Berlin Columbiahalle June 9th 2003
Reviews
I was one of the lucky ones who had the chance to see Angus & Co. during the
Columbiahalle-Gig in Berlin last Monday because my family originally live in East-Berlin and it takes me home only 5 hours by car. My brother, not an AC/DC-Fan, was able to buy 2 tickets for me and a friend of mine for the Berlin-Gig.
Caused by some working problems with his company, my friend was unfortunately not able to use his ticket last monday. He told me about this Sunday.
but I was able to give his ticket to another friend, not an AC/DC-fan, who saw his first concert and hopefully became a fan.
This was the best show of AC/DC i ever saw. The Columbiahalle is a small venue, like a cinema or school ballhouse. I was on the left balcony, 10 meters away from the stage.
During the opening song HAABPTB, i was really afraid about a collapse of this balcony because all there were jumping. Brain was great too, only during "Shoot to thrill" he had some problems. Angus was in very best condition and the crowd was nearly on the way to become totally crazy.
One guy told me, that some people without ticket were on the outside ballhouse roof in a lying position to hear some music-pieces.
During "The Jack" - screaming of the crowd, Malcolm was laughing and smiling. He was really satisfied to be back on the roads. Than, the crowd screamed "TNT Oi, TNT Oi, TNT Oi" and they gave us a powerfull version of this song. At the end FTATR with 4 cannons in this small ballhouse.
Totally uncredible loud on this small venue, you will imagine ... I thought. i will die, smoke everywhere. I was dirty, totally wet, but happy.
Review by Ronald Kim from Essen
Review from Classic Rock magazine.
Blitzkreig Rock
Warming up for an imminent on-stage tussle with The Rolling Stones,
rock's premier riff machine take 3,00 lucky punters for an intimate
drive down their Hell-bound autobahn.
AC/DC – Columbiahalle, Berlin
It's not every day that you get an invitation to open for The Rolling
stones, and only a fool would turn down such an offer. And, contrary
to some people's opinion, AC/DC are far from foolish. So although the
five-piece band were scattered across the globe during the writing of
a new album that may or may not be recorded with Robert john `Mutt'
Lange (producer of `Highway To Hell', `Back IN Black' and `For those
About To Rock') when the offer arrived, AC/DC dropped everything and
flew to Europe.
This warm up show at the 3,000-capacity Columbiahalle was about as
intimate as you're likely to experience the band performing these
days, and word emanating from backstage was that the show would be
both loud and hot. Such an understatement!
With no announcement or intro tape, AC/DC ambled onto the dark stage
and punched out the opening chords of `Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be'.
It was as dynamic a start to a rock show as you might experience. And
as the temperature rose they got better and better. "How you doing?"
growled Brian Johnson gruffly, adding with nonchalant
familiarity: "This one's called `Back In Black'". As another
signature riff chimed around the venue, all you could do was stand
and stare. Just nine minutes into the gig, and AC/DC had already made
just about every other rock band around sound redundant.
Their most recent album, `Stiff Upper Lip', was virtually overlooked
in favour of their classics, although the records title track
presented a reminder of its unexpected potency. Together with Lange,
the possibilities of what AC/DC could achieve again are invigorating.
With Johnson and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young now into their
fifties, and the rest not too far behind, AC/DC have no right to
sound this good. The guitar technique of Angus Young has certainly
slowed down, but he's playing with more feel than ever. Likewise,
it's hard to recall Johnson's raucous voice sounding so impressive.
And you're unlikely to find a leaner, more effortlessly precise
rhythm section around than bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil
Rudd.
Of three sons taken from `Powerage', `Gone Shooting' and `Whats Next
To The Moon' were perhaps unusual but entertaining inclusions,
but `Rock N' Roll Damnation' satisfied the less partisan elements in
the audience. Johnson-era anthems like `Thunderstruck', `Hard As A
Rock' and `Hells Bells' also provided the perfect launch pad for a
stunning, lengthy final run-in, leaving us wondering how the band
could function in such blast furnace-like conditions.
The next day Johnson told Classic Rock that the longer than usual
gaps between songs were due to the musicians discussing what they
could play next; such a good time was being had that they were
actually adding songs to the set list. `Rock And Roll Ain't Noise
Pollution' led into `Shoot To Thrill', then came `T.N.T', `Highway To
Hell', the inevitable `Whole Lotta Rosie' and `You Shook Me All Night
Long'.
Somehow the band dragged themselves back out for encores of `Let
There Be Rock' and `For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)', the
deafening cannons of a 21-gun salute almost drowning the band out in
full flight.
Finally, two hour and ten minutes since they first took the stage,
AC/DC called it a night. As the gunsmoke cleared, there was a long,
tantalising gap before the house lights came up again. Unfortunately,
even supermen have their limits.
Dave Ling
Classic Rock
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well they moved on down