Live At Donington differs from the previous two AC/DC concert videos No Bull, and Stiff Upper Lip, in that this recording goes all the way back to their headlining gig at the annual Castle Donington Festival of 1991. Going back more than 13 years, this concert shows the band in peak form, jackhammerin' the skulls of over 200,000 rabid Brits with their
power-chord drenched, heavy metal spectacle. AC/DC are one of the few rock bands left that are not the least bit ashamed to get down-right "Spinal Tap" on your ass with each and every tour. I mean this in a good way, as I will always have a place in my heart, even at my age, for a good-old-fashioned pyrotechnic besieged, laser shrouded, 120 decibel rock and roll extravaganza of old. Hell, I even went to the Kiss reunion tour. Makeup-Kiss rules!
AC/DC, thankfully, are much more that just the smoke and mirrors of an overblown stage show. They also have 30 years worth
(can you believe it?) of blues-tinged, rock and roll masterpieces to fuel each and
every show. Brian Johnson took over the lead singer slot in 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, and AD/DC went on to release the greatest hard rock album of all time, Back In Black, soon thereafter. Since then, they have continued to churn out new albums at an admirable pace, and are somehow still motivated to tour the world nearly every year giving their fans what they want to see. I think this alone has made them worthy of the their
recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
As every rational fan knows, all AC/DC tours and concerts are basically the same - with maybe a few new songs, and some new, gigantic
stage prop thrown in for good measure. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because they definitely give you your money's worth at every show. I'll never get tired of that Macy's Day Parade, balloon sized, blow-up doll they break out during every performance of "Whole Lotta Rosie". It just wouldn't be the same without that big frigging whore! The problem they now have (shouldn't every band have this problem) is that they just have too many essential songs ("Back In Black", "Highway To Hell", "The Jack", "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Hells Bells", etc.)
that they could never leave off of the set list, without fear of setting off an audience riot. This makes each show essentially the same, give or take a few new songs from whatever album they are currently touring after. Compare the set lists for No Bull, Stiff Upper Lip, and this concert and you will see what I mean. One thing you will never see from AC/DC, however, is your standard, 90-minute, one song encore, thank you, good night, performance. What you do still get is over two hours of sweat-soaked, ball-breaking rock concert - done right!
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