AC/DC's 'Rock Or Bust' World Tour Begins
Australian Rock legends AC/DC officially kicked off their 'Rock or Bust' concert world tour on May 5th in the Netherlands' Arnhem, and band drummer Chris Slade was still on board.
Slade first came back to perform at the Grammy awards and later for the Coachella music festival. (Coachella was the first AC/DC concert since guitarist Malcolm Young retired for health related reasons.) Being present for the Arnhem show seems to confirm Slade will stay around and keep playing. Slade originally performed with the band back in 1989-1994.
The band's longtime drummer, Phil Rudd, is still absent while he is dealing with an ongoing legal battle. Rudd's legal troubles see him dealing with charges of possession of cannabis and methamphetamine as well as threatening to kill. Rudd was arrested on the charges back in November and he has recently pleaded guilty to the crimes. Slade is taking his place behind the kit as a result for the duration of the tour.
Taking over for the retired Malcolm Young is Malcolm's nephew, Stevie. Stevie was a logical choice for the band -- he had previously filled in, and had spent a lot of time around the group.
As with the performance at Coachella, these concerts have a 20-song set (which you can check out below).
The Gelredome is a massive venue and the band managed to fill it with their sound. They kicked off the show with Rock Or Bust and then included a mix of classics and new material in the set list. After the Rock or Bust title track, they played "Shoot to Thrill" (from their seminal album Back in Black) and, after "Hell Ain't A Bad Place to Be," the sure-fire fan-pleaser "Back in Black."
The set had plenty of their best known songs, including "Hells Bells," "T.N.T.," "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Thunderstruck," "High Voltage," "Shot Down in Flames," "Have A Drink On Me," "Let Their Be Rock," and more! AC/DC also performed "Play Ball" and "Baptism by Fire" from the new Rock or Bust album.
The set ended with a not one but two song encore: first a raucous rendition of "Highway to Hell," and then their by-now traditional performance of "For Those About To Rock."
AC/DC will be touring the world all summer (and up to December 18th in New Zealand), and there are still tickets for the AC/DC 2015 tour on sale. Three additional dates were added to the Australian leg of the tour within a half hour of tickets going on sale due to overwhelming fan demand -- though AC/DC may be the most successful Australian musical export in history, they still enjoy tremendous popularity back home some 40 years after the act formed. All but one Australian concert had to be scheduled for venues with capacity over 50,000.
This is their first tour since their 2008-2010 168-concert Black Ice tour. They've named it after their 15th studio album, which came out in December. (Rock or Bust has sold well over 500,000 copies by now; it debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts. It was also the first AC/DC album which didn't include Malcolm Young, the band's founding guitarist -- Malcolm recently retired due to dementia.)
Rock Or Bust Tour Set-List
- "Rock or Bust"
- "Shoot to Thrill"
- "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be"
- "Back in Black"
- "Play Ball"
- "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
- "Thunderstruck"
- "High Voltage"
- "Rock 'N Roll Train"
- "Hells Bells"
- "Baptism by Fire"
- "You Shook Me All Night Long"
- "Sin City"
- "Shot Down in Flames"
- "Have a Drink on Me"
- "T.N.T."
- "Whole Lotta Rosie"
- "Let There Be Rock"
- "Highway to Hell"
- "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"