AC/DC and The Pretty Reckless @ Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA 5-8-25

Legendary rock band AC/DC finally has returned to Pittsburgh after 16 long years. This time they brought a cool band from New York City in The Pretty Reckless with them. After AC/DC released what may be their final album in ‘Power Up’ in November of 2020, any support tour plans were put on hold due to the pandemic.  Also, the band has gone through some lineup changes as well. Even though longtime bass player Cliff Williams came out to do one show with them (Powertrip in 2023), he essentially retired after their 2015 tour. Due to the legal problems that drummer Phil Rudd has dealt with, the band had to get an entirely new rhythm section for the ‘Power Up’ tour. They chose Chris Chaney (formerly of Janes Addiction) to fill in on bass and Matt Laug (formerly of Alanis Morrisette and Alice Cooper) on drums.  The band is rounded out by Stevie Young on rhythm guitar, Brian Johnson lead vocals and founded Angus Young on lead guitar.

Opening the show was The Pretty Reckless. You may recognize the vocalist and front woman Taylor Momsen, who was former actress on a sitcom called the Gossip Girls some years back. The band has 4 very strong releases including their last effort titled ‘Death by Rock and Roll.’ In fact, the band opened up with the title track to their latest release. Momsen dissed the leather jacket she was wearing after the 3rd song and just performed with a nightgown and leather boots on. Before the band kicked into “Witches Burn,” they played a prerecorded sample of the Wicked Witch of the West” from the Wizard of Oz movie. Momsen talked about how proud she was of the band and that they wanted to play the 1st song they ever wrote in “Make Me Wanna Die.” Between Momsen’s strong vocals and a solid backing band, I felt the band delivered during their 55 minute set.

A short video intro was played before both guitarist Angus Young and vocalist Brian Johnson took to the stage and kicked into the classic “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).” Dressed in his traditional school boy outfit, Angus Young added a little flair to it. He wore a black gold tie with a letter P’s (Pittsburgh Pirates emblem) and a hat that had black with gold stripes around it to ensure he felt right at home in the steel city. After one of their biggest songs in “Back in Black” was played, the band did a new song called “Demon Fire.” When AC/DC releases new music, they are known for playing at least 4 to 5 tracks off it it when they do a tour. For ‘Power Up,’ that wasn’t the case as this was the only new track they did. It seemed like they wanted to focus on doing a more of a career retrospective than anything.  Tunes like “Stiff Upper Lip” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train made the cut while more popular songs like “Who Made Who” and “Are You Ready” fell to the way side.  When you have a long list to choose from, sometimes that can happen. Angus Young wore flashing devil horns as he did his traditional kick up and down the thrust during “Highway to Hell.” A slew of classic songs ensued including one of my favorites in “Whole Lotta Rosie.” The band ended their set with “Let There Be Rock” which included about a 15-minute guitar solo by Angus Young. It was also included Angus going on a platform lift at the end of the thrust where he spun around while playing the solo while confetti rained upon him and the crowd.  They returned to do 2 encores. They closed everything with a stirring rendition of   “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) that included the cannons firing off and a fire works spectacular that closed the show.

Johnson’s vocals started off strong but as the show went on, he tended to strain more.  Considering this, I thought Johnson’s voice held up as well as can be expected. Make no mistake, this show was backed by Angus Young’s guitar playing. Songs like “Riff Raff” and ‘Let There Be Rock” showcased his abilities as a formidable and very underrated lead guitar player. One of the biggest bands in the world came and delivered to the fans of Pittsburgh and beyond. If this truly is the last time we will see AC/DC  live, they can hang on their hat that they indeed went out with all cannons firing!