AC/DC Bring Fire, Fury and a 15-Minute Guitar Sermon to Suncorp Stadium
AC/DC returned to Brisbane on Sunday night for the first of two Suncorp Stadium shows on their Power Up Tour, and the roar that greeted them felt like something primal — part Australian pride, part rock ’n’ roll gratitude that they were actually here. This is a band that’s been written off more times than you can count, yet here they are, filling a stadium and shaking the foundations like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
First things first: Brian Johnson is back where he belongs — out front, cap pulled low, voice ragged and roaring, barreling through a setlist that could flatten buildings. And then there’s Angus Young, that eternal, manic schoolboy, this time in a yellow cap, duck-walking and shredding on his Gibson SG like the laws of physics don’t apply to him.
The current lineup — Stevie Young filling in capably for his late uncle Malcolm on rhythm guitar, Chris Chaney anchoring the low end on bass, and Matt Laug pounding the drums — is as tight and unshakeable as you’d want a modern iteration of the band to be. AC/DC has always valued solidity over reinvention, and on this tour, the engine room hums.
From the opening blast of “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”, the band treated the show like a victory lap through 50 years of riffs. “Back in Black” landed early and predictably detonated. “Demon Fire” and “Shot Down in Flames” followed with muscle, but the night truly ignited with “Thunderstruck.” Say what you want about AC/DC’s simplicity — that riff still turns a stadium into a thunderstorm.
The Bon Scott-era material, as always, hit with a special kind of electricity. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” “High Voltage” and a re-booted “Jailbreak” all felt like dispatches from a rowdier, dirtier Australia — the spirit that birthed the band in the first place. But Johnson’s own classics held their ground. “Shoot to Thrill,” “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Have a Drink on Me” reminded everyone why the Brian-fronted years own their place in the canon.
Johnson, now in his late 70s, struggled for pitch at times, particularly on the upper register runs, but honestly? No one seemed to care. There’s a charm to the gravel in his voice — the sound of a man who’s earned every crack. And whenever he faltered, Angus simply stepped forward and carved open the sky.
And speaking of Angus: the “Let There Be Rock” solo. It wasn’t just long — it was biblical. Fifteen minutes of sweat, speed, and unhinged blues-metal showmanship so extended you half-forgot what song the band started before he launched into it. This is what people pay to see: a guitarist possessed, refusing to let the moment end.
The encore — a ferocious “T.N.T” and a cannon-blasting “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” — sealed the night the only way AC/DC knows: loud, triumphant, unapologetic.
Half a century in, AC/DC isn’t reinventing anything. They don’t have to. They just show up, plug in, and level a stadium. In Brisbane, they did exactly that — and more.
Words: Sean Sennett
Photo: supplied