AC/DC storms back on Power Up tour, the band's first US trek in nearly a decade

MINNEAPOLIS – The sight of Marshall amps stacked three high and more than a dozen across the back of a stadium stage can mean only one thing: AC/DC is back.

Taking the stage for their first U.S. nonfestival performance since 2016 with a guttural roar in the form of “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It),” the quintet accelerated through two hours of sweat-inducing, fist-thrusting rawk in support of 2020’s “Power Up” album.

There wasn’t anything flashy about the stage at US Bank Stadium on April 10, the first of 13 shows the band will play this spring, because there doesn’t need to be.

A trio of video screens (and panels on the side for those with an obstructed view), a wall of lights and occasional lasers were the only necessities to complement the focal points of the show – the duck-walking Angus Young and the wild-eyed king of gesticulation, Brian Johnson.

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Though Johnson’s patented shriek was somehow overpowered by the music for the first couple of songs, the sound leveled out in time for “Demon Fire,” accompanied by video of a cloaked figure conjuring smoke from (not on) the water.

Seeing Johnson, 77, back onstage was particularly poignant considering he was forced to leave AC/DC's 2016 Rock or Bust World Tour because of severe hearing loss (it has since been rectified).

And while the vision of Young, a vigorous 70 in his trademark schoolboy shorts, tie, crew socks and black shoes, is always amusing, there was nothing but serious respect for his finger-blistering playing.

The whizzing notes of “Thunderstruck” – a locomotive rumbling into overdrive – and the chunky chords of “Highway to Hell,” which included Young sporting the devil horns that hundreds in the crowd wore in rock ‘n’ roll solidarity, proved his dexterity is undiminished.

Young is the only original member of AC/DC, having co-founded the band with brother Malcolm, who died in 2017 from the effects of dementia.

Stevie Young replaced his uncle Malcolm on rhythm guitar in 2014, but there were a couple of different faces in the backline since AC/DC’s last tour, when erstwhile drummer Phil Rudd departed to care for longtime partner Toni Wilson (who was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 2023) and bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement.

The booming AC/DC rhythm section is now anchored by Matt Laug and Chris Chaney, respectively, who muscled through the bottom-heavy “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and the band’s 2020 No. 1 rock hit, “Shot in the Dark.”

Fans bellowed every time Young took a heel-to-stage bounce down the catwalk, and Johnson’s moves were equally electrifying. He looked like Joe Cocker on epinephrine during “Whole Lotta Rosie” – a cartoon image of the titular character outlined in neon writhed on the video screens – and swaggered across the stage like a boisterous barkeep throughout “Have a Drink On Me,” one of the bluesiest songs in the band’s canon.

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Johnson’s reedy yowl echoed through the venue as he sang “Hells Bells” underneath the signature gold AC/DC bell hanging ominously above the stage, but he also knew when to cede the stage to Young, whose molten playing on “Riff Raff” and “Let There Be Rock” threatened to melt his strings.

AC/DC's set list – a replica of the shows they played in Europe last year – peppered album tracks such as “Sin City” and “Shot Down in Flames” with song staples of barroom jukeboxes worldwide. Is there a music fan on the planet who hasn’t been tempted to whip out their best air guitar to the iconic riffs of “You Shook Me All Night Long” or “Back in Black”?

It’s been 50 years since AC/DC released their debut album, “High Voltage,” and while it was uncertain in recent years if the band would ever stampede across stadiums again, there's no doubt now.

So to a band that still continues to rock, we salute you.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AC/DC kicks off Power Up tour in US: Concert review