AC/DC Full Live show 1975!

Enjoy this full audio show in relative great audio from the HIGH VOLTAGE tour in July 1975!  Mind the solo during Baby Please Don't Go: it lasts an eternity and was played by Angus from the balcony.  The concert hall itself looks just awesome: thank you Thomas M for sharing these pictures of the Albert Hall!

Bedlam in Kontich 1977: the story behind Bedlam in Belgium (update)

"Stage was stage, Cops enraged, Crying for more, It was war, war, war" 

The above is an excerpt from the lyrics to the song Bedlam in Belgium on the Flick of the Switch album (August 1983). The song defininately marked Belgium as an (infamous) spot onto the AC/DC World Map! 

For the last day of the EU leg of the Let There Be Rock-tour (9 October 1977), AC/DC was scheduled in Dancing Thierbrau in Kontich, Belgium, a concert organised by the Outlaws' Mechelen chapter.   The show was organised in the sports hall next to the actual pub (where liters of Dortmunder Thierbrau pils were consumed).  There weren't actually a lot of rock shows organised in the Thierbrau, so this was likely a one off.  In those days, the Outlaws did the security for some of the AC/DC shows in Belgium.  An eye witness told me it was rather scary to buy an entrance ticket out of a cigar box from one of the bikers. This is what the Dancing looked like.  It is now a takeaway:

The sports hall was not really accomodated to host rock shows: the place had chairs and a stage made of wooden beer crats.  The sports hall did not have the right power requirements to supply high voltage rock and roll:  that was the reason the crew needed to head to brussels and look for power group equipment, making the show start later than scheduled.  Meantime band and crew, and also locals could literally warmup, making use of the basket ball rings.

Some guys were chilling on a chair, waiting for the show to begin, until Angus started suddenly playing solos out of the dressing room.  That sound was really loud an claimed by our eye witness to be much louder than any other band claiming at the time that they were louder than anything else.  

At 9,30 pm the band could finally start playing.  The hour indicated on the clock on the picture below, taken during the first notes of Live Wire:

Kontich had a strict 11 p.m. noise curfew, but the band was still performing. A small riot broke out when the local police tried to prevent the band from playing.  They had to call for extra forces.  What followed is a cat and mouse play between the band and the police forces, almost like a slapstick comedy.  Cops followed Angus, who had jumped off stage duckwalking, into the crowd and hit him.  Cliff Williams, who was then 4 months in AC/DC, also hit one cop with his bass guitar!  The song also suggests fire arms being shown to enforce silence. 

You can read a full second to second report here: http://acdcbelgium.blogspot.fr/2008/11/bedlam-in-belgium-from-eye-witness.html 

A warm thank you to Jimmy Jumper and especially to DannyC for his wonderful pictures of the Kontich show and the entrance ticket.  New witness stories are always welcome.  Contact me via the link on the mainpage left.  All pictures in this article are from the Bedlam in Belgium night of 9 October in Kontich, Belgium.

48000 albums & 696000 songs sold via iTunes in 1 week

In only a week's time after AC/DC made their entire back catalogue available on iTunes, the band sold already more than 48000 albums and 696000 songs on Apple's digital music library.  These are only sales figures for the USA, so the real numbers are probably way higher.
The band who have been long against digitally publishing their songs, and were amongst the last ones standing, finally made its back catalogue available on 19 November.

The most successful album is Back in Black (15000 albums sold) and Thunderstruck is the most successful single download (85000 purchases a week)

Oh, and by the way.... Stay tuned for some exciting news in the next couple of days!  It might be related to the band's Bedlam in Belgium in 1977....

New video clip YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG

Click here:

You Shook Me All Night Long - Live at River Plate

Win een exclusieve luistersessie van AC/DC en val misschien in nog veel meer prijzen....

Heb je zin om het nieuwe AC/DC album Live at River Plate in avant premiere te beluisteren?  Dan moet je op de website van Studio Brussel zijn.  Op 12 november (dat is dus vóór de officiële release datum) kan je het album exclusief gaan voorbeluisteren in gezelschap van een frisse pint en borrelnootjes op de kantoren van Sony Music Belgium.  Je moet natuurlijk wel een (aartsmoeilijke) wedstrijdvraag beantwoorden, maar om de trouwe lezers van deze blog te belonen, kan je het antwoord hier vinden.

Eens ter plaatse bij de happy few kan je nog een pak meer prijzen winnen, waaronder een gesigneerde poster van de band, het nieuwe album op vinyl en ander lekkers.  Good luck!

A new album for November!

AC/DC will release AC/DC Live At River Plate, their first live album in 20 years, on Monday November 19th. AC/DC Live At River Plate was recorded in Buenos Aires in December 2009 when nearly 200,000 fans (over 3 sold-out nights) thunderously welcomed AC/DC back after a 13-year absence from Argentina. AC/DC Live At River Plate captures the legendary grandeur, excitement and energy that AC/DC’s live performances are renowned for. This ultimate live recording chronicles one of the largest shows from their massively successful Black Ice World Tour (where they performed to over 5 million fans in 108 cities in over 28 countries). The 19 tracks on AC/DC Live At River Plate span AC/DC’s extensive repertoire, including old and new classics like “Back In Black,” “Thunderstruck,” “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Rock N Roll Train” (see below for full track listing). AC/DC Live At River Plate will be available as a special 3 disc red vinyl package as well as a special 2-CD package featuring multiple covers and a special 24-page booklet.


AC/DC Live At River Plate is available for pre-order at http://www.ACDC.com

AC/DC Live At River Plate track listing is as follows:

1. Rock N Roll Train

2. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be

3. Back In Black

4. Big Jack

5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

6. Shot Down In Flames

7. Thunderstruck

8. Black Ice

9. The Jack

10. Hells Bells

11. Shoot To Thrill

12. War Machine

13. Dog Eat Dog

14. You Shook Me All Night Long

15. T.N.T.

16. Whole Lotta Rosie

17. Let There Be Rock

18. Highway To Hell

19. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)


Check out the trailer for AC/DC Live At River Plate

(very) premium AC/DC wine now available

After the 4 crus (see previous post), winehouse Warburn makes now a limited edition case available to (wealthy) fans.  The gem is a limited wooden box, containing 6 bottles of premium shiraz.  Each bottle is glas etch signed by a band member (also by Bon ...?!?!).  One bottle seems to be signed by all 5.
I'd buy one immediately, but you'll have to make 699 € available from your savings account, money I'd rather invest in buying a couple of tickets and airplane vouchers for the next world tour.  Cheers!