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

[Alex Smith]

Speaking of AC/DC.....

http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2008/12/dirty-deeds-indeed.html

Alex in NYC



-----Original Message-----

>From: Karen Weil <karen.weil at sddt.com>

>Sent: Dec 10, 2008 3:05 PM

>To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" <gathering at misera.net>

>Subject: Re: [kj] (OT) AC/DC Last Night in LA

>

>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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