The objective of an AC/DC show is simple: “We’re gonna play some rock ‘n’ roll and we’re gonna party,” announced Brian Johnson early-on in the band's Cleveland concert.
On Wednesday, thousands of Clevelanders crammed into Huntington Bank Field for the iconic Aussie rock band’s first performance in the region since its Rock or Bust World Tour in 2016. Red devil horns (on sale for $25 in the stadium, or $5 from street vendors just a block away) blinked throughout the crowd, with many attendees donning past AC/DC tour T-shirts, hats and other memorabilia from the band's lengthy history.
AC/DC’s Power Up stadium tour is a victory lap on the biggest and loudest levels that exist — and the band’s stop in Cleveland proved to be a standout leg for the 52-year-old rock band's ongoing run.
These days, the group could choose to rely on its ranks of decades-old hits — and it featured plenty of those favorites, like “T.N.T.,” “Thunderstruck,” “Highway to Hell,” “Back in Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” But the ‘Power Up’ tour also incorporated a couple of songs (“Demon Fire” and “Shot In The Dark”) from Power Up, the group's 17th (and latest) studio album.
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The newer songs fit right into the live mix of goofball, often-raunchy, rock 'n' roll ditties from the past half-century. But the album arrived in late 2020, in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic — which means the supercharged tunes carry a little extra juice. (They also carry extra significance, too, with posthumous songwriting credit from original guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 and was then replaced by his nephew, Stevie Young.)
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When Power Up first arrived, social distancing and face masks were the norm. The idea of gathering at a football stadium with thousands of fans felt sort of wild.
It still feels sort of wild.
On Wednesday night, tens of thousands of fans cheered on Angus Young’s sprawling, masterful, so-long-it-became-funny guitar solo during “Let There Be Rock” — complete with a rising stage, confetti blasts and numerous breaks for applause. Applause also rang out whenever the musician, wearing a red tie, white socks and a pair of shorts, hopped in his recognizable one-legged duckwalk across the stage.
Drummer Matt Laug and bassist Chris Chaney solidly filled in for AC/DC's Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams, keeping the rhythmic heartbeats of each song steadily thumping.
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And Johnson, at 77, belted out his famously, strangely raspy vocals — a bit rougher around the edges these days, with some wear and tear. With the exceptions of a few tough or tired moments, the singer was a force throughout the night’s set. In a brief two-song encore, his vocals filled the stadium on "T.N.T."
“Watch me exploooooode!"
One song later, fireworks burst at one end of the stadium, the sharp, colorful moment punctuating the cannon booms in “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).” Thousands of fans’ faces lit up in the over-the-top ending in this over-the-top night.
(Though, one less-over-the-top portion of the concert was The Pretty Reckless's opening performance, where Taylor Momsen, sporting an oversized Browns jersey, led a mix of sultry hard-rock that felt slightly too moody for the otherwise high-octane evening.)
After it was all wrapped up, fans filtered out of Huntington Bank Field and into Downtown Cleveland's streets, finding street vendors hawking (newly discounted!) bootleg T-shirts and the same red devil horn headbands, for a handful of bucks. In the night, we think back to Johnson's simple, but perfected, checklist from the beginning of the Cleveland show:
- Play some rock ‘n’ roll
- Party
Check, and check.
AC/DC, Power Up tour in Cleveland set list:
“If You Want Blood (You've Got It)”
“Back in Black”
“Demon Fire”
“Shot Down in Flames”
“Thunderstruck”
“Have a Drink on Me”
“Hells Bells”
“Shot in the Dark”
“Stiff Upper Lip”
“Highway to Hell”
“Shoot to Thrill”
“Sin City”
“Rock 'n' Roll Train”
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
“High Voltage”
“Riff Raff”
“You Shook Me All Night Long”
“Whole Lotta Rosie”
“Let There Be Rock”
Encore:
“T.N.T.”
“For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”
See more photos from the concert below
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