

So back in the ring for one final swing with AC/DC in London at Wembley Stadium…

I arrived in London late Friday night to thunder & lightning which seemed appropriate considering who I was here to see… But it washed away any faint hope of a late night BBQ!

Despite the heavy rain, I woke the next morning to a warm and sunny south west London day – perfect weather for a long tube journey… Got to the stadium for bang on 5pm just as gates were opening but it’s at this point I should probably mention the tickets that I had for the gig: one of my mates works for a company who have a box at Wembley and he’d managed to blag us tickets – making it a different experience to the previous gigs I’d been to on this tour – so far it’s been:

A European adventure to Paris by myself

Standing on the pitch at Hampden with my brother and some mates

Taking my two year old daughter to her first gig in Dublin

And now this – the full corporate box experience is one I’m likely never to do again but what a way to do it – Wembley Stadium, some good mates, AC/DC & a free bar!!

So the box was available from 5pm and I suspect they were quite surprised to find 4 lads rock up at 5:01pm ready for some pre-gig pints but totally worth it to just be there soaking in the atmosphere and fun to watch the stadium fill up.

Vintage Trouble hit the stage but I get the feeling there was some technical problems for them as the sound was very bad and there was no video feed except for a wide shot that made them look even further away… a shame as they’ve been brilliant at all the other shows I’ve been to!

Just time for a our sit down meal (another perk of being in a box) before the main event – I’d staked my claim for a front row, closest to the stage seat as soon as I’d arrived: not that I was planning on sitting for the show obviously…

So business as usual for AC⚡️DC – they hit the stage to Rock or Bust after the intro video but I felt it took them a couple of songs to click – Brian making a bit of a mess of Shoot to Thrill is my main evidence to support this but finally on Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be the band found their rhythm and it was all good from there: Brian was as animated as ever and Angus, wow: a literal live wire on that stage!!

It was the usual setlist with no changes – I might wish for set changes normally but when you’re there you can’t have any conplaints with the songs they play…. Well… Play Ball maybe: although it sounded good tonight or Baptism by Fire: I love it but the crowd seemed underwhelmed by it – I suspect there was a fair number of casual fans in the stadium.

The band hit the stage at 8:30 so after an hour in it was getting dark which is really the only way to see this show – looks good in daylight but looks fecking amazing in the dark… A real shame that most stadiums have a relatively early curfew!

Observations:

Brian messed up Shoot to Thrill pretty badly… FFS Johnno!

Angus in red tonight

Brian fiddled with his ear pieces again (a lot)

The ‘Malcolm Young’ call was back after being left out in Dublin

The crowd on the pitch looked insane: front to back having a ball

No crash barrier/ crowd control on the pitch which was a bit unusual?

Great sight lines in Wembley but sound was just ok where I was – better on the pitch maybe?

Highlights:

Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be, Thunderstruck, TNT, Sin City, Let There Be Rock, Highway to Hell, Whole Lotta Rosie

The view from the box of the whole crowd going bonkers to Thunderstruck

Seeing the Bobby Moore statue outside

Afterwards we hung around to watch the place empty out – incredible how quickly everyone can get out and how quickly the crew get stuck in to stripping down the stage: a well oiled machine all right!

And even the nightmare of a two and half hour journey home couldn’t dampen the buzz from another fantastic AC/DC show – knackered after going to three shows in a week – never mind PLAYING three shows in a week!!

So that’s my lot: seen em four times this year which was a brilliant experience – What the hell am I gonna do now…

ROLL ON 2016!!

My view of Whole Lotta Rosie













