London, April 14, 2009

Saw a damn with faint praise review of the April 14 concert on the web:
AC/DC’s Hard Rock Rises Above Striptease, Blow-Up Rosie: Review

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- AC/DC is dragging some seriously silly stage props around the world for its latest tour, all straight from the center of a male teenage mind. A demonic, fireball-spewing runaway steam train; cannons; and a fat, inflated comic-book whore -- who puffs up and wobbles during “Whole Lotta Rosie” -- are all present and politically incorrect during the show in London, which continues again tonight at the O2 arena.
Guitarist Angus Young, 54, still sports the school uniform adopted as his trademark stage wear in the early 1970s. He sheds his blazer, shirt and shorts in an onstage striptease, generating plenty of screams from the female contingent of the audience. Most of the 20,000-strong crowd are not there to see Young just in his boxers, with the band’s logo emblazoned across his buttocks. However amusing, such antics are distractions from the real business of hard rock ‘n’ roll, the sort of thing that has shifted more than 200 million albums by the Australian band.
AC/DC fires out 19 classics over the two-hour set, drawing from all phases of its 36-year career. Its rock easily eclipses the stage show. It is a safe bet that the Black Ice tour will continue this way as the band visits Europe and North America.
Each song has a base of cast-iron blues and dirty grind delivered by a tight rhythm section and a stack of Marshall amplifiers. Young chops out riffs as basic as breeze blocks and squeals through the musically superfluous notes of the obligatory virtuosic solos.
Ludicrous Lyrics
Lyrical concerns swagger between the ludicrous and the inappropriately unreconstructed. Robert Johnson reputedly sold his soul for his blues prowess. AC/DC’s vocalist Brian Johnson uses his holler, during the filthy blues of “The Jack,” to ponder sexual disease, pausing only for images of female audience members to be displayed on the giant stage screens.
AC/DC excel at being AC/DC, delivering uncomplicated hard rock. Only the plodding title track from 2008’s “Black Ice” album causes a surge toward the bars.
Innovation would be betrayal: AC/DC is a living part of rock history. As such, AC/DC is tremendous fun and deserves to be seen, and enjoyed, in concert by all music fans. Once will probably be enough though. Rating: ***.

Some people, really! So, I had to email him with my reaction:


Dear Mr. Heller,

While you got a few things right, clearly you are not a real AC/DC fan, as demonstrated by the last line of your review: "[Seeing AC/DC] once will probably be enough." And Angus Young's guitar playing easily rates a significantly higher ranking than the dismissive "chops out riffs as basic as breeze blocks and squeals through the musically superfluos notes of the obligatory virtuosic solos." Angus does some incredible, wonderful, fabulously evocative things with that Gibson SG and remember, it's a rock, guitar band; by definition, guitar solos cannot be superfluous.

AC/DC has never been defensive about their music, including the lyrics, however much you may consider them inappropriately unreconstructed. Their swagger--and humor-- is fully intended, basic elements in classic rock n roll. The distaste you convey makes one wonder if you keep your pinky delicately curled as you drink your tea.

However, as you very correctly state: "AC/DC excel at being AC/DC, delivering uncomplicated hard rock." A bit harsh to say "Innovation would be betrayal" since as you point out, their record sales have not suffered and truly, "AC/DC is a living part of rock history. " Overall, your review **. Advice: lighten up, dude, go to at least one more AC/DC concert and let yourself unreconstructedly enjoy it.

Why do they send negative people to review concerts? Or is he just old? The rock n roll power of the music he got, but how did he miss the infectious exuberance AC/DC displays and engenders? The whole fun feel, the self-mocking attitude of the performances?