Power Trip rehearsal clip (and new drummer)

[Powerage5]

Everything is shaping up to be very similar to the Rock Or Bust Tour - two deep cuts from that setlist rehearsed, stage is very similar, etc. 

[Sosso]

1 hour ago, Powerage5 said:

Everything is shaping up to be very similar to the Rock Or Bust Tour - two deep cuts from that setlist rehearsed, stage is very similar, etc. 

Which makes sense because it's easier for them to use the RoB design instead of a new one for just one show.

Edited October 7, 2023 by Sosso

[James Bond]

12 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

But let’s be honest, Chris Slade has the best hi-hat game of any AC/DC drummer. 

In AC/DC forum terms, he has a very tight and focused "x x x x" style hi-hat versus Phil's loose and groovy "X x X x" style and Simon's heavy handed "X X X X" style.

My guess is Laug will bring about a new style of AC/DC hi-hat with "x X x X" just to mix things up.

5 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

Everything is shaping up to be very similar to the Rock Or Bust Tour - two deep cuts from that setlist rehearsed, stage is very similar, etc. 

Kind of funny that it's also starting Indio while once again having Phil being replaced despite playing on the album. It really is the second coming Rock Or Bust.

I'm rooting for Brian. He deserves this, and honestly, I think he'll sound as good as he needs to at 76.

[Kelmi]

Just watched a few videos. Some seemed to be in standard tuning. In 2015 everything was tuned half step down for Brian. Im glad he is able to sing in standard tuning now!

Amazing setlist! Angus has a grey hair! Brian sounds fine! Would have loved to be there

[James Bond]

Have yet to watch any footage but holy shit that setlist. I expected 16-20 songs max - the business as usual set. Nice surprise. Good for Brian!

It seems the AC/DC forum approves of Matt Laug. He must have brought the right hi-hat.

[James Bond]

4 hours ago, Kelmi said:

Just watched a few videos. Some seemed to be in standard tuning. In 2015 everything was tuned half step down for Brian. Im glad he is able to sing in standard tuning now!

Amazing setlist! Angus has a grey hair! Brian sounds fine! Would have loved to be there

What songs do you figure we're in standard? I've only listened to the first two songs which were a half-step down as usual (which, just as a minor correction, has been the case with Brian since 2008).

Brian sounds much better so far than the one off appearances. His struggles are made up for with enthusiasm, and his timing is so much better (with the exception of the Back In Black chorus. I think he's just having a hard time with the breathing on that).

[Powerage5]

I haven’t watched anything yet either. But worth noting this is the longest AC/DC show with Brian ever. I think the prior record was 20 songs, certainly not more. 
 

As for the setlist I can really only nitpick the Power Up songs. Would’ve liked one more, and while Shot In The Dark was a guarantee, I’d have preferred something else over Demon Fire. Other than that, no complaints. Plenty of rarities that got dug up for ROB stuck around (Including some that only got played with Axl), Stiff Upper Lip is a great surprise, first ever public performance of Riff Raff with Brian, and they’re still got The Jack missing from the set. Not much I can complain about there - great to see!

[SAU3R]

I’ll try to recap what I’ve seen on stream and YouTube this morning:

- setlist: absolutely phenomenal. I’d have been happy with 16-17 songs, I thought 20 songs was the absolut maximum and then they’ll come out and play 24 songs, 2,5 hours. SUL was a great surprise, first time since 2003. Both Power Up songs worked well live I think. Good to see that RNRTrain is a staple still. 6/10 Back in Black songs. But if there’ll be a tour we shouldn’t expect this to be the standard.

- Brian: did a great job overall. He’s got his limitations and struggled on some songs as expected, especially on the BIB stuff. Didn’t help that they played some stuff (You shook me for example) in standard tuning. Needs to find a new way to approach his older songs imo if there’ll be a tour. Sounded especially good on Bon songs, for example Sin City stood out. If they’ll adapt the set (all in Eb Tuning, less songs from BIB), he rethinks his approach on some songs and maybe loses some pounds he’s tour ready.

- Angus: I worried the most about him tbh, since he hasn’t played live since 2017 and was rumored to have had a severe covid infection. Struggled on Thunderstruck but apart from that blew me away, played as good if not better than on ROB tour. Also looked good, I like that he goes for the grey hair now. Didn’t move as much as he used to obviously but then again he’s 68. tour ready.

- rhythm section: waaaaaay better than during ROB tour, mostly thanks to Matt Laug who did an incredible job. He’s got the groove like Phil and seems to have studied his playing a lot, as he did loads of fills like Phil did live and in the studio. I sadly habe my doubts that Phil could deliver a performance like this these days. Stevie also improved a lot, I already liked him during ROB but he sounded better now on Thunderstruck and TNT, his weaker songs back then. Cliff solid as always. All three tour ready.

- backing vocals: also a lot better than during ROB, where they were almost unlistenable at times. Even the more difficult stuff like RNRTrain or Shot in the dark was good. They (especially Stevie) practiced. Tour ready.

- stage: stack of Marshalls, only the bell and the cannons as props, Rosie now digital on screen, same with the SUL angus statue. But then this was just a festival show. If there’s a tour, we’ll probably see a special (power up) stage with maybe more props.

- fans: probably the only let down of the night. It’s a shame that their first show in 7 years and the big comeback of Brian was in front of a bunch of rich folks. No atmosphere at all sadly.

- highlights: If you want blood, Demon Fire, SUL, Shot in the dark, Sin City, Riff Raff, For those about to rock.

All in all a glorious comeback. More than I’d ever expected. I can absolutely see a small tour next year now, they are ready. Had a huge smile on my face all morning  

[James Bond]

Yeah 6 Back in Black songs is probably too many. It's funny how he's continued to adapt something like Thunderstruck to his current vocal abilities (ie. Shifting the melody in the second verse) but doesn't really do the same with the Back In Black stuff. I think that would make a huge difference.

Shot Down In Flames and Riff Raff are my favourites so far. Laug is clearly a Phil fan. He even played Thunderstruck with Phil's fills versus Slade's.

[Mansin Humanity]

stiff upper lip comeback is pretty tight as is if you want blood opener. really hoping for one last ride

Edited October 8, 2023 by Mansin Humanity

[TheGeneral]

You're right, Brian sounded really good on everything that wasn't from Back in Black. Maybe he would need a couple of more shows to get his voice warmed up.

While it overall seemed to be a great show, but I don't see them touring tbh. At least not a 50+ date world tour. I'd love a final farewell, but not sure. I am sure however that the band will announce plans soon if they have any. Would be a bit random to just play this festival after their hiatus and then not do anything else.

[DoMw94]

Been out all day so only just catching up. Got If You Want Blood from last night playing and...

I was a massive Brian skeptic before this, but he's doing great!

I still doubt he could do a full tour, but what I've heard so far is decent, all things considered.

 

Edit: Okay, so Shoot To Thrill, not so much. But the guy's a hundred, a heavy smoker, has had serious hearing issues, and hasn't performed properly in years. I'd still give him a pass

Edited October 9, 2023 by DoMw94

[James Bond]

I listened to the whole show last night so here's my take on the set in full.

 

1. If You Want Blood (You Got It)
2. Back In Back

Pretty shaky start. Granted, I'm impressed that Brian can still nail the high Back In Black at the end of choruses. He almost seems more comfortable belting things than singing lower. This is something that continues throughout much of the show. Obviously he couldn't sing a whole show like that anymore, but it's kind of cool to hear those shades of "classic Brian." Overall though, probably not the best two songs to start the show - as cool as If You Want Blood is as an opener. Better than the Hawkins tribute, but not by much.

3. Demon Fire
4. Shot Down In Flames
5. Thunderstruck
6. Have A Drink On Me
7. Hells Bells
8. Shot In The Dark
9. Stiff Upper Lip

Brian seemed to get warmed up during Demon Fire because the next run of songs he seemed to hit his stride. It's strange to me that they randomly decided to do Thunderstruck in standard tuning, but Brian did pretty respectable on the first verse considering he's 76. Second verse was rough, but not terrible overall. Probably better than some of the Rock Or Bust performances near the end. Shaky intro from Angus but one of the better live Thunderstruck solos he's done. If you ever want to hear disaster - listen to the audience recording of the Donington Thunderstruck. He basically misses the solo completely (it's dubbed on the live release).

Hells Bells I thought would be a disaster but I was pleasantly surprised. I liked his changes to the melody there as well as Shot Down In Flames where he let some of his natural voice shine. Shot In The Dark and Stiff Upper Lip sounded about as I would have expected them to sound circa 2015. This section of the show, to me, is the most consistent.

10. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. Sin City
13. Givin' the Dog a Bone
14. Rock N' Roll Train

Brian starts getting a little gassed here, but he manages to pull through. Some of his vocals in Sin City reminded me of when Axl starts slipping out of the highs, but it actually sounded kind of ferocious and cool.

15. You Shook Me All Night Long

The worst song of the night. Another standard tuning mystery (one of three songs of the night to my ears). It's weird because even in recent years it has always been a song Brian does well, but he just wasn't on it and let the crowd sing much of the choruses. This also seems to be when he started fiddling with his in-ears.

16. Dog Eat Dog
17. High Voltage

Just when you think the rest of the show will be a disaster, Brian gets a second wind. Dog Eat Dog was fine, but High Voltage was fantastic. Possibly my favourite song of the night.

18. Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
19. Riff Raff

Hell was okay, but Riff Raff really impressed me. Brian was loving it. Even Angus seemed more comfortable on it than last tour.

20. Highway to Hell

The last of the three songs played in standard, and it sounded terrible. Brian lets out an audible "I can't fuckin' hear..." (or something) near the end of the song. I blame this song on something going on with the in-ears, because there's no way this song should have been as bad as it was.

21. Whole Lotta Rosie
22. Let There Be Rock
23. T.N.T.
24. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Everything here is passable, with Let There Be Rock being the real highlight. Brian (almost) sounded like Black Ice era Brian on it. Might be time to retire the riser solo though. Sorry Angus.

That's a minor nitpick of Angus though. Overall he had more energy than I would have thought and played great. Matt Laug was phenomenal. What a shot of adrenaline to the rhythm section. I was a little worried when it was announced the the band was going the "session drummer" route versus the usual "keep it in the family" approach, but obviously it worked out. He sounded like AC/DC, and that's all we need. I also noticed the backing vocals, particularly Cliff's, were louder in the mix than usual. Cliff holds a pitch pretty well, so I think it was an asset - especially when Brian would drop out on choruses. He's the real MVP.

Stevie really fixed up his Thunderstruck rhythm. Otherwise, he continued to play as good as he did on the Rock Or Bust tour. Singing is... not his strong point. But as far as the playing goes, Malcolm would be proud.

Overall - it was worth everything to see how happy Brian was. I was loving every minute of it. With some tweaks to the set list order and refining it to say 20 songs, I think a small tour is feasible. Scattered dates in some major cities with breaks in between.

[DoMw94]

3 hours ago, James Bond said:

Overall - it was worth everything to see how happy Brian was.

Just finished watching the show and this was my biggest takeaway.

I loved Axl-fronted AC/DC, but Brian's vibe on Saturday night? Priceless

[Sosso]

1 hour ago, DoMw94 said:

Just finished watching the show and this was my biggest takeaway.

I loved Axl-fronted AC/DC, but Brian's vibe on Saturday night? Priceless

Correct. Axl and Matt Laugh are the best examples that Angus can hire new musicians without turning AC/DC into a cover band. The show will go on as long as Angus and Stevie are present.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Sosso

[ZoSoRose]

It is great Brian got to finish out with the band. If this was the last AC/DC show, it was a good one symbolically. 

[Powerage5]

I listened to about a third of the set on a long flight I had last night - truth be told, Brian is sounding better than I expected, generally speaking. A few songs rougher than others (Back In Black namely) but some of the songs people on here aren't too happy with sounded fine to me (If You Want Blood springs to mind). I'm pretty well convinced at least that he doesn't have problems stemming from his hearing loss anymore, but it's just the fact that he's 76 years old and a lot of AC/DC songs are an absolute bastard to sing well.