I really should have seen the group around 2008, when the core members for the most part were all still around. Alas, I never did and last Fall/Winter when they announced their 2026 Power Up tour with a date in St. Louis at the Dome, I got tickets on a whim of nostalgia.
The bonus came about a month ago, when the tour openers, The Pretty Reckless, announced that they wouldn't be on this stop and the replacements would be the Foo Fighters. Essentially two headlining bands and another group that I've always kind of wanted to see live.
My wife and I braved the downtown late rush hour traffic and searching for parking and got there about 40 minutes or so before the scheduled start time of 7 PM. We also made a stop at Kohl's earlier in the day, and bought a couple of AC/DC t shirts. The ones we had were missing in action or past their shelf life as an every day shirt.
Our seats were in the first section stage right, about eight rows up. The views were decent, but being a stadium show, meant still a ways off view wise compared to say, an arena show.
At 7 PM sharp the Foo Fighters took the stage and rocked on for 70 minutes. I'm assuming being a bigger name, they were given an extra 15-20 minutes of set time. The tight band lived up to their reputations and delievered some solid modern rock(Well modern to me from the 2000s) hitting most of their big songs.
After a quick 30 minute set change, the headliners took to the stage with an intro video. While looking around the place was near capacity. The upper decks were near full, though luckily the seat next to me was empty the whole night.
And for the most part I got what I expected with AC/DC, long melodic operatic rock, with poignant political and social messages...nah, just fucking with you. It was pure loud, fast and what you hear when you hear an AC/DC recording. About the biggest exceptions, were a few Angus solos and the 20 minute guitar performance in the set-closing Let There Be Rock. The boys for being in their 70s still mustered the energy they had 40 plus years ago. Angus drenching in sweat and doing his signature moves while playing the guitar and Brian still had the force of his voice. Though straining to hit a few sustained notes at times, for pushing 80 he still had most of his vocal power.
The only downside, with AC/DC's sound being very similar in many songs and having so many well known, they lead into what my dad called the George Strait Jukebox syndrome. If you have so many hits and well known songs (and not to mention a certain sound), it can all start to run together, as well as not having as many highs and lows. I did feel a certain lull towards the middle end of the show. And the heat and standing on metal bleachers probably didnt help either.
Overall it was a very fun show and these two acts understand the performance aspect of concerts. My wife loved it. The other downside is that we probably won't be able to hear for several days. That's with even covering our ears, during the cannon fire of the finale, For Those About To Rock. Definitely one of the loudest concerts I've been too.
AC/DC Set List
If You Want Blood (You Got It)
Back In Black
Demon Fire
Shot Down In Flames
Thunderstruck
Have a Drink on Me
Hells Bells
Shot in the Dark
Stiff Upper Lip
Highway to Hell
Shoot To Thrill
Sin City
Jailbreak
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
High Voltage
Riff Raff
You Shook Me All Night Long
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
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T.N.T.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
Foo Fighters Set List
All My Life
The Pretender
Times Like These
My Hero
Learn to Fly
This is A Call
No Sone of Mine
Monkey Wrench
Best of You
Everlong
