Jumping Jack
Rocks Off Regular
Offline
Rocks Off Rules You Bastards
Posts: 303
Atlanta
Gender: 
|
"Back in Black" took on renewed resonance Monday night as AC/DC blasted through it just three songs into its visit to the Wachovia Center, on its first world tour in seven years. Playing a rapid-fire clip of classics as well as several cuts off the new Black Ice, the reinvigorated, Australian-born band provided a deafening level of rock power, belying the fact that most of its members are now in their 50s.
Barrel-chested singer Brian Johnson, 61, and blistering lead guitarist Angus Young brought bruising force to their by-now-familiar routine. Young arrived in his mischief-making schoolboy uniform - with a hat and tie, and pale, skinny legs sprouting from his short pants - leaving Johnson a more robust, steadfast presence by comparison.
If Johnson could no longer ascend to the upper register demanded by certain songs, his gruff roar and rabble-rousing wail were otherwise unfazed by time. The band's other three members - including Angus' brother, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young - also performed powerfully, if somewhat in the background.
Pyrotechnics and large-scale props accompanied AC/DC's monster-truck riffs and thundering choruses, whether it was the inflatable title character of "Whole Lotta Rosie" or a remarkably realistic locomotive for the set opener "Rock 'N' Roll Train," the first single from Black Ice.
A capacity crowd raged along with such generation-uniting anthems as "Hell's Bells," "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Thunderstruck," and the encore-capping "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," complete with smoking cannons. Famously dense with innuendo, the enduring "You Shook Me All Night Long" felt a little limp this time, especially next to the chest-pounding swagger of "TNT."
Still, the band members proved first and foremost to be entertainers. Sweaty and well-muscled in a black shirt with cut-off sleeves, Johnson strutted confidently across the stage and down a catwalk leading through the floor seats, preaching to and clasping the hands of the congregation.
Young, meanwhile, stripped lasciviously down to his shorts, shoes, and socks during the finale of "The Jack," briefly revealing boxer shorts with the AC/DC logo emblazoned on the backside. He later spun on the floor of a raised platform while plundering his fretboard to extend his show-stealing role in "Let There Be Rock."
Black Ice may be AC/DC's first album since 2000, but despite debuting just a month ago and being available only at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and the band's Web site, it's poised to be the year's best-selling rock album.
Likewise, this massive six-month world tour has been a long time coming and proved worth the wait. If anyone can shake rock music out of its identity crisis and reclaim its roots, it's AC/DC.
|
Pages: 
AC/DC ON TOUR!!! (Read 11,316 times)
