AC/DC – The War Machine (Godfather GR 376/377)

The War Machine (Godfather GR 376/377)

AWD Dome Bremen, Germany – March 11, 2009

Disc 1 (55:14): Intro; Rock n’ Roll Train; Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be; Back In Black; Big Jack; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Shot Down In Flames; Thunderstruck; Black Ice; The Jack; Hells Bells  

Disc 2 (55:51) Shoot To Thrill; War Machine; Anything Goes; You Shook Me All Night Long; TNT; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock; Highway To Hell; For Those About To Rock  

After a eight year drought AC/DC finally released their new CD to the public, Black Ice is similar fair from the band and no new territory was charted. The tour to support was pretty much a sellout around the world, showing the bands popularity has not waned and in fact is probably larger than ever. When the band came through my area I could not make the show and would have to wait for the bootlegs to get my fix so needless to say I was glad when this set was released. The recording used for this release is near excellent, if anything just a tad distant but sounds good at loud volumes.

All instruments are well balanced and are even throughout the recording. crowd noise close to the recorder is very minimal and almost non existent. The show itself is a great performance, a great mix of old with the new. The Rock n’ Roll Train opening song gets you ramped up and gives you the idea of the shape of the band, for a bunch of guys in their mid to late 50’s they proceed to tear down the house. While not a fluent of a soloist as he was in the 70’s and 80’s, Angus can still tear up a great solo. It is nice to hear Hell Aint A Bad Place and it does not sound too different from the original. Brian introduces a song from the new album, Big Jack and it is the first between song banter we hear, in fact the banter is kept to a minimum.

Brian intros Black Ice and hums a little and you can hear the crowd doing the same, the intro to this song is great to enjoy in this recording, the interplay between Malcolm and Angus is crystal clear and is probably the best song played from the new cd. The Jack uses the lyrics developed by Bon that were used on the If You Want Blood version and not the original ones and from what I can gather it sounds like the vehicle for Angus’ strip tease after which it burn up the solo. It makes you think that an CD of blues album could really work. Another new track, Anything Goes, a song that almost sound more like Cheap Trick than AC/DC works really well live and gets the crowd clapping along and is the last of the new tracks before the gauntlet. The ending of the show is designed to kick you in the teeth and send you home exhausted.

Whole Lotta Rosie is fantastic, Angus’ soloing in the last three and a half minutes are smokin hot and leads into a barn burning Let There Be Rock, with Phil Rudd’s drum kick the band is firing on all cylinders. Highway To Hell and a bombastic For Those About To Rock closes the show. What else can be said, well there is the usual tri fold packaging adorned with high quality full color pictures of the band, mostly live but a few from the new cd along with Black Ice style graphics, there is even a fold open insert with the European dates. Until the band releases their official tour souvenir if you want a quality AC/DC show from this tour you need look no farther, The War Machine is here, go get it.