Christopher Lee August 31st, 2016 - 9:31 PM
Soon after completing the first show of the ten rescheduled “Rock or Bust” U.S. shows with AC/DC (dubbed Axl/DC), frontman Axl Rose was back on the stage with the band Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
While the majority of the band’s set list mirrored the repertoire from their European leg, the rockers and Rose did unleash one surprise on Saturday night: The band’s first live performance of the electrifying T.N.T. cut “Live Wire” since October 1982, and has played it again last night. Rose and AC/DC have made it a habit of dusting off fan favorites from the band’s catalog throughout their unlikely collaboration, including tracks like “Riff Raff,” “Rock n’ Roll Damnation” and “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).”
AC/DC with Rose’s tour continues August 30th at Atlanta, Georgia’s Phillips Arena and then works its way north before coming to a close September 20th at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. A month later, Rose rejoins Duff McKagan and Slash as the Guns N’ Roses reunion tour heads to South America and Japan. AC/DC’s future, however, is less certain.
Over the last couple years, many of AC/DC’s formative members have left the band, or has announced to leave the band. The trend kicked off in 2014 when Angus Young’s brother and co-founder Malcolm Young retired due to Dementia, was soon followed by drummer Phil Rudd’s exit later that year because of various run-ins with the law, and most recently frontman Brian Johnson departed from the band to prevent further hearing loss. Following all of these departures, bassist Cliff Williams recently announced that he will be retiring as soon as the current tour ends.
After the tour, assuming that neither Rudd nor Johnson returns, Angus Young would be the sole remaining member from the original lineup that recorded such classic albums such as 1979’s Highway to Hell, 1980’s Back in Black and 1981’s For Those About to Rock… We Salute You).
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Young recently said that he has not made a decision yet regarding the band’s future once the current “Rock Or Bust” tour cycle ends.
“At this point, I don’t know,” said Young. “We were committed to finishing the tour. Who knows what I’ll feel after? When you sign on and say, ‘I’m gonna do this and that,’ it’s always good to say at the end of it, ‘I’ve done all I said I would do.'”
When he was asked if he thought Williams’s decision to leave was brought about by Johnson’s departure, Angus said, “Cliff made it known before we’d even started touring — this would be his last. Besides myself, Cliff has been there the longest, since 1977. Cliff and Brian are in the same age bracket. They like to go out, hit the pubs. They had the bond.”
The band’s setlist was as follows:
01. Rock Or Bust
02. Shoot To Thrill
03. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
04. Back In Black
05. Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
06. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
07. Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation
08. Thunderstruck
09. High Voltage
10. Rock ‘N’ Roll Train
11. Hells Bells
12. Given The Dog A Bone
13. If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
14. Live Wire
15. Sin City
16. You Shook Me All Night Long
17. Shot Down In Flames
18. Have A Drink On Me
19. T.N.T.
20. Whole Lotta Rosie
21. Let There Be Rock
Encore:
22. Highway To Hell
23. Riff Raff
24. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
