AC/DC powers up a sold-out Ford Field with timeless electric energy and plenty of hits

USA Today

01-05-2025

AC/DC powers up a sold-out Ford Field with timeless electric energy and plenty of hits
There are few experiences in rock 'n' roll more dependable than an AC/DC concert, a show that for decades has proved as sturdy as a giant stack of Marshall amps.
And so it was Wednesday night at a sold-out Ford Field, where the iconic hard-rock band returned for the first time in a decade with a reliable arsenal of hits delivered with megawatt energy.
Detroit Lions head coach and avowed rocker Dan Campbell was among the fans on hand as AC/DC hit town for the sixth North American stop of its Power Up Tour. An official attendance figure wasn't released, but the crowd appeared to number about 45,000, based on similar concert configurations at the downtown stadium in the past.
The band's core of guitarist Angus Young and singer Brian Johnson may be in their 70s now, but close your eyes and this wasn't dramatically different from an AC/DC show you'd have witnessed years ago, even accounting for the lengthy between-song breaks to help the septuagenarians reboot.
Sure, Johnson's range has narrowed — he had to modify his approach Wednesday on songs such as 'Hell's Bells' and 'Shoot to Thrill' — and his voice was tucked a little more deeply into the mix. But his signature, sandpapered rasp was intact enough to stamp the performance as fully AC/DC — and who's demanding perfection anyway?
Young was a typical bundle of energy as he cast bolts of guitar lightning from nearly every square foot of the massive stage. At 70, now sporting a white shock of Doc Brown-esque hair, he still unashamedly heads to work in his trademark schoolboy outfit, this time with a rasta-colored cap and oversized tie that later got deployed as a guitar bow on 'Sin City.'
Out in the crowd, it was an impressively cross-generational affair, with entire families arriving outfitted in the light-up devil's horns that ultimately peppered the dark stadium with red. Detroit's hard-rock masses have made it a longtime AC/DC hotspot — the city is one of just 13 on this North American tour— with Wednesday's show coming nearly 48 years after the inaugural visit by the band on its long way to the top, just down the road at the Masonic Temple.
Aside from personnel shifts through the years, not much has changed in the fundamental, blue-collar approach of AC/DC, a band that pledges allegiance to rock 'n' roll history while reveling in the form's absurd charms. The slicing riffs still come thick and fast, the volume is still on overdrive, the imagery still raw, often crude and always electric.
Wednesday's production was big and thoroughly predictable in the best sense of that term, packed with the much-loved rituals that mark an AC/DC show, from the booming overhead clang on 'Hell's Bells' to the sweep of flames accompanying 'Highway to Hell' to the earsplitting cannons of show closer 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).'
The night's two new-ish numbers — the charging 'Demon Fire' and 'Shot in the Dark' — held their own in a set otherwise loaded with classics, starting with the late-'70s staple 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It),' which kicked off the 2-hour, 15-minute show.
'Back in Black,' 'Thunderstruck' and 'You Shook Me All Night Long' provided the sort of vigorous, familiar hooks that had even the stadium ushers bobbing their heads, while the wiry menace of songs such as 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' faithfully summoned the band's Bon Scott era.
This was AC/DC's first visit here since the Rock or Bust Tour, which included a 2015 Ford Field stop and a 2016 Palace of Auburn Hills show — with Axl Rose on vocals in place of Johnson, who was battling hearing loss.
After a series of experimental treatments, Johnson returned to the fold, and the band began work on the album that would become 2020's 'Power Up,' the group's 17th studio effort.
At 77, Johnson still cuts a roguish figure, all wide grins and twinkles-in-the-eye. On Wednesday, he sported a cut-off Harley-Davidson shirt and a brace on his lower right leg, presumably because of the twisted ankle he suffered onstage three weeks ago in Minneapolis.
A sweat-drenched Young was an equal center of attention up front. Following a crunching 'Whole Lotta Rosie,' the set gave way to 'Let There Be Rock' and its obligatory transformation into the 20-minute-plus Angus Young Show — a four-chord romp turned epic as the guitarist took over with multiple solos and eventually manned the stage alone, thrashing on his back as blasts of confetti rained over the crowd.
The band lineup was rounded out by rhythm guitarist Stevie Young (Angus' nephew) and recently enlisted American musicians Chris Chaney (bass) and Matt Laug (drums). They were part of a night that launched a 2025 Ford Field schedule with eight shows on the books — or what amounts to a Lions home season's worth of concerts.
AC/DC followed a strong 55-minute opening performance from the Pretty Reckless, led by actress-singer Taylor Momsen, who provided a compelling presence up front amid the band's extended jams and guitarist Ben Phillips' blistering solos, topped by the anthemic 2013 hit 'Heaven Knows.'
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or [e-mail].