Saturday was a tough one, I was in the pub watching England vs Australia in the Rugby when I had a message from my wife that Malcolm Young had died. Now I have been a huge fan of AC/DC over the years, I have every album, most on vinyl, including the Aussie imports that have different covers and were released under "Albert" rather than "Atlantic". I wasn't such a big fan of their later output but AC/DC and Thin Lizzy were the first rock bands that I truly loved and they both hold a very special place in my heart.
"Powerage" was the first AC/DC album that I really liked. I first heard it in the very early '80's and still think it may be their finest moment. It is a rock hard and uncompromising album, darker than the earlier albums and what was to follow. It has monsters like "Riff Raff", "Gimme a Bullet", "Sin City", "Kicked in the Teeth", "What's Next to the Moon", "Gone Shootin" and my all time favourite AC/DC song, "Down Payment Blues". People may argue that "Let There be Rock" or "Highway to Hell" or "Back in Black" are better albums but this monolithic slab of rock hard greatness, is my choice and it showcases the relaxed, unflinching backline that kept the band together, the unholy trinity of Phil Rudd, Cliff Williams and the great Malcolm Young.
Malcolm died on Saturday and whilst he had been ill, his death, so shortly after his older brother George, is a shock. He was the lynch pin for AC/DC, the leader, the coolness, the talisman. It was his inconspicuousness that set him apart, he did what he did, he wasn't the frontman, he wasn't the lead guitarist but this was his band, his songs and his life's work. I don't mean to detract from Angus, it was his show and he co-wrote the songs with his brother and I can't imagine what he must be going through but Malcolm was the unsung hero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l482T0yNkeo
On the chorus, watch as Malcolm and Cliff step up to the mic and then step back, giving centre stage to Angus and Bon but they looked so cool doing it and you know that without them, this all falls apart, they are the rock upon which the music stands, the firmest of foundations and that is why AC/DC are such an enduring and great rock and roll band, they built the songs on the strongest of foundations, the rhythm guitar of Malcolm Young. He was superb and I was amazed that they managed to continue after he left band, due to ill health. It always seemed inconceivable that the band could continue without Malcolm or Angus.
So, onto Sunday and I went to see Airbourne play in Oxford, a birthday present from a friend. Airbourne being an Aussie band and knowing that Joel O' Keeffe is a huge AC/DC fan, I wondered what the tribute would be. We had a double header, a tribute to Lemmy and Malcolm, nice touch but then they interspersed some AC/DC songs in one of their own, as a tribute to Malcolm as well and that was a bit special.
Airbourne are the natural successor to AC/DC, they a hard rock comic book writ large and it would be plagiarism were it not for the fact that they are just so good. They have lifted moves, style, energy and so much that made AC/DC great and made it their own, and somehow it all feels 100% natural, as if we are looking at the heirs to the throne, new rock royalty, no airs and graces.
They make it look so easy but you can bet that a lot of work has gone into their show. It is energetic to a degree that you won't see a live band work this hard, ever. The songs are stompers, you want to stamp your feet and bang your head, you want to scream the chorus back at them and the backline is identical to AC/DC, no fuss, leaving the centre stage to Joel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjKaYp-J9_4
Not from last night but it does give an idea on what they are about.
As I have said before, this band would've changed my life if I was 14 years old but then AC/DC beat them to it. It was a hellishly hot gig, a sold out show on a Sunday night, people packed like sardines, a mix of old and young but every face was ready to be assaulted. Rock music is so primeval, it is the beat of the heart and once you see that, you can't unsee it, it stays with you and it will become your life, it will be filled with solitary moments, of being the only one but it will also have moments where you are in a room with a few hundred like minded people and the common love means you are in a a room full of friends, you don't get that anywhere else, except, maybe with family...rockers bond, it is what we do. My youngest daughter has online friends with people she met at various gigs and and they meet at the next one. Rock was always about family and looking out for each other, it does sometimes get forgotten in the machismo of certain moments but there are arseholes in all walks of life but last night was one of the few where it was a hall that was chatty and purely there to have a good time and the band responded, they worked hard and got the best from us as we got the best from them and today I wake up with a smile on my face.
Malcolm Young is a big loss for Rock but Airbourne will make sure that the legacy of AC/DC lives on because AC/DC became Australia's greatest sons of rock, the first to break the mould and make something uniquely Australian that we know where the sound comes from at even a brief listen. From AC/DC to Rose Tattoo, the Angels, Airbourne, Screaming Jets, the Cassanovas, Rollerball and many others, AC/DC were the first and greatest but their sound lives on, the Young brothers single-handedly shaped the sound of a continent in the way that no other band has ever done before and to see the sound continue so faithfully through Airbourne, energy and honesty intact, is truly incredible.
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