AC/DC in LA Tonight
The Mighty TB
long time since I've been to a show that wrecked my hearing like tonight's
did. Tonight was the 4th time I've seen them ('81, *'85 show cancelled,*
'86, '91 previously).
I had the "paperless ticket" entry which is something I suppose Ticketmaster
came up with to prevent people from scalping the best seats in the house.
Basically, you buy your seat(s) online at TM, they give you a confirmation
code but you never get a physical ticket, not even a PDF file ticket so in
theory you have nothing to sell, especially the day of the show if you're a
scalper unless you're going in with the person(s) you sold your tickets to.
I originally got a pair of 21st row seats right next to the end stage in the
center of the floor and when a friend bailed a couple days after I bought
them, I was able to sell my extra on eBay for a few hundred bucks, thus
paying for both my tickets. The buyer met me at the Forum at a
predetermined time and location and what I had to do was present the credit
card I bought the tickets with at the door, the security dude scans my CC
with a handheld ticket printer which spit out a little receipt for each
ticket that looked like it came from 7/11 that had the seat number and in we
went. Congratulations, TM - nice try. No problem for me but the couple
behind didn't have the right credit card they bought their tickets with. I
dunno what happened with them but they were freaking out.
After a few drinks we caught some of the opening band's set. "The Answer"
was kind of like a more boring, anonymous version of The Darkness. Some
solid tunes but nothing revolutionary or memorable.
AC/DC came on right about 9pm on the money and man, they were fucking loud.
Not only loud, but really clear, especially Angus' guitar which could have
cut through a nuclear blast. Although singer Brian Johnson was a bit buried
in the mix, he sounded very strong for the entire show and overall, I'd say
the sound was among the cleanest, sharpest hard rock shows in an arena
(especially the notoriously shitty sounding Forum) I've heard in years.
Following a short CG animated cartoon introduction video on a set of big
clear video screens, they opened with "Rock and Roll Train" off the new
album followed by what I'd call the only semi deep classic cut of the night,
"Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be."
Of course, as per any AC/DC show, you get the big hits, meaning the four
main cuts from "Back in Black," as well as the usual suspects from the Bon
Scott era. What breaks the current set up is the inclusion of 5 tracks
spread throughout the main set from the new "Black Ice" album. Of those
tracks, I'd say "Anything Goes" came off the best. The title track, Black
Ice is a beer run song. Interestingly, aside from "For Those About To Rock"
and "Thunderstruck," there were no songs in the set from any Brian Johnson
album after "Back in Black" up to the new album which is basically a 20+
year chunk of their career ignored.
The band are physically really showing their age. Angus looks pretty creepy
these days and someone should tell him it's just fuckin' weird for a guy who
looks like a trollish, balding grandpa to be doing a semi-striptease in the
middle of "The Jack." Still aside from struggling a bit with the intro to
Thunderstruck, he still has all his chops even if he has slowed down a tad
as far as running around the stage from the old days. But from a musical
standpoint, the band as a whole sounded every bit as sharp and solid as they
ever have. The only real complaint I could make was that for much of the
show, the audience was pretty tame and at times it kind of sucked some of
the energy outta the show.
Overall, a really solid, kinda predictable, but highly enjoyable nearly 2
hour show right down to the silly giant inflatable "Rosie" which gyrated on
the huge train backdrop during "Whole Lotta Rosie."
T.B.
kstarheel
wrote:
cool. I'm hoping to catch them soon.
nodeerforamonth
The sound was AMAZING! Saw them in Denver last week or so and the sound was
shit. Good show, but didn't need earplugs at all. The LA show was loud,
but very clear. As it should be.
Angus wasn't moving around too much at the Denver show, but I thought it was
because of the altitude (shit... I get winded just running up & down the
stairs there, and I work out 3 days a week!) But in LA, he didn't move
around too much either. He did have a bandage on his left knee, so maybe he
was nursing a previous injury.
Another thing about the Denver show was that there were a ton of parents
bringing their kids there. Didn't see too many kids (if ANY) at the LA
Forum show.
I also noticed that they played the songs much slower this tour than when
they came around in 2000. Still, it was a great show and fun time. The
traffic in LA was unbelievable though.
"The Mighty TB" <partys...@sowcawl.ahrahr.com> wrote in message
news:O7mdnZzuhdG8FqbU...@giganews.com...
Sal Video
"nodeerforamonth" <no...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a%2%k.82$dm3...@newsfe02.iad...
> Just got back myself...
>
> The sound was AMAZING! Saw them in Denver last week or so and the sound
> was shit. Good show, but didn't need earplugs at all. The LA show was
> loud, but very clear. As it should be.
>
> Angus wasn't moving around too much at the Denver show, but I thought it
> was because of the altitude (shit... I get winded just running up & down
> the stairs there, and I work out 3 days a week!)
A whole 3 days? Wow you must be super human!
nodeerforamonth
"Sal Video" <svi...@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:aRy%k.10194$YU2....@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com...
>
> "nodeerforamonth" <no...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a%2%k.82$dm3...@newsfe02.iad...
>> Just got back myself...
>>
>> The sound was AMAZING! Saw them in Denver last week or so and the sound
>> was shit. Good show, but didn't need earplugs at all. The LA show was
>> loud, but very clear. As it should be.
>>
>> Angus wasn't moving around too much at the Denver show, but I thought it
>> was because of the altitude (shit... I get winded just running up & down
>> the stairs there, and I work out 3 days a week!)
>
> A whole 3 days? Wow you must be super human!
Well, super human compared to all the other geeks on the internets.