AC/DC can still hit the big notes
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There were indications this many decades down the road that AC/DC was slowing down, but only indications. Angus Young's prismatic opening riff of 'Thunderstruck' was a hair sluggish – the song picked up noticeably after the pause announcing the arrival of the song's title – and the guitarist's madman stage moves were doled out in smaller, discrete chunks. And Johnson was largely garbled and incomprehensible, both during the songs and between them.
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And it didn't matter. The singer was audible enough to fill his role and the guitarist was impish enough to still throw off sparks. The sound itself was resilient enough for 'Back In Black' to hit like a hammer, 'Whole Lotta Rosie' to swing like a wrecking ball and the guitars themselves to sound rude in the gleefully self-deprecating 'Shot Down In Flames.' Even the newest songs, 2020's 'Demon Fire' and 'Shot In The Dark,' did exactly what AC/DC songs need to do.
And Angus Young still played with fire. 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' was mean and nasty (in both senses of the term), and the rangy whirlwind lead of 'Riff Raff' was a good match with the headlong propulsion of the rhythm. And 'Let There Be Rock' ended the set with a 25-minute showcase for the guitarist, who burned as the band played a one-note riff behind him before bouncing short chord bursts off the back of the stadium and launching into an extended solo above the drums. The rest of the band came back for an explosive 'T.N.T.,' followed by 'For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).' That's when the cannons came out.
AC/DC
With The Pretty Reckless
At: Gillette Stadium, Sunday
Marc Hirsh can be reached at officialmarc@gmail.com or on Bluesky @spacecitymarc.bsky.social
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