By Allegra Papera
Staff Writer
AC/DC proves its everlasting ability to entertain in the band’s compelling performance at Dodger Stadium.
AC/DC delivered a playful performance with intense delivery that displayed the band’s passion for rock music and their ability to entertain a crowd. Although the majority of the show was entertaining, too many extensive guitar solos were worked into the songs, eventually becoming monotonous.
After releasing its sixteenth studio album, “Rock or Bust”, the iconic hard rock band, AC/DC started their worldwide tour in promotion of the album. They finished up the North American portion of their tour at Dodger Stadium on September 28.
The Australian band, of Sydney, originally formed in 1973 gained recognition with the release of their first album, “High Voltage” in 1975. The band’s current lineup consists of Brian Johnson on vocals, Angus Young as slide guitarist, Stevie Young as rhythm guitarist, Cliff Williams on bass, and Chris Slade on drums.
The concert was full of intriguing visuals including opening up the show with a comet flying through the air to land on Earth, exploding with a small set of fireworks. The big screens behind the performers and on either side of the stage displayed appropriate imagery to every song, evoking just the right feeling for each one. During the band’s performance of their hit 1980 hit, “Back in Black”, the screens showed a black and white camera view of the stage to set a dark mood, appropriate to the song’s general topic of death.
Another positive aspect was that AC/DC managed to incorporate its past hits into the setlist, exciting the audience. Popular songs like “T.N.T,” and “You Shook Me All Night Long,” succeeded in thoroughly delighting the massive audience who knew the songs’ every word.
As a lighthearted approach to the crowd’s amusement, AC/DC also included flamboyant props like fireable canons or inflatable characters that thoroughly entertained the audience. During their performance of “Whole Lotta Rosie” a gigantic inflatable model of the song’s subject, an obese Tasmanian woman named Rosie, was exposed behind the band, lying on her side, adding a more comical aspect to the performance.
Most of all, the key component to the show’s entertainment was the radiation of both Brian Johnson’s and Angus Young’s powerful and energetic stage-presences. Johnson delivered lyrics with fierce passion and excitement, while Young worked in crucial guitar solos while showing off his animated dance moves, dressed in his iconic getup: a velvet schoolboy’s uniform and tie along with a green cap.
While Young’s guitar solos were incredible, they were so extensive that they were difficult to enjoy. At one point in the show, he conducted a seemingly endless solo that went on for some time between eight and ten minutes, eventually causing audience members to take a seat as they waited for it to end.
Despite the flaws regarding Young’s solos, the concert’s overall quality was nothing short of satisfying. AC/DC’s incredible on-stage energy made for an exciting performance, providing a strong finish for the North American leg of their worldwide tour.
After this stop on September 28 at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, AC/DC will continue their world tour across Australia and New Zealand.
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