“AC/DC” – By Des Kelly
feel sure that most Musicians around the World know about the above “hard-rock” band I am now immortalizing on eLanka. A few years ago, this band was appearing in Melbourne, while on tour around Australia, and my eldest son, Michael, who was a “fan”, wanted his mother & myself to also have the benefit of seeing this fabulous band in action, bought our tickets and decided to drive us to the venue himself, knowing that the both of us might opt out, simply to keep our “hearing” intact. I already knew that this group was one of the “loudest” on Planet Earth. It is not “decibels” we are talking about here, (being a word-smith of sorts), I would call them “maxibels”. AC/DC played their music in maxibels of maximum degrees, to make a long story short. Anyway Cynthia, God rest her soul, and “yours truly” bought ourselves two pairs of the best ear-plugs we could get, Michael, our erstwhile son picked us up, and drove us to this venue, to listen to AC/DC.
We arrived about half an hour before “the show”. Mike dropped us off and said that he would pick us up for our trip home, to Dandenong. The main door to the hall was locked, so we walked around the foyer, looking, for all the world, like two middle-aged “groupies” as they were called at the time.
AC/DC were rehearsing back-stage, behind locked doors, and, to explain quite simply, what two middle-aged groupies and about 500 15 & 16 year old, one-eyed fans were hearing even before we were ushered into the hall, were sounds, very much like rumbling thunder. Cynthia & myself quickly put our ear-plugs on and took our seats, amid strange looks and silly-smirks from the much younger lot, waited for the show to start. 8.30 pm was curtain-raising time. No more thunder could be heard, and apart from the chatter of the young fans & ushers (about a dozen of them), it was very quiet now.
have to admit, the concert promoters got their timing right. At 8.30 pm, sharp, the curtain around the huge stage opened up. Nobody was on-stage, but then, with the humongous CRASH of drums, cymbals, plus about 52 other percussion instruments, the FLOOR of the stage opened up and AC/DC appeared,with Angus, their lead guitarist, dressed in his favourite “School-boy” rig, ran directly to the very front of the stage, then running the entire length, forwards & backwards, playing his guitar to “back” their front-man,(vocalist), his instrument already sounding like a dozen cats screaming in anguish as they were being strangled.
The show had started, the young audience, on their feet, were already screaming too, adding to the deafening sound of the band. I actually felt sorry for the ushers trying to control them. Cynthia & I had our hands over our earplugs, but it didn’t matter. The SCREECH of Angus’s guitar seemed to make it’s way into our plugged ears, travelling from the stage, underground. I have to sum it up, by saying that, as a band, they were professional and did what they had to do.
However we couldn’t hear a word that their vocalist was singing, I didn’t know HOW that guitar was played without all six strings snapping, Cynthia was already making motions that we should make our exit, when we noticed, through the din, that there were, what looked like two CANNONS on either side of the stage. I agreed with her.
Me & myself were already used to hearing loud bands doing their stuff, in the various venues around Melbourne, but, Michael wanted his parents to “see & hear” the LOUDEST BAND IN THE WORLD, and we did, getting out, just before the band ended that particular show. We walked quickly, away from the hall, but still heard the ROAR of the two cannons, finishing off the show, quite some distance from the venue. How everyone there (without ear-plugs), escaped becoming as deaf as doorposts, I will never know.
Now that all is said & done, AC/DC is not my primary reason for writing this story. This is happening right now.
Our new P.M.(“Say no more, SCOMO, is my name, you know”, as he said himself, to some of HIS fans), has just authorised an AC/RC (Aged Care/Royal Commission), even before the subject is brought up on the ABC/TV Channel, this evening, the 17th of September 2018. Let it happen, I say. I will watch it (because I have nothing else to do, being AGED, myself) & bring a more detailed account to thousands of eLanka readers, in the process. Please bear with me for my next episode “From AC/DC – AC/RC”.
