Aussie's Favourite Rockers Bring The 'Black Ice Tour' Down Under

Source: Ainslee Hunter

Dust off your flannos, AC/DC’s 'Black Ice Tour' has finally landed on our shores. The massive stadium set-up arrived in 92 shipping containers and will need 70 big rigs to haul it to a capital city near you for their 11 record-breaking shows.

Brian Johnson, at their photo call scoffed at talks of retirement with “not while I can still walk” and in this homecoming, they had “saved the best for last”.

Fresh from winning their first ever Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, AC/DC are also celebrating their unique collaboration with Marvel Studios on the Iron Man 2 Soundtrack.

The track listing on ‘AC/DC: Iron Man 2’ looks like a greatest hits compilation from over 30 years of recording and you know the supercharged music is a perfect match for Robert Downey Jnr’s powerhouse hero.

The new music video for ‘Shoot To Thrill’, a song originally recorded for AC/DC’s album ‘Back in Black’, was shot last month in Buenos Aires. A combination of live performance footage from their ‘Black Ice’ show and exclusive footage from ‘Iron Man 2’, it surely satisfies hard-core rock fans and comic book fans alike.

AC/DC have not lost any of their energy and if they need oxygen masks on their rider to keep it up, so be it. AC/DC are supported by Wolfmother on this tour, their first in Australia since 2001.

If you are not among the 600,000 people holding an AC/DC ticket for the ‘Black Ice Tour’, you will be missing the biggest and most spectacular rock event Australia has ever seen.

Sort yourself out now. For tickets head to www.premier.ticketek.com.au.

February 11 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

February 13 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

February 15 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

February 18 ANZ Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park

February 20 ANZ Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park

February 22 ANZ Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park

February 25 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, Nathan

February 27 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, Nathan

March 2 Adelaide Oval, North Adelaide

March 6 Subiaco Oval, Perth

March 8 Subiaco Oval, Perth

Copyright : Vh1 Australia

The Week in AC/DC (02.07.2010)

This week we launched the AC/DC Australia/New Zealand store, which features a bunch of Black Ice gear, including a commemorative "Back in Australia" tee. If you haven't picked out a shirt for the shows, now's the perfect time. Head over to the store and check it out.

A few months back we announced that AC/DC was up for a few Grammy Awards and on Sunday night, after years of nominations, the boys took home their first ever Grammy Award for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for Black Ice's "War Machine." Among their past nominations was a 1989 nomination for Blow Up Your Video (which came out in the U.S. twenty-two years ago this past week) and a 1994 nomination for "Highway to Hell." You can read more about it all here.

By the time the band touches down in Melbourne next week fans will have transformed the city's "AC/DC Lane" into a shrine for the band, with album covers, photos and more covering the street's walls. According the Herald Sun, as part of the shrine, Melbourne's Cherry Bar (where many fans will be congregating before the show) will be displaying "letters penned by the band's original front man Bon Scott to his wife Irene." James Young, the owner of the bar (but not a long lost Young brother), says that the AC/DC Lane shrine plans "to bring AC/DC to life through AC/DC-inspired art and music." He also declares Melbourne "the rock capital of the world." Phil Rudd might agree, but we're sure there are a few people around the world who might take Mr. Young to task on that claim.

The shrine on AC/DC Lane isn't the only Melbourne tribute currently going on. For the past few months, Melbourne's Arts Centre has been running their "AC/DC Australia's Family Jewels" exhibit, featuring all sorts of Acca Dacca rarities, including Bon Scott's leather jacket and a couple of Angus's old costumes. It's the first band-approved exhibition, so it's definitely worth checking out if you're in Melbourne and it's only there until the 28th, so time's running out.

New Zealand! One out of forty of you went to the shows, so how were they? We want to know so head over to the forums and let us know!

...and that's it for this week. On to Melbourne!

AC/DC ham it up in Sydney

AC/DC rockers Brian Johnson and Angus Young said they couldn't be happier to be back in Australia as they showed off their youthful spirits, joking around in Sydney 5 hours ago.

The duo made comical poses and hammed it up in a press call at a Sydney hotel on Saturday afternoon ahead of their band's Australian tour which kicks off in Melbourne on Thursday.

"Geez nice weather lads, what a pisser," Johnson, 62, laughed, commenting on the rain.

The pair, dressed in jeans and caps, made funny faces as they posed together for photographers, with Young, 54, laughing: "Any closer and there'll be talk".

Johnson chipped in: "Did anyone bring a sandwich, I'm starving".

AC/DC have just wrapped up the New Zealand leg of their Black Ice tour, which followed sell-out concerts across America and Europe.

Johnson said they were thrilled to be back in the country for their first Australian concerts since 2001.

"It's been fantastic, we've all had a great time," Johnson said.

"The crowds have been amazing all around the world, but we've saved the best for last, old Aussie.

"We're just looking forward to it, there's just too much history here."

Young said he was looking forward to "seeing old buddies".

"It's good to be back," he said.

AC/DC's Australian concerts were the fastest selling in the country's history.

Johnson was quick to dismiss any suggestions of retirement, saying: "Retire? I'll get beaten up by the boys. Not while I can still walk".

The band's promoter Gary Van Egmond said AC/DC still had as much energy as ever.

"They've never changed, they're still the same guys, really professional, taking care of business," he said.

"It's just high energy rock and roll."

Last week, AC/DC won their first Grammy, and Van Egmond said they group had now become relevant to a whole new generation.

"They cross a whole new audience now of having three generations of people, a 15-year-old, a father and a grandfather and the female audience has increased enormously," he said.

AC/DC will play concerts in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, taking some 130 road crew with them.

After Perth, they're set for their final shows in Japan.

In their 30 years of rocking, AC/DC have sold more than 200 million records worldwide.

Black Ice, released in 2008, has sold close to seven million copies.

Their next album, a collaboration with the movie Iron Man 2 will be released in April.

© 2010 AAP

KATHERINE FIELD

Last man to see late AC/DC frontman missing at sea for three years

THE last man to see AC/DC frontman Bon Scott alive is missing and feared dead, adding another chapter to one of rock's most tragic tales.

Alistair Kinnear vanished while sailing from France to Spain in 2006. Source: Herald Sun

Alistair Kinnear left Scott in his car to sleep off a night of excess during a freezing London winter, and returned to find his friend dead.

On the 30th anniversary of Scott's death, Kinnear is at the centre of his own mystery after disappearing with a yacht on the way to Spain.

If dead, he takes with him the only account of Scott's final hours, which his family says haunted him throughout his life.

The musician had set sail on 13m wooden-hull sloop Danara from Marseille, France, with two men in July 2006. They were heading to Spain, then vanished.

"We tried to get the coast guard and everybody else to look, but nobody could find anything," son Daniel said yesterday. "So he's missing, not legally declared dead. We have to wait seven years for that to happen."

Daniel describes his father as a "peaceful and calm individual", who had been disturbed by Scott's death at age 33. He died in Kinnear's car after a night at the Music Machine club in Camden Town on February 20, 1980.

Five years ago he came forward to detail the night's events, confirming he had driven Scott home.

During the drive he noticed Bon had "drifted into unconsciousness" and, unable to lift him out of the car, he left him for the night.

"I put the front passenger seat back so that he could lie flat, covered him with a blanket, left a note with my address and phone number on it, and staggered upstairs to bed," he told Classic Rock magazine.

A friend told him in the morning that the car was empty, but later that night he "was shocked to find Bon still lying flat in the front seat, obviously in a bad way"

David Murray
From: Herald Sun

AC/DC Lane to be transformed into shrine to world's favourite hard-rock band

Geraldine Mitchell
From: Herald Sun

AC/DC Lane will be transformed into a shrine chronicling the history of the world's favourite hard-rock band just in time for their arrival next week.

Fans are expected to descend on the city lane, which runs off Flinders Lane, as the Australian leg of AC/DC's Black Ice world tour kicks off in Melbourne on Thursday.

Letters penned by the band's original front man Bon Scott to his wife Irene will also be on display for the first time at Cherry Bar.

Cherry Bar co-owner James Young said AC/DC photos and posters would cover the walls of the lane.

"We plan to bring AC/DC to life through AC/DC-inspired art and music," he said. "It will be a one-off experience unique to Melbourne, the rock capital of the world."

Artist Ben Couzens said fans will see the history of AC/DC portrayed through photos and album covers.

Cherry Bar will open from 3pm on the 11th and 15th February and from midday on Saturday 13th February.

Young, owner of Bon Scott’s personal letters, will have the letters on display at Cherry Bar on those days.

Also Cherry and artist Ben Couzens have council approval for a AC/DC art installation telling the story of AC/DC in posters through-out AC/DC Lane.

The world witnessed AC/DC in Melbourne for the first time with the ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top’ video, filmed with the band playing on the back of a truck through Swanston Street in the heart of the city.

AC/DC's Angus Young Source: HWT Image Library

"It starts with photos of the original singer Dave Evans at the bottom of the alleyway, then as you walk up the alley it includes all band members, album covers, images of Bon Scott's grave and more.

"It's my tribute the the greatest band in the world."

AC/DC Lane was officially named in 2004 to honour the band's link to Melbourne, where they lived and wrote their first two albums.

The band will play at Etihad Stadium on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.

Australian dates are:

February 11, 13, 15, Melbourne, Etihad Stadium
February 18, 20, 22, Sydney, Stadium Australia
February 25, 27, Brisbane, QSAC
March 2, Adelaide, Adelaide Oval
March 6, 8, Perth, Subicao Oval

AC/DC singer tells rockers to stop charity lectures

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Anglo-Australian rockers AC/DC have a message for rock stars out to do good -- stop lecturing audiences about giving money to charity.

The band's frontman Brian Johnson, in an interview with Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph, said people don't want rich celebrities, like Bob Geldof and Bono, telling them to think of starving children.

"I don't tell everybody they should give money - they can't afford it," said Johnson, whose band won the first Grammy of its 37-year career last weekend for best hard rock performance for its song "War Machine."

"When I was a working man I didn't want to go to a concert for some bastard to talk down to me that I should be thinking of some kid in Africa."

Johnson said his band preferred to carry out work for charity in private and spend some of their own money.

"Do a charity gig, fair enough, but not on worldwide television," he said.

Johnson's comments comes as AC/DC prepares to set off next week on its first Australian tour in nine years after already traveling across many parts of the globe on its "Black Ice" world tour.

Its album of the same name, its first release in seven years, has sold about 6.7 million copies worldwide.

Johnson, 62, who took over as singer of the group in 1980 after Bon Scott died of alcohol poisoning, said he had no plans to retire.

"Of course I don't want to retire," he said. "But I'm telling you if the body or the voice packs in there's nothing I can do. Pride is what it is. You don't want to let yourself, the band or the fans down. I'll go on as long as I can. "

(Writing by

Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Related News

• Hard rockers AC/DC finally win a Grammy
  Sun, Jan 31 2010

AC/DC'S JOHNSON OPENS UP ABOUT CANCER SCARE

AC/DC frontman BRIAN JOHNSON has opened up about the cancer scare that forced him to cancel dates on the band's 2009 tour.

The 62 year old suffered damage to his oesophagus during the band's Black Ice tour and he admits he feared he wouldn't be able to rock again.

The Highway to Hell hitmakers cancelled a string of dates in September (09) after he was diagnosed with Barrett's Syndrome.

He tells New Zealand rock radio station Voxy, "It leads to cancer of the oesophagus, then they have to take the voice box out, which stopped me right in my tracks."

Thanking doctors for detecting the abnormality early enough, he adds: "I was very lucky we caught it in time. A lot of people think it's heartburn but I knew there was something really hurting me so I went straight to the top doctor.

"I was the most scared I've ever been in my life. I didn't sleep for a week."

FROM: SHOWBIZ

AC/DC to release greatest hits ... as the Iron Man 2 soundtrack

After spurning compilation albums for nearly 40 years, the Aussie veteran rockers are to finally issue a best of ... named after the superhero sequel

Metal monoliths ... AC/DC and Iron Man. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

AC/DC are to release a greatest hits collection – they're just calling it the soundtrack to Iron Man 2. The forthcoming superhero sequel will be filled with hard-rocking anthems by the Australian band, albeit without a single new song.

Due on 19 April, about a month before Robert Downey Jr lands in cinemas in his red and gold suit, the AC/DC: Iron Man 2 album includes 15 tracks from 10 different albums. These songs range from 1976 single TNT to the 2008 track War Machine, which happens to be the name of a character played by Don Cheadle. Though the soundtrack album only features AC/DC songs, Iron Man 2 does also have an original score, composed by John Debney.

In the first Iron Man film, director Jon Favreau included AC/DC's Back in Black – but he seemed understandably smitten with Black Sabbath's 1970 hit, Iron Man. For the sequel, Favreau seems to have had a change of heart. "[Favreau's] vision and passion for AC/DC's music blend seamlessly into this incredible film," said Columbia Records co-chairman Steve Barnett.

Three decades into their career, AC/DC continue to spurn conventional compilation albums. Despite a raft of hits – and enormously successful tours – they have never packaged their songs under a glittering greatest hits banner. Still, this isn't the first time the band have collected some of their most popular singles for a movie soundtrack: they did the same for writer Stephen King's directorial debut, 1986 horror film Maximum Overdrive.

AC/DC have released a new music video for their 1980 song Shoot to Thrill, filled with footage from the movie and a recent concert appearance in Buenos Aires. But it's an executive at Marvel Studios who underlined the not very rock'n'roll, buzzword-laden corporate synergy of this enterprise: "We are pleased that Columbia and AC/DC are taking part in [this] franchise's phenomenon," Tim Connors said. "Through this relationship, the band is delivering fans supercharged Iron Man-branded music through all our combined consumer touch points, from the movie to retail outlets and even virally with the debut of the new video." We hope he then raised the devil horns.