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Specials » Submitted by RiffRaf - Aug 26, 2009
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I wanted to share an intriguing story on what is perhaps one of the most infameous AC/DC concerts to date...: Kontich 1977
I was just 3 months old at the time, so I obviously did not go. But my neighbor went and told me a similar story to the one below when I was 12 or 13. And I always felt sorry they played so close to where I lived...and I missed out on it.
Source: http://acdcbelgium.blogspot.com/2008/11/bedlam-in-belgium-from-eye-witness.html
This is the most complete story that I have ever read, covering the events of the 1977 show in Kontich, Belgium in a very detailed way. This show resulted in the creation of the Bedlam in Belgium song, as heard on the Flick of the Switch album. Thanks to an anonymous reader of this blog who posted this as a comment to one of my posts, we can now enjoy a full report what really happened that night. Happy reading!
Worst gig I saw was AC/DC at the "Thier Brau Hof" in Kontich (near Antwerp, Belgium) in October 1977. As openers there should have been a local band called Mothers Of Track, but the word "should" indicates that the lot never showed. On top of the opening act not coming through (cuz their van ran off the road), there was something wrong with the electricity (never gotten to know what exactly). All this meant that the start of the gig was furthermore postponed, so, instead of starting around nine, AC/DC hit the lights at 22.45.
A couple of minutes into the show, outside of the venue, some fans who had more beer than common sense in their body, had a wee piss amidst the flowerbed in the front garden of an elderly lady who lived accross the street. The dear old lass phones the coppers because of some long-haired weirdos crawling all over her Petunias. In one go she also complains about the "terrible hells-bells" (she was ahead of her time) coming from the "Thier Brau Hof". Coppers promise to investigate the matter. Coppers arrive at the scene with two units (2 VW-Combi vans with 3 coppers each) and go have a talk with the lady who stands befuddled between rows of broken flowers. Coppers also notice that there's more than just a neighbourhood party going on at the "Thier Brau Hof". Coppers check with the station to see if there was anything out of the ordinary planned at said location. Aside from a Darts contest the next day and a Bar-B-Q, organized by the local fire department the previous day, nothing's on the calendar. Coppers pull-up their pants, sniff loudly and head towards the cauldron of decibels accross the boulevard. Coppers enter the premises through the back door and try to speak with someone in charge. Meanwhile, the second squad, outside the building, get confirmation that whatever is going on inside the "Thier Brau Hof", it is certainly not koosher and certainly has no permission to lift the tiles off the roof, noise-wise. Second squad enter through the main entrance and are greeted with boo-boo-hiss-hiss, a couple of half empty (half full?) beer cups fly in their general direction. Coppers feel threathened, so coppers call for extensive back-up. In the mean time, the first squad is hanging by the side of the stage, half deaf by this time, speaking with the organizer of the gig and asking to turn down the sound, not because there's an infraction, but because they can't understand a bleedin' word that's being said. Back outside, the 2nd squad is joined by a detachement of "Gendarmes" (state police, [gents d'armes: gents = people/men, d'armes = of arms... Gendarmes = Men Of Arms]) who have Barracks just a couple of miles down the boulevard. Smack in the middle of "Let There Be Rock" the Gendarmes and 2nd police squad enter the building through the main entrance, with the sole purpose of stopping the gig, as no-one bothered to ask for a permission to have a party where there would be substantial noise after 22:00Hrs.
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