AC/DC electrifies 12,000 Ford Center fans
By Brandy McDonnell - Entertainment Writer
Comments 
138
Published: November 5, 2009
Brian Johnson, left, and Angus Young of AC/DC perform during a concert at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, November 4, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
AC/DC’s “Black Ice Tour” skidded into the Ford Center Wednesday night with the unrelenting force and can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it spectacle of a massive train wreck.
And that’s exactly how the Australian rock gods started the show. The giant screens came to life with a bawdy animated video of a devilish
Angus Young, distracted by naughty groupies, driving a runaway engine. The large-scale cartoon culminated in pyrotechnics flaring, a huge locomotive bursting through the back of the stage and the energetic rockers thundering out their latest hit “Rock N Roll Train.”
Though the venerable band surely needed no such gaudy introduction, singer
Brian Johnson, guitarist Angus Young, his rhythm guitarist brother
Malcolm Young, bassist
Cliff Williams and drummer
Phil Rudd proved from the outset their unadulterated commitment to rocking the Ford Center.
AC/DC specializes in mammoth, primal hard rock, with plenty of suggestive lyrics, intimations of violence and a wicked sense of fun. Often criticized for steadfastly adhering to its formula of huge riffs and pounding rhythms, the band’s stick-with-what-works approach was nearly impossible to argue with during Wednesday’s wildly entertaining show. Even seeing Johnson wearing his usual slouchy hat and sleeveless shirt and Angus Young in his trademark schoolboy outfit was a thrill.
The estimated 12,000 fans — there were a surprising number of empty seats for a tour that has notched numerous sell-outs — were clearly onboard. The crowd, which ranged from hollering graybeards to air-guitar-playing children, leapt to its feet as the houselights went down and stayed standing throughout the band’s two-hour set.
Like Johnson and Angus, the throng was in perpetual motion, constantly waving arms, pumping fists and banging heads. The gravel-voiced Johnson grinned maniacally as the fans took over chorus after chorus, na-nah-ing through “Thunderstruck” and shouting along to “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”
The band drew heavily on its arsenal of colossal hits, invoking screams of delight as it hammered through favorites like “Back in Black,” “TNT” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.”
The rockers maintained their titanic intensity on new songs like “Big Jack,” “War Machine” and “Black Ice,” the title track from their successful 2008 album. Unfortunately, many fans used those less-familiar songs for bathroom breaks or beer runs, but there are no ballads at an AC/DC show, after all.
The band also tapped its 36-year-old catalog for a few deeper cuts such as “Shot Down in Flames” and “Dog Eat Dog.” The bluesy groove of “The Jack” set the mood for Angus to perform his signature strip tease, dispensing with his jacket, tie and shirt and finally flashing AC/DC boxers at the elated audience.
“The boy’s got a devil in his fingers and the blues in his soul,” Johnson quipped as Angus scorched through the song’s fiery solo.
And both have the heart of showmen and the stamina of men half their age. While the rest of the band rocked steadily in the background, Johnson and Angus made frequent trips down the catwalk jutting out from the enormous black stage. The singer strutted and incited the crowd, while the guitar slinger charmed the fans with his duck walk.
Of course, a flair for theatrics never hurt a rock band, either, and the concert was packed with extravagant and engaging set pieces (which undoubtedly played into the $100 ticket price). Johnson took a running leap and swung from the big bell suspended above the stage to open “Hells Bells.” A towering, buxom blowup doll straddled the locomotive and swayed to the beat of “Whole Lotta Rosie.”
AC/DC ended its set with “Let There Be Rock” featuring an outrageous extended solo from Angus, who wailed away like a man possessed as the platform at the end of the catwalk lifted him high above the horde. As he fell to the ground, still playing as he spun in circles, confetti exploded into the air.
As the rockers returned for their encore, the guitarist suddenly emerged from beneath the stage in plumes of red-tinged smoke for “Highway to Hell.” And when they finally closed the concert with “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You),” blasts from six canons punctuated the anthem.
The sheer spectacle and raw might of AC/DC’s show contrasted with the low-tech opening set by Northern Irish rockers The Answer. Unknown to most of the crowd, the band earned a warm but not sizzling welcome with its solid string of blues-rock songs.
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FRI.THE 13TH-Leave house @5am, 2 catch my 6:20 Delta flight,glad my friend set her alarm 2 pick me up.We stop @7-11 so I can get large
cuppa stout Columbian 2 pick me up.Make it 2 Willie's airport,flight leaves on time,gets 2 Memphis on time,the 8:30 connecting flight promptly leaves @9:50 due 2 funky weather in NYC(Hurricane Ida's finale,If Ida only known,har! har!)Get 2 NYC about 3pm,get 2 my room,
go walkin'round midtown tryin'2 fig out what 2 do 4 the next 4 days,that ain't already done on my prev 15 times here, plus gotta watch my funds,starts rainin',just go 2 room+hang+elevate my feet,Fri.grand finale:go 2 sleep 4 the night.
SAT.-NOV 14-I decide that I want 2 go c "Bye Bye Birdie"musical with
Gina Gershon and John Stamos,so I buy the LAST $26.50 obstructed view box seat and hope that there r no shows in other close higher priced seats,(I score the ticket on Sun. day of show,4 the 2pm matinee)pretty
much rains hard all day Sat.,stops late afternoon.I am then off 2 c the New York Historical Society Museum,free admission on Sat.6-8 pm,
c alot a cool stuff there,then off 2 c the Morgan Library and Museum,free admission on Sat.7-9 pm,c alot a cool stuff there 2.I googled in free stuff 2 do in NYC 2 get all this free admit info.
Wooda cost $12 4 each museum.go 2 room+sack out 4 the nite.
SUN.NOV.15-It's free admit @City of New York Museum from 10am-12.So I'm off 2 check that out,wooda cost me $12 4 that'n 2.C a lotta cool stuff there 2.Get back to my high rise,get ready 2 go c "Birdie" at 2pm,great show,and thanx 2 the person who dint show up,I enjoyed the show in your expensive seat and thanx 2 the usher who dint c me move 2 that seat.Back 2 the room 2 get ready 4 Metallica @7pm,Volbeat from
Copenhagen,Denmark opens the show,they were ok,played about 40 minutes,Lamb of God comes on,play maybe 50 minutes,don't really care 4 their speed,thrash metal,only good thing that I saw in 'em was that 1 of their guitarists was wearin' a Cain's Ballroom Tulsa shirt.They r outa there @ 8:35.Metallica FINALLY comes on @9:20.I was on the VERY
top row, center EVERY1 STOOD 4 THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THE SHOW.They had no video screens,glad that I brot my high end nox!!NO seats on floor,GREAT sound,the boys were gr8,rectangle stage was in middle of floor,every 30 minutes they wood rot8 Lars's skins.That was some show and def 1 ENERGETIC CROWD!Here's the set list:
1.That was Just Your Life
2.End Of The Line
3.Creeping Death
4.Shortest Straw
5.Fade 2 Black
6.Broken Beat Scarred
7.My Apocolypse
8.Sad But True
9.One
10.The Judas Kiss
11.Day That Never Comes
12.Master Of Puppets
13.Dyer's Eve
14.Nothing Else Matters
15.Enter Sandman
Encore:16.Last Caress(Misfits cover)
17.Trapped Under Ice
18.Seek And Destroy
Kirk's b-day is Nov.20(I think)They pied him real good that night at the end of the show,they also pied him real good last year@BOK/Tulsa show last year about this time.U can go 2 www.brooklynvegan.com and c about 36 great pix from the show.Pix #4+#9,u can c Lamb boy's Cain's
Ballroom T,he's play'n a red guitar.
The show ended at 11:30 on the snout.
MON.NOV.16-I'm off 2 have Regis sign my standby letter that I got when I went 2 go c R+K Live in June,gotta pic with him,but dint have my letter with me then,yep,I snagged him,he signed it,gotta pic with him(again),dint c Kelly tho.Got in standby line to go 2 R+K again,dint get 2 go,that's cool been 2 R+K twice b4.I'm off 2 get somethin' 2 eat,then go snag my Letterman tix.I c Sid McGuinness,the Late Show Guitarist,met him b4,we discuss rock-n-roll 4 about 20 minutes,I gotta get in line 2 score my tix,Sharon Stone,Seth Meyers,Wyclef Jean+Cyndi Lauper r on Dave's show that night.They tape
Monday and Friday's show on Mon.,I dint get 2 go the 2nd show,but got to c Viggo Mortenson,gotta pic with Paula Poundstone and Lyle Lovett,they will be on Fri.Nov 20 show.After 2nd show talked 2 bass player Will Lee and drummer Anton Fig and got pix with 'em.I've met every1 on the Late Show at 1 time or another,YES, EVEN DAVE!And also talked 2 Biff and George Clark(the maint guy that lost 55 lbs.)Talked also to Tom "Bones" Malone,trombone player,he was in original Sat. Nite Live band when Paul Shaffer was leader in 1975-80, he has been
eyewitness 2 a lot of musical history,he's on back of Blues Bros. album"Briefcase Full Of Blues" in the group shot,he saw the whole John
Belushi ordeal,said he knew John b4 SNL and still misses him.I'm sure I'm 4gettin' some stuff 2 tell,but this is about all I can think of,oh yeah Rupert of Hello Deli was wearin'an OU Sooners t-shirt,gotta pic with him,he's featured on Late Show alot.I get a pic with Rupert every time I go 2 NYC,that way I can tell how many times I have been 2 NYC,then I c this Italian restaurant named "Tony's"established 1959,which is the year that I was born+the way that I really spell my name,I'm tellin' ya,between Lamb boy werin' the Cain's shirt,Rupert wearin' the OU shirt,Tony's place '59 thing,u'da thot they knew that "The Tone" was a comin' 2 town.Wood put up some pix,but all I had with me was a Fuji disposable.I'll be @ Billy/Elton in 301 section,maybe we can connect,I'll bring pix with me if interested.Oh yeah,I's @ Black Crowes Fair gig 2,everheard of North Missippi All Stars?the guitarist in Crowes used 2 be with 'em,I saw the "Stars" as a house band when I saw Carson Daly show when he taped in NYC in Nov.'04,Saw the "Stars" on their own Nov.'05@Bowery Ballroom in NYC.Luther Dickinson was the guitarist on the far left of the stage,wearing glasses,Rolling Stone mag voted him one of the promising new guitarists of the future about a year or so ago.
of the future
Aug 01 Journey with Night Ranger, BOK Center, Tulsa
Aug 07 Keith Urban with Sugarland BOK Center, Tulsa
Aug 15 Lynyrd Skynyrd, Spirit Bank Event Center, Bixby
Aug 22 Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick, BOK Center, Tulsa
Aug 29 Heart, Riverwind Casino, Norman
Sep 14 ChickenFoot, Brady Theater, Tulsa
- - CF is Joe Satriani(1), Sammy Hager, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith
Sep 18 The Black Crowes, OKC State Fair
Oct 17 Allman Brothers Band, CWM Pavilion, Houston
Nov 4 AC/DC Ford Center, Oklahoma City
Nov 8 AC/DC Toyota Center, Oklahoma City
(1) We saw Joe Satriani(I've seen 6 times and met) and Leslie West-Mountain(3 times and met) 11/06/08 at House of Blues, Dallas. Joe was great as always and Leslie could still thunder. Joe, Eddie Van Halen, and other greats have stated they were influenced by Leslie in their guitar style and tone.
Letterman called me so I'm goin' 2 Monday's show,according to TV Guide
Sharon Stone,Seth Meyers r sched 2 b on,maybe Sharon will wear her "Basic Instinct" dress.2 bad can't b there Wed.,head Kinkster,Ray Davies is sched 2 b on.Oh well...This is my 16th time 2 NYC,13th time 2 Letterman,2nd time 2 MSG(saw Fleetwood Mac there 6-11-09)and 1st time 2 c METALLICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AC/DC Live Toronto - Back In Black 1/9/2009, A+ HQ Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8BEYOyX1wg
AC/DC - "Fan" throws a beer on Angus, Wild, very wrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjBOg50EDqw
AC/DC Highway To Hell, 8/9/1979 Kultnacht RockPop Show, Germany
A+ Live Recording previously not officially released.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkqGyI4SxE4
Chris
Posted by Christie "I flashed Brian at the Ford Center, Brian & Angus at the Toyota Center" for David a.k.a. Dave. I got luck flashing the troop at the TC. There was an empty stagefront 1st row seat in front of us. Two songs before "The Jack" I moved down to it. Dave asked me to cool it but I couldn't let the blonde at the Ford show me up :-) Like Okie City, Houston ROCKED!
http://mark.net78.net/1%20Foxy%20Lady.mp3
Joe Ely @ Rockefellars.Saw Meatloaf @ OKC civic Center 4 a$1 n Dec.'77
KATT promo show,hence the price,ML came on 1 1/2 hr. late,b4 he became big,(famously,already big physicaly)c.c. floor only about 1/3 full.I was at Allmans/Skynyrd show@zoo amp Oct.04,gr8 show.When I was in NYC in Sept.,I fig I better get my Metallica tix,so I go 2 the MSG
box office and they also sell other tix 2 other shows at other venues
like the Beacon theatre where I saw Steely Dan 6.13.08(I go 2 NYC alot)I'll be dinged if ZZ Top ainta comin' 2 d Beacon,2 days later!!
it was a hastily arranged last minute gig,so I ask 'em what's ZZ tix lookin' like and the chick tells me that they have 1 ticket left!4th
row center!!!I snagged it 4 $80.I waas so close,could c bugs crawlin' around in Frank-n-Dusty's beards!!Frank Beard is still beardless.Gr8
show.The Metallica tick is 4th tier,center,single,metal folding chair.
Makes sense,metal show,metal chair.heh heh $55.I went n seen Johnny Winter@BB Kings the night b4 ZZ and the opening act, Debbbie Davis was gr8!Johnny's sound was ATROCIOUS,way 2 loud,the sound man needed
a damn good ass whippin'!!!had 4th row center 2 that also.Then I seen a dude at ZZ that was at Johnny Winter and he thot it was a
gr8test show and I thot about askin' him where were u?outside with your ear 2 the brick wall listening?that would have been the only way it sounded good.Dave,I own that VH book that u mention,lotta neat VH
pix,I also was at Van Roth F.C. gig in Jan '08 in the $55 301 section.
Towson State College, MD
Excellent Bon Scott era concert audio
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/ac-dc/concerts/towson-state-college-october-16-1979.html
It's best if you have a good computer soundcard, speakers, and equalizer-mixer to listen to any vintage music audios. - Dave
For anyone interested, here's the info on the ABB's 10/17/09 CWMP gig. ABB Concert homepage: http://www.allmanbrothersband.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Calendar&file=showCalendarMonth&tapers=&type=viewevent&year=2009&month=10&day=01&eid=9405
Live CD: http://www.hittinthenote.com/cart/p-1054-allman-brothers-band-br-houston-tx-101709.aspx
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/breakfastontour/sets/72157622608487056/
Review: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2009/10/photos_by_kim_douglass_there.php
No, but '68-'71 I saw Jefferson Airplane twice (incredible), Grace Slick arrested after '70 OKC Civic Center gig, Janis Joplin (Good but stoned), Mountain with Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi(unbelievable!!!) and many more legends.
GF, at the time, made me go see Linda Ronstadt at the OKC Fairgrounds, think '74. LR was extremely impressive.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/Music/JDandy75Mag.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/Music/OKJam78Fn.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/Music/78OKJamPoster.jpg
Mark, I'm sure you have these but here are my links to the Jimi OU gig poster and the only Oklahoman news article on the gig. I have photos from the gig but they are on my/bros server with 18 hard-drives of rock music AV/s, photos, etc. from 1960 to current. I just moved and have not had time to unpack it and set it up.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/Music/HendrixOU70Poster.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/Music/HendixOKArti70.jpg
http://blog.newsok.com/bamsblog/2009/11/05/concert-review-acdc-shakes-oklahoma-citys-ford-center-all-wednesday-night-long/
BRANDY - Great review and incredible job covering the AC/DC OKC concert You're the best!
Van Halen: A Visual History: 1978 - 1984, Author Neil Zlozower, Forward by David Lee Roth
http://www.amazon.com/Van-Halen-Visual-History-1978/dp/0811863042
http://curtismediagroup.hipcast.com/download/9d244e29-1476-0891-a0c1-bdf49fec66f0.mp3
http://blog.newsok.com/bamsblog/2009/11/05/concert-review-acdc-shakes-oklahoma-citys-ford-center-all-wednesday-night-long/