Review: The ageless AC/DC electrifies Acrisure Stadium on Power Up Tour

Scott Mervis / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

How crazy is rock ’n’ roll, and the mad love for it, when AC/DC plays its biggest Pittsburgh show ever when the guys are in their 70s?

We’re talkin’ fun-loving singer Brian Johnson, 77, and beloved guitar icon Angus Young, who just hit the 70 threshold on March 31 and is still rockin’ that Catholic schoolboy uniform — a blue velvet one, with a black-and-gold tie.

They left us thunderstruck in their Pittsburgh stadium debut here Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium. 

Absence most certainly made us fonder for the band, on its first trip to the States in nine years and its first time in our town since 2009. That’s a decade and a half of hearing AC/DC walk-up and rally music roaring out of the PA systems at all sorts of games.

“We missed you!” Johnson said, greeting a crowd lit up by glowing devil horns.

Because age doesn’t seem to slow down old rock stars like the average human, AC/DC sounded very much like vintage AC/DC on the North Shore, hitting the stage with “If You Want Blood (You've Got It),” a declaration of their intentions for the evening.

Fingers hold up better than vocal cords, so Angus had the edge in this outing, but kudos to Mr. Johnson, who should have shredded that throat years ago. There’s still a sharp edge in the cat-scratch voice — no thing of beauty by conventional standards — that emerged on “Black in Black” 45 years ago. (Shoutout to the late Bon Scott as the OG of that sound.) You can tell Johnson still has a ball running around the stage because he’s all smiles.

Despite the four albums dropped in this millennium, including 2020’s “Power Up,” AC/DC spent most of the night back in that era in which they reigned all over stations like WDVE.

Because they have bangers aplenty, they could thrill us with “Back in Black” and “Thunderstruck” within the first five songs of the show, and have sufficient firepower left for later.

Angus, the hyper-focused master of the chunky power chord, blasted them out with fury and nailed those sizzling riffs and solos with precision while strutting and duck-walking the stage, white hair flying. (He played the “Sin City” solo with his tie.) They don’t need a lot of frills and props because Angus IS the show.

He was joined on guitar by his low-key nephew, Stevie Young, in the role of his late brother Malcolm. “Nephew” might make him sound young, by the way, but he’s 68.

The fresh blood in the back line — bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and drummer Matt Laug — fueled the machine with nothing fancy.

In the afternoon, white smoke rose from the Vatican for a new pope. In the evening, white smoke rose in Pittsburgh and a bell tolled for “Hells Bells,” with that devilish riff cutting through the chilly air. A fiery “Highway to Hell,” which had to be a pinch-me moment for the fans who never saw them, wasn’t far behind.

The two songs from “Power Up” — “Demon Fire” and “Shot in the Dark” — blended right in because AC/DC is not one to mess with its signature sound. Same goes with the other two tracks from this century, “Stiff Upper Lip” and “Rock 'n' Roll Train.”

The rawk was relentless and, yeah, a bit repetitive, building in intensity with “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (with a brief Angus vocal cameo), “High Voltage,” “You Shook Me All Night Long” (rock perfection) and the always-epic “Whole Lotta Rosie.”

And then there was “Let There Be Rock,” otherwise known as “let Angus rock.” He spent 17 minutes maniacally freestyling on the neck of his black SG, at one point rolling around on a riser in a confetti shower and finally running down a flight of stairs still playing a riff. Who does that? That’s nuts.

He got a well-earned two-minute break after that and then AC/DC was back for the kill with “T.N.T.” The explosions heard across the city were cannon fire and fireworks on the finale of “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).”

And we salute THEM, because AC/DC rocks, and to still do it like that, 50 years later, is insane.

Before all that we got The Pretty Reckless, fronted by Taylor Momsen, looking like a Victoria’s Secret model and flashing the seductive flair for drama she picked up in Hollywood.

They cranked out a set of echoey hard rock, with a side of goth and a lot of guitar wankery, working without the benefit of darkness or the crowd knowing the songs.

AC/DC Set List

If You Want Blood (You've Got It)

Back in Black

Demon Fire

Shot Down in Flames

Thunderstruck

Have a Drink on Me

Hells Bells

Shot in the Dark

Stiff Upper Lip

Highway to Hell

Shoot to Thrill

Sin City

Rock 'n' Roll Train

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

High Voltage

Riff Raff

You Shook Me All Night Long

Whole Lotta Rosie

Let There Be Rock

Encore

T.N.T.

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

The Pretty Reckless Set List

Death by Rock and Roll

Since You're Gone

Follow Me Down

Only Love Can Save Me Now

Sweet Things

Witches Burn

Make Me Wanna Die”

Going to Hell

Heaven Knows

Take Me Down