AC/DC Show Too Loud For Some Munich Area Residents

I think every AC/DC fan would agree that the group’s music is the kind of music that is meant to be played loud. It’s hard to imagine playing a song like “Highway to Hell” or “Back In Black” with the volume set anywhere south of 8. Unfortunately for some residents around Munich who are obviously not fans of the Australian rockers, the group held true to their standard of playing loud for their dedicated fans.

AC/DC rocked the Olympiastadium in Munich on May 15th, and apparently rocked a good number of local residents in their own homes at the same time. It has been reported that over 100 noise complaints were called in to local authorities from residents who claimed that the concert was violating local noise ordinances.

Although hard to imagine, some residents who called in complaints were said to be approximately 12 miles from the stadium. Now that’s what I call rocking Munich!

Even with 70,000 fans packed into the stadium for the show, police report that there were no significant problems with the assembled crowd. A total of four people were arrested for attempting to gain entry to the stadium with fake tickets, but no other problems were reported.

AC/DC does have a reputation for being one of the loudest bands in the world, having driven the decibel level up to an impressive 132 on occasion.

Although a fair number of local residents were not happy about AC/DC’s stop in Munich, it’s interesting to note that Germany’s Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg attended the show along with his wife. The 37-year-old says he has been an AC/DC fan since he was a teenager.

Subscribe to RRN via RSS Feed or e-mail to stay up-to-date on classic rock news

Tags: AC/DC, Complaints, Germany, Loud, Munich, Noise, Olympiastadium

AC/DC Announces Plans For Late Summer U.S. Tour

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AC/DC’S BLACK ICE WORLD TOUR RETURNS TO THE U.S. THIS SUMMER

Tour Kicks Off on July 28 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA

April 6, 2009, New York NY – AC/DC’s highly successful Black Ice World Tour returns to the U.S. on July 28 in Foxborough, MA at Gillette Stadium (see below for full itinerary).  AC/DC kicked off their Black Ice World Tour in late October 2008, crisscrossing North America and Europe garnering raves from critics along the way.   The Black Ice World Tour was given the ‘Major Tour of the Year’ award at the 20th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards.

Tickets for the Foxborough, East Rutherford, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Tacoma shows go on sale Saturday April 11, 2009.  Tickets for the San Jose concert go on sale Sunday April 12.  Tickets for the San Diego concert go on sale Saturday April 18.  Tickets for the Los Angeles concert go on sale Saturday April 25.  Tickets will be available via Ticketmaster and the band’s website, www.acdc.com

Released globally on October 20, 2008, Black Ice has been certified Double Platinum in the U.S.  Black Ice is AC/DC’s first new album in over eight years and its evident the band is still an incredible force in rock.

The video for the album’s latest single, “Anything Goes,” was filmed at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France on February 27th and is streaming now at www.aol.com.

On October 26th, 2008 AC/DC played their first show in 5 years. Dedicated fans from all over the world traveled to the small industrial town of Wilkes-Barre, PA to be there. A few select fans were chosen to be featured in this documentary. Their stories reflect the commitment and passion of what it means to be a true AC/DC fan over the years. The documentary can be seen now at ACDCFannation.com

Black Ice made history debuting at #1 on album charts in 29 countries and also has the distinction of being Columbia Records’ biggest debut album (since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991).  Black Ice has been certified Multi Platinum in eighteen countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Italy, Argentina and the Czech Republic.

Additionally, Black Ice has achieved Platinum status in five countries (including the UK and Spain) and Gold status in four countries (The Netherlands, Poland and Brazil).  With over 6.5 million copies of Black Ice shipped worldwide, combined with over 5.5 million in catalog sold last year, AC/DC have surpassed The Beatles as the #1 selling catalog artist in the US for 2008.

In the US, Black Ice is being sold exclusively at Walmart, Sam’s Club, and www.acdc.com.

Upcoming shows in the Black Ice North American tour include:

July 28 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium
July 31 -E. Rutherford, NJ – Giants Stadium
August 16 – Detroit, MI – Palace of Auburn Hills
August 18 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
August 30 -Tacoma, WA -Tacoma Dome
September 2 – San Jose, CA – HP Pavillion
September 4 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
September 6 – San Diego, CA – Sports Arena

Additional concerts will be announced shortly.

Tags: 2009, AC/DC, Black Ice Tour, July, Summer

Ex-Czech Prime Minister’s Comments Inspired by AC/DC

It’s not often that we hear from a former Prime Minister that he attributes a well-publicized comment to lyrics from a rock song. In this particular case, it was a comment from the recently-unseated Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia that were directed toward U.S. President Barack Obama that made headlines when he called Obama’s plan to revive the economy “a way to hell” or “a road to hell,” depending on which news outlet you believe.

Despite the minor details of the exact quote, the message was clear. Mirek Topolanek – who currently holds the office of President of the European Union despite his fall from grace in his own country (it’s a long story) – does not think plans to spend our way out of this recession are the right way to go and says the plan will “undermine the stability of the global financial market.”

Today we hear that Mr. Topolanek’s comments may have been inspired by the lyrics of Australian hard rockers AC/DC. “AC/DC played here (in Prague) last week. And their cult song ‘Highway to Hell’ might have led me in that very improvised speech to use the phrase ‘road to hell’,” he was quoted as saying.

The former Prime Minister is surely familiar with at least some of AC/DC’s material. Dare we speculate that he may have been in attendance at the show in Prague? Perhaps even sporting a pair of Angus Young devil horns?

Tags: AC/DC, Czechoslovakia, Highway To Hell, Mirek Topolanek, Prime Minister

AC/DC’s Brian Johnson In New Interview

As Aussie hard rockers AC/DC prepare to rock their way through the European leg of their Black Ice tour, vocalist Brian Johnson sat down with António Freitas, the host of the Portuguese radio show Alta Tensao for an extensive interview.

The interview covered a lot of ground, including talk of AC/DC’s beginnings and how Angus Young’s habit of running out of his house to rehearse after school while still wearing his school uniform turned into a gimmick that the energetic guitarist has stuck with through the band’s history.

Johnson takes a few shots at the critics who talk about AC/DC as the same old thing and goes on to talk about how, as a group, they have always made a conscience decision to stay clear of issues like politics and religion, and just focuses on the music and stays true to their fans.

Johnson’s comments regarding his own feelings about fame portray a guy that’s not particularly comfortable with the idea of being endowed with celebrity status. Johnson’s comments lead one to believe that this is a group that is happy to think of themselves as regular guys.

Speaking of being endowed, there is a rather funny story Johnson relates about a particular technique that was employed by drummer Phil Rudd for the purpose of “inspiration.”

This is an interview that every serious AC/DC fan should check out. Johnson comes across as a guy who does not hold back much, and is comfortable speaking his mind.

The interview runs about 20 minutes and the audio is English, since presumably, Johnson does not speak Portuguese, but there are Portuguese subtitles.

Blabbermouth broke news of the interview on this side of the Atlantic, and it can be seen at the António Freitas website.

Tags: AC/DC, Alta Tensao, Antonio Freitas, Brian Johnson, interview

‘Melissa Roxford’ Is At It Again (Another AC/DC Hoax)

Our favorite hoaxer is at it once again. The individual going by the name “Melissa Roxford” is sending out e-mail messages regarding AC/DC. This time, the claim is that drummer Phil Rudd is leaving the group.

For entertainment purposes, here’s the latest from “Melissa.”

—–

From:    Melissa Roxford [sonymusic_epic@yahoo.com]
Sent:    Monday, January 26, 2009 3:14 PM
To: [List of addressees removed]
Subject:    A Message From AC/DC

Dear AC/DC listeners,
Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams are sad to announce that after
the final date of AC/DC’s current North American tour they are going to part ways with
drummer Phill Rudd due to his lack of time and motivation for this type of music.

Good news are that AC/DC’s upcoming European Tour will still go ahead as planned with good
friend Chris Slade taking over drums duties.

More information will be provided as soon as AC/DC finishes their current North American
Tour.

AC/DC’s European Tour will kick off in Oslo, NO on Feb 18, 2009.

Be patient.

———————————————–
Melissa Roxford, sonymusic customer service management.

—–

Since I get legitimate e-mail messages from the folks at Sony periodically, I know they do not use Yahoo! e-mail addresses. You didn’t think we’d fall for this again did you, “Melissa?”

“Melissa” also did a nice favor for all the recipients of this e-mail messages by neglecting to use BCC or “Blind Carbon Copy,” and as a result, each recipient also saw every other address it was sent to. “Melissa” is either too stupid to use BCC or simply does not care – or maybe both.

I can see that the e-mail was sent to some high-profile people such as Alice Cooper’s show (if that is in fact the correct e-mail for Cooper), as well as quite a few radio stations.

Nice try, “Melissa,” but I think most everyone is onto you now, so to speak.

Tags: AC/DC, Drummer, Hoax, Melissa Roxford, Phil Rudd, Sony