AC/DC, the tension is rising, nervous crackling, alternating current/direct current, is that compatible with water? The first long downpour has already passed, but two minutes before the concert begins – at exactly three minutes past eight – thousands of people in the arena and on the east stand of the Olympic Stadium are putting on their rain ponchos. At least there is no thunderstorm, the only flashes of lightning can be seen in the Australian band’s logo on the screen. In the beautifully spooky light, thousands of devil’s ears on the fans’ heads shine, red, like the sports car in the intro on the two LED screens.
A white-haired little man tiptoes onto the stage in deep sky-blue velvet, shorts of course. Every drop is blown dry by a hot solo from Angus Young. Brian Johnson, the eternal flat cap pub freak, sings “If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It”. Clenched fist, Hulk bicep pose, muscular opening in front of 66,000 fans at the first of two sold-out concerts in Munich. Brian Johnson promises: “We’re going to have fun today – Munich style.”
And if Munich has a style today, it’s black. “Back in Black” – AC/DC pull out the hammer from the 1980 album of the same name, the most successful album by a band in rock history, the first in which Johnson took over for the drunkenly dying Bon Scott. They can still do it: “Demon Fire” is one of the singles from the current album from 2020, then “Power Up”, which is also the name of the first tour in eight years. It’s about a bad guy, “raised by a jackal, brought into the world as an evil seed”.
Of course, the older men on stage are actually nice guys, but a little bit of Satan worship, a little bit of a teenager, a little bit of a child and woman scarer – Munich is only too happy to play the hard rock game these days. “Thunder, Thunder, Thunder” thunders from the speakers. AC/DC have 48 Marshall speakers piled up behind them.
Mayor Reiter knew the tour plans in advance
With the first of two concerts in the Olympic Stadium, AC/DC have finally arrived where it all began. Of course, not their legendary career, which the two Scottish-born brothers Malcom and Angus Young started on New Year’s Eve 1973 in the Chequeurs Nightclub in Sydney, Australia. But this current “Power Up” tour saw the light of day in Munich, so to speak. Because here it was officially confirmed what hardcore hard rock fans had long been longing for: AC/DC would go on a world tour and come to Germany for the first time in eight years.
At least that was what the mayor Dieter Reiter, who had already been informed about the plans for the Olympic Park, said at a city council meeting on the European Championship fan festival: If Ed Sheeran played at Munich’s Theresienwiese, he, as a rock fan, would rather go to the Olympic Stadium to see AC/DC on June 12. This was the beginning of the world, industry magazines such as Rolling Stones or Metal Hammer reported large.
:What you need to know about AC/DC
Where does the name come from? Why does the guitarist always wear a school uniform? Who should be afraid of the music – and who shouldn’t? AC/DC knowledge that can impress even experts.
With the start of the German concerts in Gelsenkirchen (after Munich there are also concerts in Dresden, June 17th/19th, Hockenheim, July 13th, Stuttgart, July 17th, Nuremberg, July 27th, Hanover, July 31st and August 4th), the hard rock gentlemen made musical headlines again. They played 23 songs and ended explosively with “TNT”.
You can read a detailed review of the concert on Monday at sz.de/muenchen.