Exact set list unknown, but certainly included these.
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar
Bon Scott - Lead Vocals
Mark Evans - Bass
Phil Rudd - Drums
Supported by: DJ's & Promo Films
Tickets: 0.50/1.00 Pounds
By Paul Welsh, Manchester, UK:
By 1976 I had been publishing my magazine Penetration for a couple of years and, because it was a rock magazine, I was always interested in checking out new rock acts. Punk was emerging in the UK with the Sex Pistols leading the charge and I wanted to get involved.
At the same time however I had been reading about what by all accounts sounded like a young exciting rock band from Australia called AC/DC. Thanks to the Sounds music paper and Rockworld they were due to come over to the UK in June and July for a tour comprising nineteen gigs, cheekily entitled the ‘Lock Up Your Daughters’ tour.
It was a chance to see them playing live and Sounds pegged the admission price at £1, or 50p with a coupon, an opportunity too good to miss. I’d purchased the UK album ‘High Voltage’, a compilation of their first two Australian album releases, ‘High Voltage’ and ‘TNT’, and I was more than excited to sample their crude, rude and vulgar brand of rock’n’roll in person.
With no support act other than a DJ, whose job it was to entertain the eager crowd for one and a half hours with records, promo films and Angus look-alike competitions, the audience’s patience was beginning to wear a little thin. However when the DJ eventually announced the arrival of the band the crowd went batshit crazy, they were on their feet from the opening chords of ‘Live Wire’ and the tone of the evening was set. Angus was no exception careering around the stage like a schoolboy possessed, jumping, stomping, rolling on the floor while never missing a note. There was nothing subtle about them, with a powerhouse rhythm section and the aforementioned Angus causing havoc.
Bon Scott however was the real star, a powerful frontman with an enigmatic stage persona and a voice like no other. He was the living embodiment of the band’s songs like ‘Live Wire’ and ‘T.N.T.’, an unpredictable wild man of rock, a powerload! Bon may have been the old man of the band at 28 but his stage presence was immense, introducing songs like ‘She’s Got Balls’ - “My balls”, he quipped with a cheeky grin. His personality shone through every number and when the band played ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll’ Bon appeared playing the bagpipes and even later he stomped around the stage with Angus sat astride his shoulders playing the guitar.
In Bon Scott they possessed one of rocks greatest ever frontmen, if he hadn’t died so tragically at the age of 33 there is no telling how he would have developed. He embraced and lived the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle to the max, the perfect example of the expression ‘Live fast, die young’.
I reviewed the first gig I witnessed in Penetration # 9 and when the band played at Manchester University, I went along armed with several copies to give to them.
After the gig was over I went along to the changing room expecting a scene of carnage but when I entered, the room was in darkness illuminated only by the light emanating from a television screen which was playing ‘Sportsnight with Coleman’, a programme showing highlights of that evening’s football matches. I could recognise the silhouettes of various band members and roadies who were sitting in almost total silence with just the occasional football related comment being shouted. I left copies of the magazine on a table for them to read through later. I didn’t want to ruin their enjoyment.
As I left the room I met Bon Scott, beer in one hand and two young ladies almost in the other. He nodded, and I introduced myself and handed him a copy of the magazine, explaining that there was a feature on the band inside.
The artist who contributed cartoons to the magazine used to just send random artworks for me to use as I wished. One of these cartoons featured a dishevelled young lady pointing with her finger whilst exclaiming “Gee!” I’d used his cartoon by placing it next to a photo of Bon onstage with her finger pointing to his groin. As Bon flicked through the magazine and reached that page he roared with laughter “The dirty slut!” he exclaimed and shared the page with his female admirers. “That’s really good, thanks.” he said to me and I left him laughing with the girls.
That was the only time I met Bon Scott but in those brief moments he was everything that I’d expected him to be, they say you should never meet your heroes, but in this instance they were wrong.
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