[kj] (OT) AC/DC Last Night in LA

[Karen Weil]

Nice, summary, TB. Spoken like a true fan! : )

k.w.
SoCal
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TB" <partyslammer at socal.rr.com>
To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" 
<gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 9:23 AM
Subject: [kj] (OT) AC/DC Last Night in LA



> Caught AC/DC last night in Los Angeles at the Forum arena.  It's been a 

> long time since I've been to a show that wrecked my hearing like this one 

> did.

>

> I had the "paperless ticket" entry which is something I suppose 

> Ticketmaster came up with to prevent people from scalping the best seats 

> in the house. Basically, you buy your seat(s) online at TM, they give you 

> a confirmation code but you never get a physical ticket, not even a PDF 

> file ticket so in theory you have nothing to sell, especially the day of 

> the show if you're a scalper unless you're going in with the person(s) you 

> sold your tickets to.

>

> I originally got a pair of 21st row seats right next to the end stage in 

> the center of the floor and when a friend bailed a couple days after I 

> bought them, I was able to sell my extra on eBay for a few hundred bucks, 

> thus paying for both my tickets.  The buyer met me at the Forum at a 

> predetermined time and location and what I had to do was present the 

> credit card I bought the tickets with at the door, the security dude scans 

> my CC with a handheld ticket printer which spit out a little receipt for 

> each ticket that looked like it came from 7/11 that had the seat number 

> and in we went.  Congratulations, TM - nice try.  No problem for me but 

> the couple behind didn't have the right credit card they bought their 

> tickets with. I dunno what happened with them but they were freaking out.

>

> After a few drinks we caught some of the opening band's set.  "The Answer" 

> was kind of like a more boring, anonymous version of The Darkness.  Some 

> solid tunes but nothing revolutionary or memorable.

>

> AC/DC came on right about 9pm on the money and man, they were fucking 

> loud. Not only loud, but really crisp and clear, especially Angus' guitar 

> which could have cut through a nuclear blast.  Although singer Brian 

> Johnson was a bit buried in the mix, he sounded very strong for the entire 

> show and overall, I'd say the sound was among the cleanest, sharpest hard 

> rock shows in an arena (especially the notoriously shitty sounding Forum) 

> I've heard in years.  Angus Young (and his brother Malcom) have one of the 

> purest rock n' roll guitar tones especially live of anyone you'd see and 

> hear.  the live album "If You Want Blood" is one of the best sounding live 

> records imo, and last night's show has that same direct, clean live sound.

>

> Following a short CG animated cartoon introduction video on a set of big 

> clear video screens, they opened with "Rock and Roll Train" off the new 

> album followed by what I'd call the only semi deep classic cut of the 

> night, "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be."

>

> Of course, as per any AC/DC show, you get the big hits, meaning the four 

> main cuts from "Back in Black," as well as the usual suspects from the Bon 

> Scott era.  What breaks the current set up is the inclusion of 5 tracks 

> spread throughout the main set from the new "Black Ice" album.  Of those 

> tracks, I'd say "Anything Goes" came off the best.  The title track, Black 

> Ice is a beer run song.  Interestingly, aside from "For Those About To 

> Rock" and "Thunderstruck," there were no songs in the set from any Brian 

> Johnson album after "Back in Black" up to the new album which is basically 

> a 20+ year chunk of their career ignored.

>

> The band are physically really showing their age.  Angus looks pretty 

> creepy these days and someone should tell him it's just fuckin' weird for 

> a guy who looks like a trollish, balding grandpa to be doing a 

> semi-striptease in the middle of "The Jack."  Still aside from struggling 

> a bit with the intro to Thunderstruck, he still has all his chops even if 

> he has slowed down a tad as far as running around the stage from the old 

> days.  But from a musical standpoint, the band as a whole sounded every 

> bit as sharp and solid as they ever have.

>

> If I had one complaint, the Forum crowd wasn't really that loud, kinda 

> tame overall.  Pretty wide mix of ages, a lot of people my age or even 

> older for whom this was and will be their only rock concert in the past 

> few years but a lot of 20-somethings and younger kids as well.  Pretty 

> much the same kinda crowd as the Van Halen show I caught last year.  At 

> least the drunken asshole factor was non-existant.

>

> Overall, a really solid, kinda predictable (if you know anything at all 

> about AC/DC's history) but highly enjoyable nearly 2 hour show right down 

> to the silly giant inflatable "Rosie" which gyrated on the huge train 

> backdrop during "Whole Lotta Rosie."

>

> T.B.

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