AC/DC‘s Power Up world tour is coming to North America next year for a stadium run that kicks off April 10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and wraps up May 28 in Cleveland, Ohio. If they stick to the script from the European leg earlier this year, expect all the big hits (“Back in Black,” “Highway to Hell,” “You Shook Me All Night Long”), fan favorites (“Let There Be Rock,” “Hight Voltage”), some deep cuts (“Rock ‘n’ Roll Train,” “Stiff Upper Lip”), and two tunes (“Demon Fire,” “Shot in the Dark”) from their 2020 LP Power Up.
There hasn’t been an AC/DC concert in North America since their appearance at the Power Trip festival in 2023, which was their first show anywhere since 2016. That night marked the final bow for Back in Black-era bassist Cliff Williams before his retirement. They brought in former Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney for the European tour this year, and he’ll be back with them next year. Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs drummer Matt Laug also joined the group for Power Trip, and he’s been with them ever since.
Singer Brian Johnson and lead guitarist Angus Young remain in the band, and Stevie Young’ll again join them on rhythm guitar, who stepped in for his uncle Malcolm once health problems forced him off the road in 2014. Stevie Young played with AC/DC on their 2014 LP Rock or Bust and the 2020 follow-up Power Up. Classic-era member Phil Rudd plays on both of those records, but he hasn’t performed live with the band since the Black Ice tour wrapped up in Bilbao, Spain, on June 28, 2010.
That Bilbao show also marked the last time that Malcolm Young appeared in public. The guitarist was facing severe cognitive issues at this point, but still managed to power through concerts. “He was still capable of knowing what he wanted to do,” Angus Young told Rolling Stone in 2014. “I had said to him, ‘Do you want to go through with what we’re doing?’ And he said, ‘Shit, yeah.’” The guitarist had to relearn many of the famous guitar parts he had written for the band. “[It] was very strange for him,” Angus said. “But he was always a confident guy, and we made it work.”
Like countless shows before it, they wrapped up the night with “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” and deafening cannon blasts. There’s no professional footage from the night, but enterprising fans assembled a video from two fans near the front of the stage. “We salute our crew,” Johnson roars at the end. “We salute you España. We salute you!”
The band has faced a lot of turmoil, loss, health setbacks, and legal issues since that night in Spain. A low point came in 2016 when Johnson was forced off the road because of hearing loss, and Axl Rose stepped in to replace him. There was a scenario at that point that Angus Young would carry on AC/DC as the last legit member standing. Fortunately, Johnson was able to rejoin the band with the help of new, advanced hearing aids. It’s impossible to say how much longer this incarnation of the band will last, so let’s all enjoy it while we still can. In the very near future, this will all just be memories.
