AC/DC live in Deurne 1978

On this important day of 11 November, it is important to remember.  Armistice day.  No more war.  Ever.

But this day off is actually a great occasion to update this website, and to remember also another passage of AC/DC in Belgium.  On 26 October 1978, one day earlier as planned, AC/DC played in the Arena hal in Deurne, close to Antwerp.  

We have told you the story behind Bedlam in Belgium but this concert was at least as wild: the Arena Hall was well packed with a bigger crowd than the year before in Kontich. There were also small fights, but at least no large scale riot, and without the police officers pulling the plug like in 1977.

The motorclub Outlaws was doing security for the show and they were reported to be a little over active, calming the crowd down with wooden bats.  This caused the band to intervene and to stop playing during High Voltage.  Coming to sound: the band became really known for their ear blowing loudness. Look at that wall of sound with stacks of cabinets and Marshal heads on the pictures!

Ac/dc must have been well trained for this concert, after having played already more than 100 shows in the US and Europe earlier that year.

Supporting band that night was St. Paradise (according to www.ac-dc.net), a US hard rock group formed in the same year by ex-Ted Nugent band members Derek St. Holmes (vocals & guitar) and Rob Grange (vocals & bass).  With Denny Carmassi (Montrose) on drums, they released an album the year after and then split soon after.
Thanks again to Danny for the beautiful pictures! It is important to help us remember.  And never forget!  So if you were there, don't hesitate to leave a comment and share your memories. 

Brian Johnson & Sting !

As announced earlier, Brian Johnson sings aloud on two tracks of the new Sting album.  The first track Sky Hooks and Tartan Paint nearly sounds like a joly good Geordie song.  It sounds quite fun!  Sit down relax and have some tea!

And here's one more, entitled Shipyard.  Brian does a great cameo and explores a full fledged musical style.  WOw...something my ears need to get used to!  A song with Jo Lawry and Jimmy Nail.  See you on Broadway Brian (or soon on tour with the lads, I prefer).

Limited amount of signed Brian Johnson audio books available!

There are a limited amount of signed "Rockers and Rollers" Audio books available only at www.brianjohnsonracing.com.  An abridged version of the book is read by his master's voice AND SOME ARE AUTOGRAPHED by Brian Johnson!  Thanks to acdc.com for spreading the news!

Hurry up!

Belgian AC/DC tribute bands

There are some great Belgian AC/DC cover bands out there.  Today, I'll present you two of them.
The first one is High Voltage, a band that exists since 1992 and has played over 600 shows (even in China). You might have seen the guitar god Angus Young clone before.  He also played Angus in the reknown Dutch cover band Action In DC.

The band is playing in two weeks on the Belgian cover band festival Stage on Rails (Ghislenghien).  For more info, programme and tickets, click the festival logo:

The second Belgian cover band is IC/TC, formerly known as I See/The Sea.  These youngsters have the raw power and reflect the energy of the band in the early days.  I've seen them a couple of years ago in Antwerp and I'm really curious to see how they evolved.  I hope to cross their path this summer.  
Take a look at their website for their summer tourdates.

Proud to be Belgian!

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 became a takeaway, fully destroyed recently:

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.

READ MORE in the previous posts:
http://acdcbelgium.blogspot.fr/2008/11/bedlam-in-belgium-from-eye-witness.html
http://acdcbelgium.blogspot.fr/2008/08/bedlam-in-kontich-1977.html