Gig Review: AC/DC (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Stadium, June 4, 2016)

This was the UK debut of AC/DC featuring Axl Rose on vocals on their ‘Rock Or Bust’ World Tour. The current line-up of Angus Young, Cliff Williams, Stevie Young, Chris Slade and Axl Rose played a high energy set of 2 hours and 15 minutes, with 23 songs including trusted classics and some rarely played gems from their back catalogue.
When the tickets went on sale for this gig they sold out within 10 minutes, but after Brian Johnson had to stand down from tour duties due to hearing problems, there was a huge demand from the fans for refunds. I was in two minds about attending this concert but after the announcement that Axl Rose would be taking over vocal duties I decided to go and check it out.
If Brian couldn’t do it then Axl was the perfect choice to stand in. He is able to hit those high notes that Brian struggles with these days and is flexible enough vocally to attempt some lesser played songs such as “If you want blood (You’ve Got It)”, “Givin’ The Dog A Bone”, “Shot down in flames”, “Riff Raff” and “Have A Drink On Me”.

It was good to see Axl back on his feet after having to sing sitting down on the first few shows of the tour after breaking his foot.
The sound was tight and loud and Angus was on top form, prowling and ‘duck walking’ all over the stage. Axl was equally as energetic and doing a sterling job fronting the band, a very difficult challenge for him to be accepted by the fans. He is obviously relishing the experience and his joy is plain to see, he is definitely taking his role seriously and giving it 100%.
The atmosphere was positive and the crowd were enthusiastic from the off. The stadium was not sold out and tickets were still available on show day, but those that turned up got a fantastic night of quality rock’n’roll, a spectacular triumph for sure!

Both Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses attended the concert.

Steven C. Gilbert