PLUG INTO AC/DC BACKTRACKS!

AC/DC Backtracks out 10 November!

Here are the images of the well kept secret new AC/DC box set (details on the content in the message of 21 September below). The box looks really exciting and is already on presale on acdcbacktracks.com

AC/DC reschedule 6 tour dates

AC/DC.com reports the following: lead singer Brian Johnson recently underwent a medical procedure and at the advice of his doctor is taking some time to rest.
AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour, which was set to hit Phoenix, AZ on October 1, will be postponed to a later date. Subsequent shows in Las Vegas, Louisville, Kansas City, Des Moines and Milwaukee will also be rescheduled. The tour will resume on October 16 in Washington, DC.

In the meantime, for the promotion of the new box set, ACDCROCKS.com finally added a Belgian/Dutch section and a brand new promo page has been launched: ACDCBackTracks.com . Make sure you click that page a couple of times before the big announcement on 29th September: rare movie clips alter!

Op de officiële AC/DC website wordt vermeld dat Brian Johnson's dokter hem rust hebben voorgeschreven, na een recent medisch onderzoek. De tour zal verder gaan op 16 oktober in Washington DC, maar de 6 US data tot dan zullen naar een latere datum verplaatst worden.
Ondertussen heeft ACDCROCKS.com eindelijk een Belgisch/Nederlands luik en werd er een gloednieuwe promopagina gecreëerd (ACDCBackTracks.com) naar aanloop van de big announcement op 29 september. Ga af en toe een kijkje nemen want de zeldzame filmpjes op deze site wisselen!

15 million fingers, learning how to play

It looks like AC/DC is ready to reinforce this 1977 credo by launching a brand new exclusive boxset in the shape of a real guitar amp this October, distributed solely through http://www.acdcrocks.com/. This gem would be a 3 CD - 2 DVD and 1 vinyl (plus loads of extras and goodies) masterpiece of rarities. It would be presented in an amp shaped pack, an amp that is actually working! This would make AC/DC once more a band that stimulates youngsters to pick up the guitar and play rock and roll music, as the prophecy in their 1977 Let There Be Rock song.
There will be a CD of studio rarities, two CDs featuring live rarities, a DVD disc of Family Jewels Part 3 (1992-2009 with hopefully live footage!) and a DVD disc featuring a live show from 2003 in Circus Krone, Germany. The vinyl album will have all the studio rarities. The lot will be accompanied by a 164-page book, plus loads of extras, such as three black-and-white lithographs of unpublished photos of the band in Alberts Studio in 1977, a flyer for the 1976 Lock Up Your Daughters UK tour and a poster from the 1977 European Let There Be Rock Tour.
More details and official confirmation hopefully added soon!

Het ziet ernaar uit dat AC/DC het credo uit 1977 nieuw leven wil inblazen met de lancering van een nieuwe boxset in de vorm van een gitaarversterker in oktober. De box zou alleen te verkrijgen zijn op http://www.acdcrocks.com/. De box zou 3 CD's - 2 DVD's en 1 vinyl album bevatten, plus een heleboel extra's. Het geheel verpakt in de vorm van een versterker, die daarenboven echt zou werken. Op deze manier werkt de band aan de opdracht om jongeren ertoe aan te zetten gitaar te leren spelen en rock 'n roll te maken, zoals in hun profetie "Let there be rock" uit 1977. Er komt een CD en vinyl LP met moeilijk te vinden studiomateriaal, één met onuitgegeven live materiaal, een DVD met deel 3 uit de Family Jewels collectie (1992-2009 met hopelijk live footage!) en een live DVD met de show uit 2003 in Circus Krone. Een boek van 164 pagina's maakt het helemaal af, samen met een hoop extra's zoals zwartwit litho's uit de Albert Studio 1977, een flyer van de Lock Up Your Daughters UK tour en een poster van de Let There Be Rock Tour. Hopelijk snel meer info en officiële bevestiging van deze release!

Amsterdamnation

I hope you had a superblast last night in Amsterdam!

Here's some eye candy for those about to rock, but couldn't make it to Amsterdam. Or also for those who just like to relive it - from another angle:

Photos (Prettydisorder)
Article (RTL)
Article (Parool)

Stubru (audio)

Rock 'n Roll Train + Intro (Youtube)
Thunderstruck (High Quality!)

Have fun in Amsterdam tonight!

I hope you all have a blast and a real Amsterdamnation tonight (and a safe trip home)! Post your reviews!

AC/DC Stade de France Paris!

Last night, the Stade de France in Paris was the scene for 80.000 crazy AC/DC fans to witness the band perform in France for the 4th time this year. ACDC Belgium had to be there after all the testimonials we heard about the energetic enthusiasm of the French crowds at previous shows. See some nice footage from around the Stade here (incredibbly hilarious - as from 1min40). The closer we got to Paris, the more AC/DC fans we could spot. Arrival at the stadium was very friendly and warm, Angus look-a-likes were shaking hands and taking pictures, drinking beers and some of them were stuffing themselves with hamburgers to secure a certain level of calory intake.

I must admit that things litterally heated up already during the course of the afternoon when a 25°C heat wave sucked the water out of our bodies while waiting for the gates to open and storm the "pelouse d'or" (fancy French name for the standing fanclub pit upfront). Technical difficulties during the sound check did not help when gates finally opened about an hour behind on schedule. Ordering beers was rather difficult, but their size (50cl) largely compensated that. It makes me laugh when I think that our neighbours in the south offer (sell with a higher margin is actually a better way to describe it: 6 € per pint) larger pints while our neighbours in the north (the Netherlands) sell much smaller ones than in Belgium. That underlines the typical Belgian compromise philosophy, I guess. Not too many spectators present yet for the first band: Café Bertrand, a typical (?) french hardrock band.

I missed most of The Answer, while I was queueing for both toilets and beer, but they started of energetic as always with lots of "merci beacoups". When halfway a sound technician messed with the volume, it became clear that their show would have been loads better at louder volume. During the break the Stade was portraying commercials for the AC/DC show, anounced by the sound of the Hell's Bell. Everytime this would make the crowd cheer.

Outside temperature in the meantime came down a bit with the sun being hid behind the Stade's walls. That drastically changed when the Rock 'n Roll train video hit the huge video screen. The band in great shape as most of the other times and particularly into pleasing the French crowd. It is true that the crowd was heavier than anywhere else. Holding tight to the mojo barrier beside us (Mal's side against cat walk) and trying to breath normally, a weird heating effect was playing: barrier right temperature was about 23°C and from barrier left an everlasting heat wave (must have been 40°C+) tried to escape from the pit. No wonder that after 6 songs a thunderstorm emerged, marked with the occasional Thunderstruck. No changes in the setlist (while everyone was silently hoping that Ride On would be added), but it was the first time that I heard Dog Eat Dog live: Brian is doing this track with impeccable brio and incredible voice!

Instead of rocking all the way during Let There Be Rock, this time I had to stay focussed on survival. Very nice show and atmosphere, thousands € worth of devil horned lighting, friendly crowd and excellent well deserved hotel afterwards! We salute you Paris!

More nice pictures: here.

Ac/Dc fan packs now available in Belgium

De volgende 4 geremasterde AC/DC albums zijn nu verkrijgbaar als limited edition box set: For Those About to Rock, Back in Black, Highway to Hell en High Voltage. Bij de aanblik van de mooie cardboard doosjes, kreeg in last van een klein gevoel van nostalgie: het doosje (met daarin een cd, key ring, gitaar pick, een sticker en een tijdelijke tattoo) heeft erg veel weg van een mini uitvoering van de op vinyl verschenen 3 LP box met daarin Dirty Deeds, Powerage en High Voltage. Het concept is niet nieuw dus, maar het ziet er wel leuk uit - en betaalbaar! Een aanrader voor wie de muziek nog niet op CD heeft! Ook de Live at Donnington DVD is nu opnieuw beschikbaar als limited edition.

The following 4 remastered AC/DC albums are available as limited edition box seg: For Those About to Rock, Back in Black, Highway to Hell and High Voltage. I became rather nostalgic when opening this beautiful cardboard box: it looks a lot like the boxed LP set with Dirty Deeds, Powerage and High Voltage from the early 80's. This one has also some accessories: a key chain, guitar pick, a sticker and a temporary tattoo. So the concept isn't new, but it has a nice (affordable) touch to it. Ideal pick up for those who don't have these on CD yet. The Live at Donnington DVD has also been reissued as a limited edition.

1 on 40 Australians plan to see AC/DC's Black Ice tour!

Ongeveer 1 op 40 Australiërs is van plan om AC/DC's Black Ice tour bij te wonen begin volgend jaar. Volgens de organisatie werden een half miljoen tickets in no time verkocht. Dat maakt de Black Ice tour de snelst verkopende tour ooit in het land van de kangeroes. Er werden twee extra concerten ingelegd in Sydney en Melbourne nadat de eerste show uitverkocht in 10 minuten. Perth en Brisbane hebben allebei ook een tweede show uitverkocht. Perth was zelfs uitverkocht in 7 minuten tijd!

About one in every 40 Australians plan to see rock legends AC/DC when their Black Ice tour comes Down Under early next year. Promoters say about 500,000 tickets were sold in no time. That makes it the fastest-selling concert tour ever offered in Australia. Two extra concerts have been added in both Sydney and Melbourne after the first sold out within 10 minutes. Perth and Brisbane have each sold out a second concert. Fans in Perth bought all the tickets for the first concert in just seven minutes.

Drive Like Maria opening for AC/DC in Amsterdam

According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Belgian/Dutch band Drive Like Maria will be opening up for The Answer and AC/DC in a sold out Amsterdam Arena on 23 June.

Volgens de krant De Telegraaf speelt de Belgisch-Nederlandse band Drive Like Maria op dinsdag 23 juni in het voorprogramma van The Answer en AC/DC in de uitverkochte Amsterdam Arena.
Drive Like Maria stond in maart al in een uitverkocht Rotown in Rotterdam en Paradiso in Amsterdam om het album Elmwood in Nederland uit te brengen. In 2005 won de band de Global Battle of the Bands. Hij eindigden als tweede in de internationale GBOB-finale in het Londense Astoria. De band greep net naast de hoofdprijs van ruim 67.000 euro, maar haalde wel een aantal optredens in Amerika en Mexico en een platendeal bij PIAS binnen.