AC/DC in Winnipeg Review - By Michael Walkey

AC/DC Concert Review
Stiff Upper Lip World Tour
Saturday, April 28, 2001
Winnipeg Arena
Attendance: 13,000 (sold out)

There's two ways to review an AC/DC concert: from the perspective of someone who has never been to an AC/DC concert, and from the perspective of someone who has. I, myself, have never been to an AC/DC concert so I was overwhelmed by the high-energy and grand spectacle of the whole thing. You haven't really been to a rock concert until you've experienced the mass hysteria of 13,000 screaming metal-heads shaking their fists and bobbing their heads to the tune of Highway to Hell. The middle aged Aussie rockers sure know how to put on a good show. They also know not to mess with a winning formula. This is the one problem that some fans might have with the concert. AC/DC has never changed their live shows in almost 20 years. If you've seen concert footage of previous tours, you know what to expect: big inflatable woman during Whole Lotta Rosie, giant AC/DC bell suspended from the rafters during Hells Bells, huge canons exploding during For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), etc. There weren't really many surprises during the whole performance. Even the setlist of songs were predictable. The band doesn't screw around. They never go deep into their catalog to find a rare oldie. They know what the fans want: the hits, and that's what the fans got. Thunderstruck,Highway To Hell, You Shook Me All Night Long, hit after hit, there was just no stopping them. Back in Black, TNT, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, they just kept coming. There's few bands out there that can put together a string of songs like AC/DC can, igniting the audience and producing a combination of teenage sexual angst and groin grinding rock 'n' roll!

Basically AC/DC is a two man show: lead singer Brian Johnson running around and screaming his head off doing his best to pump up the fans while lead guitarist Angus young prances up and down the catwalk in his school boy uniform. It didn't matter that the other guys in the band were practically motionless during the whole show. Who are those guys anyways? I have no problem watching two men in their late 40s run around on stage acting like a couple of horny teenagers. That's what Rock 'N' Roll is all about. That's what AC/DC is all about.

The show opened with You Shook Me All Night Long and closed (for the nth tour in a row!) with the encore of TNT and For Those About To Rock. The only new songs off the Stiff Upper Lip album was Safe In New York City, and the title track, during which a 40 foot bronze statue of Angus Young was unveiled.

All told, it was a tight (20 songs in 2 hours) slick performance. Perhaps a little too slick. The most spontaneous thing that occured during the show was frontman Johnson inserting the lyrics "Canadian Thighs" into You Shook Me..., and he probably does that whenever he's in Canada. He did his best to let the mostly male audience particpate during the songs. Whether it be clapping their hands over their heads during Shoot To Thrill, chanting "Oy!" during TNT, or letting everyone sing the chorus to The Jack, the audience, whose average age was late 20s, but ranged from 15 to 45, enjoyed themselves and that's all that really mattered. It didn't matter that Brian Johnson doesn't have much to say in between songs. It didn't matter that the setlist was virtually the same one from the last three tours. What mattered was that AC/DC gave the fans what they wanted: Big, loud, hard, old fashioned rock 'n' roll. If you've already seen AC/DC in concert, there won't be any surprises, thus, perhaps a slight disappointment. But for those about to rock? We salute you!

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Page Created: May 24/01.
Last Modified: December 16/02.

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