An Armpit for A Hat: AC/DC Live Review: London 2016

This night may have been the most fun I have ever had to AC/DC's music. In company of regulars from acdcfans.net and some new faces we warmed up nicely in the Tap House and miraculously got to the stadium in time to be there when the doors opened. Even Azel. 

Terro flagged me in with his cap and we all hooked up halfway down the runway on Stevie's side. Rocker and The Wizard popped off to the bar and returned with enough beers for the entire inner circle. Which was kind of them.  Later Azel and I would surprise and delight the crowd around us by filling the empty pint pots with our own filtered home made beverage before knocking them over and dancing in the resulting puddles. So impressed were the boys behind us that they shared their Jack Daniels with us. Kindness is contagious apparently.


Belle may not have been quite so impressed. Although she did still let me have a patch of carpet to sleep on and thus save me from another random park bench. For which I am and will remain eternally grateful! 

The gig is really a massive blur punctuated with moments of clarity. For the first few songs it was the usual mayhem and all rather tasty where we were, with a pit forming seconds into STT. Rather than commit wholesale slaughter I spotted The Wizard and dived forward to join him a couple of squashed bodies from the front barrier. Flag firmly planted here we stayed for the remainder of the gig. The overall feeling I have taken from the gig despite several near death experiences is one of complete fun. Utterly drenched in sweat, wearing Azel's armpit for a hat for about three songs mid gig, my face in pain from smiling so much. Being so close I could see how much of a blast the boys on stage were having. The whole band fed off the reaction from the crowd. Angus played phenomenally, never missing a note, revelling in what he and his guitar were emitting. Granted my hearing may have been affected by the assorted body parts inserted into my ears at various points during the show. Axl prowled the edges of the stage a smile plastered across his face. His between song chat perfectly done, at one point he even asked Stevie if he was having a good time, unfortunately I missed the answer due to a toe in one ear and a boob in the other. 

Angus and Axl are really having a good time together. I think my highlight of the gig was the third verse of Sin City watching Angus doing that foot stamping back arching stomp prior to duck walking across the stage before seeing Axl high kick his way into the chorus. It was funny as fuck and rocked like hell. This was a gig that I will not forget easily it was like something from years ago. Being part of a singing, sweaty, heaving, bouncing mass of mayhem down the front. Arms around each other, leaning on your mate next door to catch a breath before the next ripper roared over you. I’m smiling now and I was smiling then. It was that kind of night.

The above picture can now be found in place of the original definition for joy in the Oxford English Dictionary.