We thought they would stop in 2010. Then in 2015. And the same certainties in 2017. And then no: in 2024, AC/DC is still standing. The biggest Australian rock band will play tonight at the Hippodrome ParisLongchamp for its penultimate date – the 19th, out of 21 – before a finale in Dublin, on August 17. And if fans could be doubtful of their stage performances because of their advanced age (the youngest member of the quintet is still 69 years old), the gang has visibly demonstrated throughout this tour that it has lost none of its crazy energy.
“We’re very happy to see them back in this form,” confides Daniel Aujoulat, founder and owner of the group’s largest fan and archive website, Highway To AC/DC, who admits to having been afraid when the European tour was announced, due to the multiple changes in the group’s configuration and their age, which is increasingly difficult to handle on stage. But after seeing them on their London date, this expert on the group with over 200 million albums sold worldwide was impressed: “It’s very demanding music that requires crazy energy. And for them, it always does.”
A remarkable comeback
Always eagerly awaited by fans, AC/DC took their time to go back on tour. It still took three years after the release of their last album Power Up to see them hit the road again. Which didn’t stop tickets – more expensive than in the past, due to a more time-consuming tour for the band, thus increasing costs – from all flying away in a few days.
AC/DC has come a long way: between the death at the age of 64 of founding guitarist Malcolm Young in 2017 and Brian Johnson’s deafness problems in 2016, which forced him to give up the microphone in the middle of a tour (before undergoing surgery), leaving his place for a few dates to Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses, the war machine seemed definitively defeated by the years. At the time, fans were “mortified and very disappointed” by Brian Johnson’s abandonment, recalls Daniel Aujoulat, who today rejoices with “a happiness with a capital H, a crazy joy” to see the return of the one he affectionately calls “our Brian”. Of course, the old lion’s timbre is more fragile – Johnson is approaching 76 years old – but seeing him on stage is in itself an achievement.
A more sober concert, a historic setlist
The French, with whom AC/DC has always had a unique relationship, will have to expect a historic show tonight. And for good reason: the list of songs played on stage (or setlist for those in the know) is unlike any other before, drawing from the entire discography of the group, for whom the tour is above all an opportunity to celebrate 50 years of career. Fans will have the opportunity to rediscover both the group’s greatest classics, such as “Back in Black”, “Highway to Hell” or “Thunderstruck”, as well as some songs that have been taken out of the closet and are little known to the general public, such as “Riff Raff”, or “If You Want Blood”, which the Australians use as an introduction to their concert (historically, the group is known for starting them with the first song from their latest album).
Big surprise, the group also revises its way of playing certain songs like “High Voltage”, revisited “old school”, in the style of the 1970s. A more sober show than on their previous tours, but very beautiful, whose lights and video effects are “very worked, and recall the golden age of the group in the 1980s”, according to Daniel Anjoulat. Gone are the special effects, the inflatable dolls and the cardboard locomotives of previous tours. The concert is designed for the music, not to crush it.
The last session?
If AC/DC is still capable of creating surprises, like Angus Young who still gives off crazy energy – at 69, the guitarist is capable of rolling on the floor on stage without being ridiculous -, the group will be biologically obliged one day to stop touring. Could this be their last visit to the French capital? For Daniel Anjoulat, guitarist Angus Young would be able to continue alone until the end of his life (under the name AC/DC, without complexes), as he did in 2016 by inviting the members of Guns N’ Roses on the Rock or Bust World Tour during Brian Johnson’s stop.
Nothing has been made official yet. Many are imagining a continuation in North America, then in their native land of Australia. It is impossible to determine what will happen after this meticulous tour designed to protect the health of the band members – the artists have three days of rest between each date. But whatever happens, they are definitely here, voltage pushed to the max like on the first day (or almost!) and there is no doubt that, tonight at the Hippodrome de Longchamp, Angus’s band will give everything and much more. For their French fans, this concert – which must have been all the more complex to plan because of the Olympic Games – AC/DC will surely be the best antidepressant to combat Jostalgia. And that is already an achievement worthy of a hard rock gold medal.
