One thing about AC/DC has remained true through the ages:
As long as Angus Young is in the fold then this Aussie hard-rock act will be worth seeing in concert.
And that was certainly once again the case as AC/DC — one of the top-selling musical acts of all time — brought its Power Up (stylized as PWR/UP) Tour to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Wednesday (Aug. 5).
The two-hour-plus show, consisting of 21 songs from a catalog that is estimated to have sold in the neighborhood of 200 million albums worldwide, featured numerous highlights — almost all of which came courtesy of the 71-year-old Young. And, yes, he still performs in his standard velvet school-boy outfit — complete with with short pants, hat with “A” for Angus on it, and yellow-and-red striped tie — and he is still nothing short of a marvel on lead guitar.
The rest of the quintet was solid enough. That number includes longtime AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, who has returned to the band after a lengthy hiatus related to hearing loss. Also, the rhythm section of drummer Matt Laug, bassist Chris Chaney and rhythm guitarist Steve Young — no, not the 49er legend (although that would be mighty cool, especially given that we were in the home of the Niners on this night), but rather the nephew of brothers Angus and Malcolm Young (who died in 2017). The younger Young has actually been in the touring band for over a decade now and his playing style meshes well with that of Uncle Angus.
Johnson, 78, did a decent job mumbling his way through the lyrics in his typical blues-rock fashion, still able to push his worn, seemingly always-hoarse natural baritone towards tenor/soprano limits in a way that seems to shout: “I’ve been up for days and I’m on my last carton of Camels.”
In other words, it’s very rock ‘n’ roll.
Yet, Johnson — who joined the band after legendary vocalist Bon Scott died in 1980 and found immediate and overwhelming success with the release of “Back in Black” — and everyone else in the band definitely take the backseat to Young in concert. Indeed, sometimes the distance feels even further back than just that — like the guitar maestro’s supporting players might as well be backstage.
Taking the massive stage after an opening set by hard-rock act The Pretty Reckless, led by vocalist Taylor Momsen (who many remember best for her work on CW’s delightfully over-the-top teen drama “Gossip Girl”), AC/DC got right down to business with a powerhouse version of “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).”
The 40,000-plus fans in the packed stadium were on their feet, pumping their fists and chanting along to the music, thrilled to see these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers back in Northern California for the first time since a 2015 date at Oracle Park (then known as AT&T Park) in San Francisco. Eleven years is a long time to go between Bay Area gigs, but AC/DC made it clear from the start that its mission has not changed over the years.
“We are going to do the same thing we did last time,” Johnson told the crowd. “We are going to make some rock ‘n’ roll. We are going to have some fun. And we are going to party. So, let’s go!”
And away they went, blistering through the title track to 1980’s “Back in Black” — which, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide, stands as the top-selling rock album of all time — and following up with “Demon Fire” (from the band’s latest record and tour namesake, 1980’s “Power Up”). The fan favorites just kept coming — “Shot Down in Flames,” “Thunderstruck,” “Have a Drink on Me,” etc. — as the band drew material from 10 of its 17 studio albums.
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All of the Bon Scott triumphs, starting with the first release of “High Voltage” in 1975 and then moving to the U.S. breakthrough effort “Highway to Hell” in 1979, were represented in the setlist — and, really, provided most of the evening’s best moments. And, not surprisingly, the blockbuster “Back in Black” received the most airtime — with nearly a quarter of the evening’s selections hailing from that landmark offering.
AC/DC can be unflinchingly one-dimensional, specially when we’re talking about the Johnson era, relying on the exact same blues-rock dynamics and time-honored song structures ad nauseum. That wears on you after, say, 10-12 songs, and you begin to wish for something — some cool visuals, special effects, whatever — to spice things up and keep you interested.
Unfortunately, the group offered amazingly little of that over the course of the night, minimizing the bells and whistles during what could be properly dubbed a fairly boring stage show overall. There was an occasional pyrotechnics effect, and an all-too-obvious prop (like a big Hell’s Bell lowered during, well, you can probably guess) — but certainly not enough to keep one visually invested. The large overhead screens were used mainly to highlight Young and, to a much smaller extent, Johnson — rarely even showing the other three musicians (who were huddled way in the back of the stage).
So, again, it came down to Angus Young. If he’s the reason you were in attendance — which probably is true for, say, 99.99999 percent of the crowd (excluding the one person who came primarily to see “Jenny Humphrey” from “Gossip Girl”) — then you likely would’ve enjoyed the show.
And, if so, you really would’ve dug the epic version of “Let There Be Rock” that closed the main set. As per usual, that song — which is the title track to band’s fourth album from 1977 — served as a massive platform for Young’s guitar work. It’s the kind of showcase that most guitarists never get, and most rock fans won’t see anywhere else, as Young just keeps right on soloing and soloing.
And when you think he’s done soloing, well, you’re wrong. Because he just keeps on going. In Santa Clara, this segment was nothing short of a marathon — stretching approximately 20 minutes, to the point where some people probably forgot what song he was even playing. It didn’t matter anyway, because it was all about Angus — pretty much like the rest of the concert — as he duckwalked, wriggled around on the floor, backstepped, boogied and worked the crowd to near exhaustion.
The solo finally came to its conclusion, as the rest of the band re-entered the picture to help put “Let There Be Rock” and the main set to bed. But AC/DC wasn’t quite finished yet, returning for an explosive two-song encore of “T.N.T.” and “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” to close out the night.
AC/DC Setlist:
1) “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”
2) “Back in Black”
3) “Demon Fire”
4) “Shot Down in Flames”
5) “Thunderstruck”
6) “Have a Drink on Me”
7) “Hells Bells”
8) “Shot in the Dark”
9) “Stiff Upper Lip”
10) “Highway to Hell”
11) “Shoot to Thrill”
12) “Sin City”
13) “Jailbreak”
14) “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
15) “High Voltage”
16) “Riff Raff”
17) “You Shook Me All Night Long”
18) “Whole Lotta Rosie”
19) “Let There Be Rock”
Encore:
20) “T.N.T.”
21) “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”
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