AC/DC (support act: The Pretty Reckless)
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 4:00 PM (doors), AC/DC from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Prague / Letiště Praha Letňany / the Czech Republic
AC/DC are just AC/DC. They’re like the air that surrounds us — for now, at least — the air we breathe. Simple as that. When AC/DC kick in, and whenever they do, they set off an alarm in every rock ‘n’ roll soul! The alarm sounded in November 2020 when the album “Power Up” dropped, and it’s still ringing this summer as the band — in support of that same album — returned to European soil for a second time.
Given everything that’s been happening in the camp of these undisputed rock giants over recent years, you can feel — irreversibly — that the flame is slowly dying out. That Angus, Brian, and the rest are gearing up for a well-earned retirement. It’s very likely that this latest European run is also their last, since word has it that the Australian tour dates AC/DC announced back in June will be the band’s farewell act! The European show dates are spaced four days apart, which suggests that these legendary rock ‘n’ roll uncles need a fair bit of post-show recovery time between gigs.
Once again, 60,000 heads packed the venue. Just like a month ago for Iron Maiden — at the very same site. A massive rock event you simply can’t turn your back on. People are streaming in from every direction again. Queues are already snaking past two giant merch tents — we swung by both — while The Pretty Reckless were already ripping through their set on stage, not getting a single second of our attention.
AC/DC are what matter. Even from some 400 metres back from the stage, where you can barely settle in and you already know you’re going nowhere for the next two hours or more. There’s no pushing forward. The place is packed to the brim. Things are eased by the projection screens (technology has come so far in recent years that they deliver a stunning 3D effect), as well as the speaker clusters hung on support pillars around 350–400 metres out, left and right of the massive stage structure.
Half past eight. In the evening, obviously. Right on schedule, the AC/DC ceremony kicks off. The lineup — Angus Young, Brian Johnson, Stevie Young, plus touring hands bassist Chris Chaney and drummer Matt Laug — steps up. Angus in his standard schoolboy brat getup: the bright red satin uniform, blue cap with the letter ‘A’, and a red-and-blue striped tie. He shed the jacket after the first three songs — any longer in that heat and he’d have gone up in flames.
The band delivered the classics. The commercial peaks and the most beloved hits of their career, with a passing nod to “Power Up”. Needless to say, that 60,000-strong crowd was boiling at every single second of the show. Sound conditions — excellent. And the band itself? Brian and Angus have nothing to complain about. They’re surrounded by a rock-solid crew. Stevie and Angus are practically brothers! Sure, the dynamic between them is nephew-and-uncle, but in terms of age they’re only about a year and a half apart. The big question mark going in was Brian’s form. From the start you had to factor in that Brian is 77 and that sooner or later it would show during the show. But the man is supremely seasoned, sharp, and loaded with an incredible mileage of hard-earned experience. He managed his energy brilliantly. It wasn’t until the final stretch — during You Shook Me All Night Long — that you could feel the vocal cords starting to fray. But given his age, you have to hand it to him. The fact that he can still wail at a level that justifies every ounce of his credibility in 2025 — whether everything he built with this legendary band or everything he inherited from Bon Scott — earns him nothing but respect and a massive thank-you. Angus stays the constant. Watching what he does throughout the show, the thought that you might be witnessing his last European tour is genuinely heartbreaking. The three catwalks jutting out from the stage — the centre one the most extravagant — were his turf all night long. Even the long monitor wall with the runway laid across it wasn’t spared as Angus ran and shuffled along it with his trademark gait. The crowd was losing it. The energy was, put simply, fantastic and unforgettable! These uncles aren’t holding onto just a big heart — they’re holding onto performative vitality and raw power. And the show proved it.
The stage, though, came with a bit less pomp and spectacle than expected. Rosie, with all her exaggerated curves, stayed on screen this time and didn’t inflate above the stage structure the way she did back in 2009 and 2010, when AC/DC were touring Europe on their Black Ice tour. The opening section didn’t pack the same shock as that grounded steam locomotive that used to mercilessly slam into the stage at shows on that same tour — instead, the screens showed a wildly animated race car tearing its way to the Prague venue. The setlist didn’t let us breathe. Your first real gasp of air came during Angus’s extended jam at the tail end of the main set, when a movable platform (mounted at the far end of the centre catwalk) lifted the man several metres above the crowd — so that even those of us way back in the standing area could finally get a decent look at him! The moment he lay down on his side and started spinning the guitar along the floor, the world exploded and volleys of confetti rained down from the sky. That’s classic AC/DC show territory, and Angus’s final solo journey into Let There Be Rock is non-negotiable. Brian’s battered vocal cords were gratefully resting by that point.
Two hours. On the dot. Between songs, the quintet takes a few extra beats before launching into the next number — a quirk of theirs, and one that can get a little annoying, since the momentum built up during a thunderous rock ‘n’ roll blowout tends to bleed away in those pauses.
The encore, though — fully expected! 60,000 throats roar “Oi, Oi…” through the legendary T.N.T., which doesn’t demand any serious vocal heights from Brian — and a track that always ends too soon when you’re riding that high! Then comes the finale For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), which holds the crowd in a trance through that famous barrage of cannon blasts and a closing fireworks display that easily puts the City of Ljubljana’s entire Christmas budget to shame.
I try to keep it short, and I fail every time! However you look at it, the verdict is this: the uncles delivered. Age does its thing with Brian — that’s just something you accept — but Angus keeps that reckless charge and gives absolutely no sign that the rust of old age is creeping up on him. Wild, unbridled, and exuberant — in many moments of his legendary running, kicking, and duck-walking, also boyishly sincere, and I’ll just come right out and say it: unstoppable! Exceptional, one of a kind, irreplaceable. The horned AC/DC champion! Gentlemen. Thank you for yet another unforgettable concert experience, filed firmly under: Unforgettable! Maybe we’ll cross paths again somewhere someday.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Edita Klemen
Setlist:
1. Intro
2. If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
3. Back in Black
4. Demon Fire
5. Shot Down in Flames
6. Thunderstruck
7. Have a Drink on Me
8. Hells Bells
9. Shot in the Dark
10. Stiff Upper Lip
11. Highway to Hell
12. Shoot to Thrill
13. Sin City
14. Rock ‘n’ Roll Train
15. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
16. High Voltage
17. Riff Raff
18. You Shook Me All Night Long
19. Whole Lotta Rosie
20. Let There Be Rock
—encore—
21. T.N.T.
22. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
