Steampunk ACDC
I went to the Auckland ACDC show with CDH and our friend Liz last night. It was rather enjoyable, to say the least.
Rock n' Roll train - AC/DC cashes in on Steampunk
The show kicked off with a wicked, anime style train cartoon, which ended with a massive live locomotive steaming onto stage, while ACDC launched into “Rock n Roll train”, from their new album. Johnson’s first note was perfect, setting the stage for a great show. Angus Young stole the show with his typical onstage antics – a delightful striptease during “She’s Got the Jack”, and an extended solo in “Let there be Rock.”
I love the way they’ve cashed in on the steampunk trend, in good old rock n’ roll style. The giant evil black train puffed smoke and had devil horns. The stage was outlined in cogs and gears. The only thing that spoiled the effect was two giant blowup “viking” helmets with the letter ‘A’ stamped on them. I’m not entirely sure how they contributed to the overall aesthetic?
Perhaps I’m overthinking this.
A WHOLE lotta Rosie
They played the old favorites – Back in Black, Highway to Hell and For Those About to Rock (the encore, of course), Dirty Deeds,High Voltage, TNT and Whole Lotta Rosie – during which an immense blowup woman with breats the size of a the millenium falcon )I’m trying to think of something really large and round) descented from the roof and sat astride the steampunk caboose. She wobbled there for the entire song while the band cowered under her enormous boobies. It was brill.
CDH and I had a lengthly debate about whether AC/DC counts as metal. We’ve still not come to a final conclusion.
On the one hand, AC/DC is what people who aren’t into metal think metal is. CDh noted most of the entire crowd consisted of “rockers” who thought they were “metalheads”, but wouldn’t know Amon Amarth from Iron Maiden. He said, sure they’re important to metal’s history, but so is Led Zeppelin and Uriah Heep – would you consider them metal? They also self identify as “rock n’ roll”, not metal.
Brian and Angus
However, AC/DC are incredibly important to increasing the popularity of metal the world over. I said they’ve stuck with a winning formula and with their steady rise in popularity comes the rejection from the undergound which inevitably turns a band from metal to the ambiguous “rock”. Just look at Metallica, who were considered “rock” after the black album, despite the fact the black album is still really a metal album. And I’d call Death Magnetic a metal album, too. But Metallica can no longer be a metal band. Just because AC/DC aren’t blasting out double bass rolls at 250 BPM doesn’t mean they’re not metal. And, if AC/DC aren’t metal, does that mean Manowar aren’t metal, either? Because they’re not all that dissimiliar. I’m sure they’d have words to say about that.
Also, I’ve always thought of Uriah Heep as the first progressive power metal band.
Also, also, if they put on a great show, does it matter? Not really, but CDH and I will discuss it anyway.
Thoughts?
Steff
Tags: grog fests, metal gods, metal news
