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AC-DC promises a real rock and roll show when it takes the stage during its tour.By Roger CatlinThe Hartford CourantNGUS YOUNG never really distinguished himself at school.But he’s still wearing his schoolboy’s uniform at age 45.The short-pants costume worn by the manic guitarist from AC-DC is an icon in rock ’n’ roll, ranking alongside Bo Diddley’s square guitar, ZZ Top’s beards and the Elvis Presley jumpsuit.“The school suit allows me to be an extrovert,” Young says over the phone. Basically, I’m the opposite of what I am on stage. And people who come know you as the schoolboy suit.Alter egoOr as AC-DC lead singer Brian Johnson said in an interview late last year when the band’s BallBreaker album was released. “Angus wouldn’t go out without that. That’s his alter ego. I’ve seen him walking into a dressing room when it’s 100°, stick that suit on and he’s ready. As Angus used to say, the suit can walk to the stage itself. All he has to do is get in.By now there’s more than one suit.“There’s about 30 that travel with me, all in different colours,” Young says. None will last an entire tour. “They usually give them away at the end in competitions or charities. It just depends if you rip a jacket or tear your shorts.”By most accounts, there has been no slowdown in Young’s frenzied stage activity as he crunches out Back in Black, Highway to Hell and You ShookMe.“I think what AC-DC does best is play live,” Young says. “That’s when everything comes together. Even after you make a studio album, when you go out and play live, that’s when you learn what being in a band is all about.”Concert PreviewAC/DC■ Winnipeg Arena■ Tuesday. 8 p.m.■ $32.50 at Select-A-SeatThe second leg of the U.S. tour comes after dates in Europe and hits American markets missed on the firstgo-round. “We’ve come back to clean those cities up, Young says.“It’s a big, big show,” he says, “And there’s lots to it besides the band and the music — a few effects: 50!He won’t go into detail, but says the band has to top itself even' time it goes out. And past AC-DC tours have featured exploding cannon during For Those About To Rock, We Salute You and bells big enough to make Quasimodo deaf to accompany Hell’s Bells.“I think if you look at it this way, it’s value for money, Young says. And it’s like if you just toured with just the band, people would say you’re being cheap. So you’ve got to do it these days, give ’em a show. It’s a rock ’n’ roll show.”This marks the 20th anniversary of the release of AC-DC’s debut in America, High Voltage. Since then, the band’s distinctive power has weathered disco, punk and now the alternative surge that seems to have wiped out the commercial viability of most other heavy metal. (The band’s own BallBreaker, though, has sold three million worldwide since its release lastOctober).But Young says the supposed ups and downs of metal is more a media thing. The media, being what it is, is always looking for the next new thing. There are still bands out there playing, no matter what the new thing is. The Stones go out there and people go see them without records or even airplay. Rather than change with fickle tastes, Young says, “We’re lucky we’re the same.“Trends come that much quicker now because of the TV thing They come and go by instantly. What wascool one month, next month is gone.Even in the beginning, we never cared what was being said about fashion trends and stuff. You know, when the Beatles started there was a record company guy who said electric guitar music was finished. Well, kids are still playing electric guitars today; the fact is it’s a bit noisier than before.AND RATHER than adhering to a label — even heavy metal — Young prefers to let his power chords do his talking.“I always looked at ourselves as a band of our own, says Young. “I never thought of us as a punk band, a metal band, or a new wave band. Just as a band band.If anything, his inspiration came from the American South.I grew up mainly on blues music,” Young says. “I started listening to blues music when I was eight years old. That was what got me involved with the guitar. Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Elmore James. Then for rock ’n’ roll stuff, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.”
Newspaper Details
Brandon Sunday Free Press
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Sun, Aug 04, 1996
Page 21
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