Watch AC/DC Wrap Up 2024 Tour With Explosive ‘For Those About to Rock’
Despite long odds, Angus Young managed to get AC/DC back on the road this summer for their first tour since 2016
Brian Johnson and Angus Young of AC/DC perform at Wembley Stadium in London in July. Jim Dyson/Getty Images
AC/DC wrapped up their 2024 Power Up tour Saturday night in front of 82,000 screaming fans at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. It was a typically bombastic show that concluded with the title track to their 1981 LP For Those About to Rock We Salute You. Check out fan-shot video of the grand finale.
Considering the calamity of death, misfortune, legal drama, and burnout the band has faced over the past few years, it’s a small miracle that the tour took place at all. At the end of their previous run in 2016, Angus Young was the last legit member of the group standing. Singer Brian Johnson left the tour early due to hearing problems, drummer Phil Rudd was MIA because of a rather messy legal situation in New Zealand, and bassist Cliff Williams simply had enough and announced plans to retire. (Stevie Young has been playing in the place of his late uncle, Malcolm Young, since 2014.)
Angus managed to reconvene the group for the recording of 2020’s Power Up, but the pandemic made touring impossible. They finally took the stage at Power Trip festival in 2023, but Rudd was absent for reasons they’ve never explained. Matt Laug of Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs took his place. “It’s his dream gig,” Campbell told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “He was in a band with Slash once and they opened for AC/DC. He always dreamed one day he could get the gig, and it came through. I’m so happy for him.”
Williams was willing to play the one-off of Power Trip, but he drew the line at a full tour. And so they recruited former Jane’s Addiction bass player Chris Chaney. He was in need of a gig since original Jane’s bassist Eric Avery recently returned to the band. “It’s no wonder they chose him because he’s so fuckin’ good,” Dave Navarro recently told Rolling Stone, “but it’s like comical in a sense that he’ll probably be up in his bedroom, in a hotel, on days off, playing Jaco Pastorius lines because he could do all that shit. Stanley Clarke, all those cats … Then he goes onstage and hits E-A-D over and over and over, all night. But it’s great. I’m so happy for him.”
The new lineup of AC/DC debuted May 17 at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Unsurprisingly, the show was heavy on vintage hits from both the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson era of the band (“Back in Black,” “Highway to Hell,” “You Shook Me All Night Long”), and light on songs from the newest album, but they did sprinkle in a few small surprises like “Stiff Upper Lip” and “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).” Johnson was able to hear himself sing due to a new in-ear monitor, though it occasionally malfunctioned and gave him grief. (He flubbed an entire verse of “Back in Black” in Seville, Spain, before technicians fixed an issue.)
It’s unclear where AC/DC goes from here. They haven’t toured North America since 2016, and could easily fill football stadiums, even though Angus and Johnson are the two remaining members from the Back in Black lineup. It might simply come down to how comfortable Johnson felt this past summer with his in-ear system. We’ll put our money on another tour happening though. This is a band with nine lives. They still have one or two left to spare.
From Rolling Stone US.
