Date: 2nd February 2007
Venue: Fusion, Kirkwall, Orkney
Last Friday was the latest visit from AB/CD, the most renowned tribute to classic rock band AC/DC. Their good reputation from past gigs in Orkney ensured that it was a sell-out night at Fusion, and they certainly lived up to the expectations of everyone who attended.
The night was kicked off by local band The Condition with their collection of popular rock, punk and metal songs. They certainly fired up the atmosphere with classics such as The Jam’s A Town Called Malice, Led Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker and Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones, and their renditions of more recent hits including Holiday by Green Day, The Automatic’s Monster and The Killers’ When You Were Young encouraged everyone onto the dance floor.
Seventeen songs later, the audience were nowhere near the end of their tether with AB/CD about to take to the stage. In fact, when the band finally bounded onstage amid guitar squeals, it was as if the night had barely begun.
They flew straight into Live Wire and took the audience through an epic journey of some of AC/DC’s greatest songs from the Bon Scott era, including Shot Down In Flames, High Voltage, Bad Boy Boogie and the legendary Highway To Hell.
Fans of the band may have noticed that the usual rhythm guitarist, Alice Mitchell, was replaced by a younger talent, Mark Pettit, who has been playing with the band during their winter UK tour.
Even after an hour of AC/DC songs blasting through the amplifiers, the crowd still weren’t satisfied, chanting for an encore. It didn’t take long for AB/CD to hit the stage once again and blow everyone away with It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock n’ Roll) and the final song of the night, Let There Be Rock. By the end, ears were ringing and feet were aching, but there were no complaints to be heard.
Afterwards, Musicadian spoke to singer Alan Moore, who described the gig as ‘excellent.’
He added: ‘It’s always upbeat. We managed to get the audience going, and it’s always mad in Scotland. It’s been the same [as the last visits] – there’s always a nice vibe.’
Something tells me the crowd wouldn’t have disputed that for a second. Both bands made it an excellent night that was enjoyed by all.