Forum
Finally Some Aussie and New Zealand Dates
The Black World Tour will finally roll into home turf in January. This will be the first time AC/DC will have played in the region since February 15, 2001. Hopefully we some surprise songs from the Bon era. I might get off my ass and fly over to see them at home. Anyone else going? Confirmed Dates January 30, 2010 - Wellington, New Zealand February 6, 2010 - Aukland, New Zealand February 11, 2010 - Melbourne, Australia February 18, 2010 - Sydney, Australia February 25, 2010 - Brisbane, Australia March 2, 2010 - Adelaide, Australia March 6, 2010 - Perth, Australia
And about time too. I must admit being a bit disappointed that the Aus dates are 18 months into the tour. Was expecting the concerts to be held in Nov/Dec this year. But anyway, better late than never. I'll be going to the Adelaide show as I live here. Not sure whether I'll attend any of the other shows. As you know, reasonably large distances between cities and so fair amount of costs involved. Which concert do you think you'll attend? I've noticed that they have left a week in between Melb and Sydney shows, and also a week between Syd and Brisbane. I expect this is so they can add an extra show in each city, as demand is likely to be high. I think Melbourne will sell very quickly and perhaps be sold out in the first few days. Ethiad (formerly Telstra Dome) fits around 60,000 for a concert. AC/DC normally play 4-7 concerts at Rod Laver Arena on any other world tour, so I would reckon they would almost have enough demand to sell out 2 shows at Ethiad (ie 120,000). Sydney I'm not so sure. I think ANZ Stadium fits 80,000 for a concert. This may be enough. Not sure if there'd be enough demand for 2 shows. As I've previously mentioned on other posts, I reckon Adelaide will be the best bet to get a ticket close to the stage - ie in the reserved $150 section. On the last 5 Aussie tours, Adelaide has had probably the smallest crowds: 7-8,000 in 1981 at Memorial Drive, 15,000 in 1988 at Globe Derby Park (plus riot), 8,000 + 4,000 in 1991 at 2 shows at the new Entertainment Centre, 8,000 in 1996 at Ent Centre and only 7,000 (not sold out) in 2001 at Ent Centre. So how on earth the promoter reckons they'll sell 40,000 for Adelaide is beyond me. Sure, there is a new generation of fan (kids under 15) that have never seen them and will probably go with their parents. I reckon they'll sell 20-25,000 for Adelaide. Would love to be proved wrong. Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney shows are being sold by Ticketek: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=ACDC10 I expect on 25 May the phone lines and their website will go into meltdown.
I might go to the Adelaide show or maybe Perth. One of those two would be nice to go since 1)Adelaide is where the band first met Bon and 2)Perth is Bon country. I might just go ahead and buy tix for both.
Well if you can afford to travel to both Adelaide and Perth, and I assume here from your Country that you're origin is the US, then you may as well go the whole hog and see the entire Aussie tour! It's hard to gauge but I reckon the Melbourne show might be the best as I'd say the crowd would get more pumped than say Adelaide. But Melb also probably the hardest to get tickets close to the stage. Ethiad Stadium also has a retractable roof, but in mid Feb I suppose it's hard to say whether the roof will be open or closed (and I'm not sure whether this would affect the sound). I have never seen a concert there - I think only KISS, U2 and a few others have played there since it opened, but watching footy there is great. I've just got back from one of the Ticketek outlets here in Adelaide's CBD (there are 3 in the CBD apparently). The girl there did not have any information (I thought she might have a seating layout - assuming seats will be put on the oval) but she didn't. In fact, she hadn't even heard about the concert at all! She will get a big shock on 25 May when probably hundreds are lining up to buy tickets.
You know what malyoung91, since I have family in Canberra I could stay with them and go see the entire leg. It will be hard to get real close seats to the stage in Melbourne so I could settle with something a little further, it will be a great show either way. And such a fan would go all the way to see their favorite band in their home country.
boothjorden, It is amazing to see that you have seen the band so many times over the past 30 years. That is real dedication. As for me, I have been a fan since 1990, yet am ashamed to say that I have only seen them twice in that time, for various reasons. You're probably aware that the band played in Canberra in 2001 and drew something like 18,000 people. Not bad for a city with a population just over 300,000. Almost 1 in 10. Sort of puts us to shame over here in Adelaide, where a paltry 7,000 turned up on the same tour, out of a 1.1m population. I think it's great that the band decided to play the at some of the smaller centres on both the 1996 (Cairns and Darwin) and 2001 (Hobart and Canberra) tours. Sort of giving people in those places the opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise have had. So in that sense, it's s shame that they've gone in the opposite direction for this tour. The promoter, Garry Van Egmond, was quoted as saying that they weren't playing in Northern Qld (eg Cairns, Townsville) on the BI World Tour, because it will be the rainy season up there. I think that's half hogs wash. So why then not play in Canberra or Hobart again? Or Woolongong, or Newcastle. I think the main reason is money - playing in the big regional centres, they would probably draw great crowds of 20,000. But not the 40,000+ crowds that they guaranteed (with the exception of Adelaide) of getting in Perth/Syd/Melb/Bris. I noticed today that Ticketek - selling for the Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane shows - have released more details for the Sydney show only. 2 categories, each split into 3 or 4 areas. http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=ACDC10 No seating (or Category) chart though explaining where these are located. And nothing at all yet for Adelaide or Bris.
is there going to be some more ac/dc in california? in southern cali? if there is when and where?
Does this mean that the entire tour will end in march? I'v heard that tour wont end until at least late 2010 :S
Probably a second summer Euro tour and the end.
So where on earth are they playing in the almost 5 month period between 8 Sep 09 (Anaheim) and 30 Jan 2010 (Wellington NZ)? Perhaps they will extend the US leg - indoor venues? Again, the Aussue/NZ tour should have, and could easily been scheduled for Oct/Nov this year. All you chaps in the northen hemisphere, imagine what it would have been like to wait 16 months into a world tour to have an opportunity to see the mighty band.
Yep sapator, I've often wondered why they've never played any concerts in Asia, with the exception of Japan. In Japan, it seems they've been popular there since at least 1980, as they played several concerts there in 1980 or 1981. But the rest of Asia? Surely these days, there's be enough people in cities like Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta to get decent crowds. IN KL especially, I know many like hard rock music. I think even Scorpions played there around 96 and got a big crowd.
The problem is that in Asia(except Japan of course) people are poor, so they will have to charge 20$ for a ticket.Let alone the fact that their equipment must travel looong distances.So these shows are not worth it in a profit point of view.Their company is Sony, so... Also, they may play some South America dates after the US leg.
malcolmyoung91 "All you chaps in the northern hemisphere, imagine what it would have been like to wait 16 months into a world tour to have an opportunity to see the mighty band." while I gotta agree with you there bud, Christ on a cupcake, weve ALL been waiting the best part of 8 yrs, I mean Jeezus, thats just about the duration of The Beatles entire career,I agree the Southern Hemisphere is getting a bit of a raw deal,a BIG bit, and I dont swallow the reason being transporting equipment, other than lighting rigs/stage set and screens, the rest of the amplification can be hired in situ,. I sympathise with you tho bud, I do, Im personally sick of trying to tell people that it aint a comeback album or tour,I mean the gen. public can be forgiven for thinking so!!!! I truly hope that the Oz/NZ gigs are something mindblowing, because A, its the "homecrowd" ,B the families Young,Scott and the Alberts crew will be in attendance and finally C, I honestly feel this is the last truly BIIIGGGG worldtour the guys will or can do, their swansong so to speak,and for those reasons I truly hope that they set Sydney etc on fire and play a host of classic Bon era stuff for the fans. ps and you fuckers better be on hand with audio and video recording equipment peace bro, who knows you may even get the Tatts on the bill, and that other bandwagon jumper Dave "The Man" Evans! God forbid Dave
The ticket details have been released for the Adelaide Oval concert. A bit annoying that they are all priced at $149.90, whether it be "GA Standing", "Reserved Seating" or "GA Standing Mound". A bit annoying because, in all the press released 10 days ago, the promoter was making a fair bit of an issue that tickets would be reasonably priced, at both $99 and $149. It even says the exact same thing right next to the show's ticket details: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=ACDC10&v=AUS&searchId=40b793e9-e521-4c44-8e4e-98862198e1c1
sapator, To a fair extent what you say is right on the money. For Jakarta and Bangkok especially, the average punter would not even come close to being able to afford to go to the shows. Assuming that tickets will be priced at the equivalent of the Aussie shows (around US$100), that would be more than a month's salary for many people in those countries. I had imagined mainly western expats in these cities would be able to attend. KL, HK and especially Singapore would be a bit different. Singapore has one of the highest GDP'e per capita in the world and when you're there you can feel the wealth. As for rock concerts by western artists though, they're few and far between. I saw Bon Jovi in 95 there and then Def Leppard in 96, both at the Indoor Stadium, and both shows got around the 7-8,000 mark. But AC/DC I don't think are as popular there as what say Bon Jovi were 14 years ago. You mentioned costs of transporting equipment, etc, which is quite relevant. What was interesting at those 2 shows that I saw in Singapore, is the bands did not transport their own lighting rigs, nor probably their own sound equipment. They just used the in-house stuff. So imagine AC/DC doing that - ie transporting in 1 semi-trailer load of gear for a one-off concert, rather than the full 48. I might be a bit half-baked at best.
daclarob, You made a good point there. As you mention, we waited almost 8 years for the new album, so waiting another 16 months isn't a great deal more time before the world tour arrives on our shores. I hadn't imagine the current album and tour to be a comeback one. But for Cliff's injury, it would have happened 18 months prior to when it did. What I was really trying to say was, on the previous 5 world tours that included Aus/NZ, we have either been right at the very start of the world tour (eg 1988), or right at the end (eg 1991). There is no middle ground. However, when we've been at the end, this has been after 10-12 months, which is why I was disapointed with the current tour, that the journey downunder could not be made in Oct/Nov, just before summer, rather than the end of summer. As for the Aus/NZ concerts being something mindblowing - I like you're thinking, but just must be too much of a pessimist because I can't see it happening. I don't think the concerts here will be any better, nor any worse than what the rest of the world sees. The Aussie leg would be a great opportunity for the band to rehearse and play some of the legendary Bon Scott songs. Imagine hearing Rock n Roll Damnation, or Down Payment Blues live. I reckon Brian would even be able to do a decent version of Big Balls. Can't see it happening though. Would love to be proved wrong. I just think they've become too much like a travelling corporation. It is easier to play the same set-list with very few changes for the entire tour. It's interesting that Perth is listed as the last show of the Aussie tour. Quite possibly, the last show on the world tour (?). Me thinks that we can read something more into this. Bon lived the majority of his life in Perth, and is buried there (for the sake of this theory, I'm considering Freo part of Perth). Much of his extended family still lives there. His Mum (Isa) is still alive, and has attended all of AC/DC Perth shows since 1981. It wouldn't surprise me if.................. I don't know but I had always imagined that their last ever show would be held in Sydney (where it all began), at ANZ stadium, which ironically they're playing at a few weeks prior to Perth.
Well i hope that you are wrong and they do play a Europe 2010 summer stadium tour.But if it has to end (forever), then i might as well be in Australia...Well or Scotland on the last 2010 summer gig :)
I'd say sapator that I'm likely to be wrong on this one. Perhaps a stupid theory. Anyway, regardless of this, I wonder whether AC/DC will actually announce in advance they they are playing their last concert? For example, lets say they tour again in 2013-2014, and for arguements sake, they schedule a concert in Glasgow for Jul 2014, and this appears to be the last for the tour. Tickets for this concert go on sale in say Jan 2014. So what do you think - will they announce it is their last ever concert in Jan 2014, or perhaps one week before the show, or perhaps during the show? Or maybe, they won't announce it all, until a few years later, the press run an article about AC/DC, and they ask Angus (who by then is in his early 60's) or Brian (who is in his 70's) "So when's the next tour?". And their response is something like "Didn't you know - that show back in Glasgow in 2014 was our last ever concert!!". With the $99 ticket thing - wouldn't you know it? Ticketek updated the ticket details yesterday, for the Adelaide show, and it does now include some Category B tickets at $99. Don't know where these are located though. Probably side view. One good thing though - out of the 3 cities (Bris and Syd are the others) that Ticketek are selling for, Adelaide is the only one that currently has a seating/layout chart for the concert. So my previous advice, that Adelaide would be the easiest concert to get reserved seats close to the stage, is not quite accurate. The entire cricket ground field (ie grass area) is all general admission, no seating. The closest reserved seating is about 100m from the stage, in the seats in front of the Chappell Stands. However, I still reckon Adelaide will be the poorest attended concert, so getting a general admission ticket, you should be able to get within say 40m of the stage without too much problem if arriving late.
I don't think they'll quit 'till one of 'em dies. And if I'm right, who knows where the last concert will be.