It’s been five years between drinks, but AC/DC are bringing their classic rock anthems and schoolboy stage antics back home for an Australian leg of their Rock or Bust world tour.
The tour will kick off in Sydney at Stadium Australia on 4 November, before heading to Brisbane (12 November), Adelaide (21 November), Perth (27 November) and their final stop in Melbourne on 6 December.
The tour will then head to New Zealand, playing Auckland (15 December) and Wellington (18 December).
The promoter, Garry Van Egmond, said to Fairfax that playing in Australia “matters a lot” to the band and that lead guitarist Angus Young, fought to keep the lowest tier of Australian ticket prices under $100. “Angus watches the tickets like a hawk,” said Van Egmond. “We could charge a lot more if we wanted, but he wants it to be affordable and he’s very sincere about it. He also doesn’t allow pre-sales.”
And while the average age of an AC/DC band member may be 63, there’s no sign of slowing down for a band now touring their 16th album in Europe, the US as well as Australasia. According to management 1.75m tickets were sold in just 24 hours when they went on sale in Europe.
A headlining performance at the Coachella Valley music and arts festival on Friday, and a second appearance on 17 April, will precipitate the beginning of their Rock or Bust world tour in Holland.
The tour will feature an amended line-up, after the guitarist, Malcolm Young, left the band in 2014 because of ill health. Young’s nephew, Stevie Young, will play in his place.
Another notable absence will be the drummer, Phil Rudd, who remains in New Zealand defending charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis. Chris Slade, a Welsh rock drummer, will resume his post having played in the band during the early 90s.
In February, shortly before taking to the Grammy awards stage for a rousing opening performance of Highway to Hell, Slade released a statement: “This is an amazing opportunity for me – after all most people don’t ever get to play with their favourite band once, let alone twice!”
AC/DC formed in 1973 when founding members and brothers, Angus and Malcolm Young, were teenagers, living in Sydney, Australia. Over the course of their four-decade career the band have sold more than 220m albums; their last release, Rock of Bust, in December, became the band’s fifth No 1 album in Australia.
The band were last seen playing in Australia and New Zealand in 2010, as part of the Black Ice world tour, which sold 750,000 tickets.
• Tickets for the Rock or Bust tour of Australia are on sale 20 April and cost $99 or $159
