A massive steel stage is standing ready at Melbourne’s biggest stadium ahead of the long-awaited Australian leg of AC/DC’s Power Up tour.
It’s been a decade since AC/DC have played in Australia, and the tour has seen record-breaking ticket sales and fans camping out to get their hands on a chance to see the rock legends live in concert.
A massive stage has been built from black steel at the MCG, crammed with banks of lights and speakers. At the top hangs a giant black bell with the AC/DC logo.
The band has played to about four million people on the tour internationally, and will have an audience of 160,000 fans over two Melbourne dates starting on Wednesday, with a small number of last-minute tickets on sale.
So far there have been no special requests from Angus Young and the band for the first Australian show – in fact, consistency is everything, according to head of production Will Keating.
“Every time when they go on stage has to be exactly the same, so they don’t have to think and they can just do what they do best,” he said.
What they do best is a string of hits including Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Thunderstruck, T.N.T. and You Shook Me All Night Long.
And what happens after Angus and the lads shake the MCG? Well, it’s time for a cup of tea, according to AC/DC’s long-time Australian promoter Christo Van Egmond.
“It’s always been the way, Earl Grey or English Breakfast, it’s gotta be black,” he said.
AC/DC played their first live show in Sydney in 1973, and over the decades has become a hard-rock act that appeals across generations.
“I think it’s an absolute rite of passage for every Dad to take their kids,” Van Egmond said.
“We see a whole melting pot of society that comes here, lawyers, brickies, accountants, tradies, whatever – shoulder to shoulder, and it’s always been that way.”
The line-up is founding member Angus Young on lead guitar, Brian Johnson on vocals, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and former Jane’s Addiction bass player Chris Chaney.
Amyl & The Sniffers play support on the tour, plus a local rock act in each city: The Casanovas in Melbourne, Large Mirage in Sydney, Oscar the Wild in Adelaide, Southern River Band in Perth and Headsend in Brisbane.
AC/DC Power Up: By the numbers
* Audience so far: 3.5 million to four million
* Countries on tour schedule: 2024 Europe – 24 shows in 17 cities; 2025 North America – 12 shows 13 cities; 2025 Europe – 15 shows in 13 cities; 2025 Australia – nine shows; 2026 South America – four countries; 2026 North America – 18 shows in 17 cities.
* Production logistics: gear was shipped to Australia from the UK in 26 shipping containers. Two staging systems transported in 48 shipping containers. The main production gear will be transported across Australia in 26 trucks
* Staging is built from 300 tonnes of steel, with 28 tonnes of speakers; 1161 cases, carts, and trusses used to transport equipment
* 155 crew members on production and steel staging for the Australian tour
* Rough equivalent of 750 flights to transport crew and band around Australia
* Total kilowatts of power consumed during one stadium show for lights, audio, video, rigging: 500kw.
