AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, Angus Young on their stage evolution
AC/DC members Angus Young and Brian Johnson discuss how their relationship to performing and stage work has changed over the course of their career.
CHARLOTTE, NC – On a stifling summer afternoon, Brian Johnson is pumping his fist and letting loose his unholy yowl.
To his left, Angus Young, shock of white hair matching his T-shirt, slashes out the iconic opening riff of “Back in Black.”
They scamper around the massive stage in jeans and Converse sneakers, exchanging grins and glances with the comfort of guys who have lived through boons and bottoms together for decades.
It’s soundcheck and their only audience is a couple of security guards milling around the floor of Bank of America Stadium. But both men, rock legends who are the centerpiece of one of music’s most enduring bands, are playing to 50,000 empty seats with the same fervor as they will two nights later, when AC/DC ignites the final U.S. leg of their Power Up Tour.
After about 20 minutes of rolling through classic rock scripture including “Let There Be Rock” and “Thunderstruck” – Young’s fingers building blisters as they zip across his fretboard – Johnson wanders over to the side of the stage.
He’s leaning in closely, holding out a thumbnail-sized piece of plastic attached to his in-ear monitors. With a flick of his index finger, he lightly presses down to show how the tiny pump creates a sealant when placed in his ear canal. The technology – ADEL (Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens) – is what allowed the AC/DC singer to return to his natural habitat of stadium stages after suffering severe hearing loss in 2016.
Contrary to assumptions, the condition was not caused by 46 years surrounded by towers of Marshall amps, but from a bout with the flu during the band’s 2016 Rock or Bust Tour.
“We were in Winnipeg or somewhere like that and it was cold and wet and you’re sweating. But it’s freezing and you have to quick, hurry up, get on the plane and we took off and my ears got so crystallized and the rest was just nasty,” Johnson says, then adds with a smile. “But anyway, I’m a happy ending.”
Will AC/DC power down after the Power Up tour is over?
Since May 2024, AC/DC has blanketed the world with their Power Up Tour, regularly selling out stadiums. The 15 shows they played in Australia and South America from December until April grossed $120.3 million from more than 900,000 tickets, according to concert trade publication Pollstar, putting them ahead of contemporary acts including Ed Sheeran and Cardi B.
The tour will wrap Sept. 29 in Philadelphia – hitting cities including Atlanta, Houston and Toronto along the way – which leads to the natural question of whether that last show will be the last show.
Sharing a couch in a greenroom buried in the Charlotte stadium, Johnson, 78, and Young, 71, sit for their first in-person interview since before the 2020 pandemic, and the only interview they plan for this tour.
They laugh easily and warmly, Young sipping from a porcelain cup and Johnson occasionally grabbing a water bottle. They’re happy to tell stories – about the time a “little blond girl” told them backstage she was going to be a rock star (turned out to be Pink) or when they played the Polo Lounge in Glasgow and a piece of ceiling toppled down wincingly close to Johnson.
But talk of where they would perhaps like to play their last show is met with jovial and polite vagueness.
“I hope it’s not my funeral,” the soft-spoken Young says with a laugh.
“Upstairs rather than down!” Johnson shoots back in his gruff English accent.
“On Earth?” Young tries again, before adding, “It’s a tough, tough call.”
“I wouldn’t want to upset any of the fans by saying, ‘No, that’s the best place,” Johnson says. “After a gig, when I say, ‘Hey, thank you so much’ (to the crowd), you mean it, you know?”
Angus Young shares the influence of brother Malcolm
Regardless of the when and where the end comes, the focus for the next couple of months is the now.
Johnson still rip-roars through 20-plus song setlists stacked with innuendo-laced air guitar favorites including “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “T.N.T.” and the always-epic closer, “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You),” canons wheeled to the edge of the stage to sync with blasts of pyro.
Young’s famous accoutrements – the schoolboy uniform of shorts, tie and knee socks, the devil horns during “Highway to Hell” – produce their own fan club among crowds. And it is indeed a transformation from the seemingly tranquil Australian offstage into the whirling dervish spitting out masterful guitar solos once the houselights drop.
“My brother (Malcolm) used to say that the fans ‘come to see the school, too.’ That meant I had to put on the full regalia, no matter the temperature outside. When I put it on, then I know. I feel a kind of comfort,” Young says, before chuckling again. “Which worries me a bit, because I don’t want to be just turning into that guy.”
The touring AC/DC contingent includes Matt Laug on drums, Chris Chaney on bass and Young’s nephew, Stevie, who replaced his uncle Malcolm on rhythm guitar in 2014.
Malcom, who founded the band with Angus in Sydney in 1973, died in 2017 after a prolonged battle with dementia.
Angus says he still regularly looks to the spot onstage where his older brother stood for decades and expects to see him. The musical influence Malcom generated for Angus never dissipated, either.
“If it was a guitar solo or something, I always looked at him and he would go, ‘Yeah, that’s cooking.’ And if it wasn’t up to snuff, he would go, ‘No, he can do better.’ When he was happy, then I was happy,” Young says. “Because then I knew, right, I’ve done what’s good for the song.”
AC/DC wants their legacy to be simple: ‘A great rock band’
After 2 ½-years of touring behind 2020’s “Power Up” album – which yielded the No. 1 rock hit “Shot in the Dark” – Johnson is still slightly surprised that fans continue to show up with “off the scale” passion.
As is common among shows from classic rock veterans, the audience keeps expanding through generations.
“They’re bringing their kids and the kids are all dressed up (in AC/DC gear) and they know all the words,” Johnson says with a hint of awe. “One of the biggest things we’ve noticed is we’ve done this (tour) without any major breakdowns. It’s a lot of people, a lot of vehicles, a lot of personnel to keep a basic rock ‘n’ roll heart beating in the middle of it.”
AC/DC doesn’t need to do anything more to cement their standing as one of the most notable bands in history, and the simple ethos that has powered their songs – straightforward, memorable rock – is also how they view themselves.
“I would just say ‘a great rock band,’ ” Young says when asked to summarize AC/DC’s legacy.
Johnson nods and adds, “They were great at what they did. And they did it consistently. You never thought back in the day that, when I finish here … I’m going to be 79.”
Young jumps in with some levity, “Can you count that high?
“I can’t even (expletive) think of it,” Johnson quips. “Saying it back then, I would have just laughed at you.”
The credit for all of it, both Young and Johnson stress, is the dedication of their fans. And there is still nothing that compares to the energy generated by 50,000 people singing well-worn anthems in unison.
“I’d love to thank them all one by one,” Johnson says.