AC/DC kicked off their Australian tour at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday night, delivering a two-hour greatest hits set that left 80,000 fans exhilarated. The concert marked the band's first performance in Australia in a decade, and their first in Melbourne since 2014.
The show opened with 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It)' and 'Back in Black', setting the tone for a night packed with classics. Despite Brian Johnson's voice no longer reaching the heights of the 1980s, the 78-year-old frontman performed with evident joy, cackling between songs. Angus Young, at 70, showed slightly slower movements on tracks like 'Thunderstruck', but his frenzied solos and signature duckwalk proved he remains a formidable force.
Highlights included a lengthy guitar solo on 'Let There Be Rock', where Young threw himself on the floor and rolled around. The band also played 'Jailbreak', a song not performed live since 1991, to huge enthusiasm. Only one track from their 2020 album 'Power Up' was included, with the setlist dominated by hits such as 'Highway to Hell', 'You Shook Me All Night Long', and 'TNT'.
Supporting Young and Johnson were rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, bassist Chris Chaney, and drummer Matt Laug, whose powerful playing drew comparisons to an earthquake. The concert followed a world record attempt earlier in the day, when 374 bagpipers played 'It's a Long Way to the Top' in Federation Square, a song AC/DC no longer performs live out of respect for the late Bon Scott.
Johnson referred to Melbourne as the band's 'ancestral homeland' and the 'home of Mr Scott'. Fans suspect this may be AC/DC's last world tour, making the spectacle all the more poignant. The band will continue their Australian tour with dates in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane through December.
