The opening, featuring a video of Angus inside a completely out-of-control train, drove the nearly 70,000 people wild, who jumped around forming a sea of flashing red horns.
By Daniel Dystyler
I think I'm a lucky guy.
In terms of "being able to see the most important bands of my life live" (bands that I spent a lot of my time listening to, reading liner notes, translating lyrics, learning the songs, watching videos and fighting over), I have no doubts:
I'm a lucky guy!!!
I started liking Heavy Metal when I was 13, but it wasn't until 7 years later that I discovered what it meant to see one of these "Bands of My Life" live.
It was October 1989 and Metallica came with the “…And Justice For All” tour. Unforgettable. So unforgettable that after seeing the show on Friday, I woke up very early and bought tickets for Saturday. Two consecutive days of Metallica!!! Truly unforgettable.
And that left me wanting more, and from 1989 to 1996 I managed to quench my thirst: Iron Maiden on the Fear of the Dark tour (in Rio and São Paulo), Ozzy at Pacaembu, Scorpions at Olímpia, Black Sabbath at Ibirapuera, Motorhead, Ramones, Guns N' Roses, Kiss, Queensrÿche, and so on.
That's why I'm a lucky guy: In just a few years, I managed to see ALL the "Bands of My Life". And if this text were the beginning of some Asterix adventure, someone would say:
“All of them? No! A band populated by indomitable Australians still resists the invader. And life is anything but easy for Daniel and the garrisons of Roman legionaries in the fortified camps of Babaorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Petibonum…” (:-D)
But finally in 2009, I saw it. The missing band.
Now, yes. ALL OF THEM!!!
The AC/DC show at Morumbi was (also) unforgettable.
Not only did I "complete my collection," but the show itself was amazing.
In the final stretch of the show, they unleashed a nearly half-hour sequence of the greatest hits from AC/DC's 40-year history.
The opening, with a video of an out-of-control Angus inside a completely runaway train, drove the nearly 70,000 people wild, who jumped around forming a sea of flashing red horns. An explosion at the end of the video with a real locomotive entering the stage, and then finally the scene I'd been waiting so long to see:
AC/DC being what they've always been: AC/DC!!! No surprises or inventions. Angus Young in his traditional attire running around like a madman on stage; Brian Johnson with his beret and his unmistakable vocals; and the solid and well-positioned defense with Malcolm Young and Cliff Williams as two defenders protecting Phil Rudd on drums (or in goal) (:-D).
From there, it was almost two hours of everything any fan could expect and want to see: Pentatonics all the time and everywhere, played by the guitarist who best exploits "the darn 5 notes" (maybe he loses to Zack? I don't know...); an inflatable Rosie riding the Locomotive; a solo lying down spinning wildly on the floor; the traditional striptease; the Bell of Hell with Brian Johnson hanging and swinging; Angus's fingers on his head simulating horns looking at the audience; cannons exploding; the usual Gibson SG, in short: Everything I wanted to see, I saw.
The setlist, with 19 songs, was very cleverly put together: It forced the stadium to jump the whole time, while also providing some "small doses of oxygen," just enough to keep us alive until the final burst of energy for an apotheotic ending.
In the first 13 songs, huge hits that literally made the stadium shake (like “Rock'n Roll Train”, “Back In Black”, “Big Jack”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, “Thunderstruck”, “Hells Bells” and “Shoot To Thrill”) were mixed with songs that gave room to at least breathe (like “Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be”, “Shot Down In Flames”, “Dog Eat Dog”, “The Jack” and the new “Black Ice” and “War Machine”).
And that's how they led the 70,000 people to the final stretch of the show, where they unleashed an unbelievable almost half-hour sequence of the greatest hits from AC/DC's 40-year history!!!
An unforgettable sequence that made me feel like I was inside that train driven by the crazed Angus:
They played “You Shook Me All Night Long” and then “TNT”. Next, they launched into “Whole Lotta Rosie” and rocked out with “Let There Be Rock”. They took a 2-minute break (I think so my legs would stop aching from jumping so much) and came back with “Highway To Hell”.
And when I couldn't take it anymore, they closed the show with the song I most wanted to hear. The song I'd dreamed of seeing since 1985 when I watched the live broadcast of Rock in Rio on Rede Globo. The song that brings the cannons and explodes everything. The song that, after the solo, in the final part (when it gets fast), gives me goosebumps. Always. Wherever I am (it's stronger than me. This only happens to me with this song and the final part of Megadeth's Peace Sells. I don't know why...).
And that's how they greeted us to end the unforgettable night. With "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)". Well, that's the best description I can give of the emotions of this historic show. Of course, to understand a show like that you have to be there, reading about it won't help. But everyone knows that. It's stating the obvious.
And the huge storm that hit me was so insignificant compared to what this show represented that only now (when I used the term "beating a dead horse"), did I remember that it rained. Irrelevant.
So that's it. I've completed my collection.
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