Who would have thought that the band with a guitarist in a schoolboy’s uniform would be the one most profoundly affected by ageing? With their entire rhythm section now lost to death (Malcolm Young), retirement (Cliff Williams) and being a carer (Phil Rudd), AC/DC is now down to two core members. Angus Young still wears his blue velvet uniform, but beneath the cap, his hair is now pure white. Brian Johnson, having been out and then back in the band with his own health issues, simply appears delighted to be there.
Johnson is now 76, and there’s no point claiming his voice is what it once was. Even in 1980, on Back in Black, he sounded at the very top of his register (or, indeed, somewhere around the highest notes attainable by humans), and those songs cause him the most trouble tonight – he sometimes seems barely there, dropping octaves mid-line, struggling for power. No one minds: everyone in the stadium seems as happy as Johnson that he’s back in the band.
