Since 1973, Australian band AC/DC has served wicked fun to an expanding global audience of rock and roll fans. The heavy riff-rockers still play with the bruising energy of the rowdy pub band they once were, only with better production and props.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees arrived Saturday for a sold-out show at Soldier Field on their Power Up Tour. It was AC/DC’s first trip to Chicago in nine years. As the sun set behind Soldier Field’s west wall, the stadium became eerily illuminated by the twinkling red lights from countless plastic devil horns atop fans’ heads.
Lead guitarist Angus Young, 70, appeared in his Ashfield Boys’ High School uniform and held his familiar Gibson SG guitar aloft as AC/DC tore into “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).” Singer Brian Johnson, 77, greeted the audience with a broad smile. “Hello, Chicago, it’s been too long,” he said. “Where ya been?”
“Shot in the Dark” was performed from 2020’s “Power Up,” the band’s latest album. “Your mission is to party ‘til the broad daylight,” sang Johnson, reinforcing AC/DC’s long-standing role as the ultimate hard-rock party band. He swung deftly between guttural and paint-peeling vocals during “Demon Fire,” another recent track.
An enormous bell descended from the rigging to sound the chimes of doom during “Hells Bells.” Young donned his own horns to match the fans’ while playing decadent anthem “Highway to Hell.”
The quintet played half of the tracks from its landslide success, 1981’s “Back in Black.” The collection, including the evening’s fervent singalong rocker “You Shook Me All Night Long,” is the world’s best-selling album by any band, with global sales exceeding 50 million copies.
Launched by Young’s dazzling guitar figure, frequent sports anthem “Thunderstruck” offered another big moment for audience participation.
Upon observing Young’s vitality and perpetual motion, one might conclude that constant headbanging must be exceptional for the health of one’s cervical spine. Young’s legs pumped like pistons during “Sin City.” He did his Chuck Berry-influenced duck walk during “Shot Down in Flames.” With his disheveled suit, defiant poses, and an unkempt shock of white hair flowing as he played yet another blistering blues-rock solo during “Whole Lotta Rosie,” Young looked like he’d completed the evolution from juvenile to senior delinquent and had a blast in the process.
A bone-crunching version of “Riff Raff” was drawn from 1978’s “Powerage.” As an indicator of AC/DC’s unique influence, Chicago pianist Johnny Iguana recently reinterpreted the song for an album on venerable blues label Delmark Records.
Johnson delivered razor-edged vocals to the stuttering “Back in Black” and careening “Shoot to Thrill.” It was a welcome revelation given the circumstances that led to the singer’s temporary replacement by Guns ‘n’ Roses singer Axl Rose during 2016’s Rock or Bust Tour. Johnson had received doctor’s orders to cease performance or risk complete hearing loss. He struggled on Saturday with pitch during “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” but Johnson otherwise delivered the goods with an unfailingly gregarious performance.
The band’s rhythmic engine was powered by drummer Matt Laug, former Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, and guitarist Stevie Young. The latter has replaced his late uncle and AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young.
“You know what that is?,” asked Johnson, gesturing to the three players as Laug drove the thundering beat of “High Voltage.” “It’s rock and roll. It was invented right here in the United States of America, and it went all over the world. You should be proud.”
Johnson made a local tribute during “You Shook Me All Night Long,” changing one of the song’s raunchy lyrics to sing about a lover “knocking me out, with those Chicago thighs.”
The band’s encore capped the show with a literal bang as AC/DC tore through a suitably explosive “T.N.T.” and punctuated “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” with cannon fire. “Hail, hail to the good times,” sang Johnson, joined by thousands of voices. Afterward, the band vanished into billows of smoke.
AC/DC has been criticized for sticking to its straightforward musical formula for more than 50 staggering years, but there’s little denying the appeal of the group’s adrenalized and reliable approach. As Angus Young stated in the liner notes for a reissue of “The Razor’s Edge,” “AC/DC equals power. That’s the basic idea.” That energetic jolt is sometimes the perfect means to raise spirits and spread actual joy, even coming from a band offering the cartoonish imagery of plastic horns and travel down the road to perdition.
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)
Hear this playlist on Spotify.