle or tender about this AC/DC gig. Instead, the band embraced the extravagance of a stadium rock show, but understood it was meant to be a little silly as well.
The long-running joke is that AC/DC have made a career out of simply remaking the same album over and over, but the 21 song setlist pulled from across their back catalogue and each hammering anthem inspired something from the crowd.
Sure, the band never strayed far from the rock ‘n’ roll playbook – giddy guitar solos, singalong chorus and strutting confidence, with the occasional burst of fire for good measure – but created a visceral excitement throughout the night.
AC/DC’s Power Up tour is the band’s first since 2016’s Rock Or Bust shows, which ended with Johnson temporarily replaced by Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose due to “severe hearing loss”. Neither drummer Phil Rudd or bassist Cliff Williams have been part of this current run either, but 15 shows into the tour, AC/DC were clearly still in fine form.
Young played his part of flamboyant guitar hero perfectly, still wearing a school uniform after all these years, while Johnson was the ecstatic conductor and hype man. Their double act was backed up by a flawless showing from the rest of the band, with their thundering rock ‘n’ roll never anything less than epic.
Over the years, AC/DC’s music has moved through nostalgia to become timeless, and at Wembley the band comfortably performed to a crowd that spanned generations. The group has never tried to bend with the times either. Wednesday night was a chance for them to flex the sheer power their music still wields, which they did with a big ol’ grin.
