AC/DC
LG Arena, Birmingham NEC
Review by Debbie Bennett

They say that if you visit Australia, you will only see one rock band’s logo emblazened on the T-shirts of our Antipodean cousins.

Only one band stands out in the hours of radio play. There is even a Melbourne street named after them.

They are AC/DC and Down Under, music fans are proud of their adopted Scottish rock heroes.

Click here to see more pictures from the show.

And it is easy to see why – last night’s NEC gig was a rare UK treat for dedicated fans, who have been waiting since 2001 for the rockers to return to British shores.

Following a superb but all-too-short support slot from Irish foursome The Answer, the powerhouse of five tested the LG Arena’s sound rig to its limits.

It was a two-hour explosion of unadulterated raw AC/DC hits, led by Geordie cap-wearing Brian Johnson, and included songs from the band’s first album in eight years, Black Ice.

A big-screen cartoon of lead guitarist Angus Young being tied to the front of a train by busty beauties was the intro to the jaw-dropping show opener of a steam locomotive crashing on to the stage, launching the infectious stomp of Black Ice’s Rock n’ Roll Train.

Young, now in his mid-50s but still donning his trademark schoolboy cap, blazer and shorts, was the centre of attention at the sell-out show, his tireless jarring moves and familiar pout making it look as though his black Gibson SG was controlling him, rather than the other way round.

The LG Arena crowd was predictably 95 per cent male – AC/DC is a blokes band, and this was without doubt a lads’ night out, with silhouettes of naked beauties gyrating in front of flames throughout You Shook Me All Night Long, and cameras intermittently focusing on crowd babes as the band churned out a thundering setlist which included Back In Black, Thunderstruck, War Machine and TNT.

Young parked himself in the spotlight again with an hilarious, if not slightly disturbing, striptease to The Jack, before his frenzied finale of Let There Be Rock.

Further over-the-top props included a huge inflatable woman in Whole Lotta Rosie, a giant bell which lowered Johnson on to the stage for Hells Bells, and a hydraulic podium for Angus to parade on.

After a rousing encore of Highway to Hell, followed by exploding cannons giving eardrums one final assault in For Those About to Rock, the band quickly exited the stage – no bowing or waving goodbye.

But as far as concerts by ageing rockers go, this was a white-knuckle joyride from start to finish and a testosterone-filled feast that only AC/DC know how to cook. Strewth, guys, we salute you.