AC/DC October 7, 2023 Empire Polo Club Indio, CA, United States Power Trip Festival
01. Intro 02. If You Want Blood (You've Got It) 03. Back in Black 04. Demon Fire (live debut) 05. Shot Down in Flames 06. Thunderstruck 07. Have A Drink On Me 08. Hells Bells 09. Shot in the Dark (live debut) 10. Stiff Upper Lip 11. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 12. Shoot to Thrill 13. Sin City 14. Givin' the Dog A Bone 15. Rock 'n' Roll Train 16. You Shook Me All Night Long 17. Dog Eat Dog (first time with Brian since 2009) 18. High Voltage 19. Hell Ain't A Bad Place to Be 20. Riff Raff (first time with Brian, excluding rehearsals) 21. Highway to Hell 22. Whole Lotta Rosie 23. Let There Be Rock 24. (encore break) 25. T.N.T. 26. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) 27. Outro
Made my way out to the Empire Polo Fields (for the 29th time I think) to catch AC/DC's first show in 7 years or so, and at the same place that I last saw them (with Brian Johnson) back at Coachella 2015. Well fear not, the Axl experiment is gone, and Brian Johnson was back, in all of his raspy voice glory. It's just not the same AC/DC without him.
You could easily tell that AC/DC was the definite highlight for most festival goers this weekend. Anyone you would ask/talk to would say that their "number one act" was AC/DC. I saw more AC/DC shirts than Iron Maiden (kinda surprising), saw more AC/DC patches than anything else, and I saw flags that spanned the globe all decked out with AC/DC signage and praise. It was pretty obvious they were the biggest draw of all six bands (and unsurprisingly, Saturday also felt the most crowded of the three days). And yes, the devil horns were out in full force this night, except instead of being handed out for free, like they were back at Coachella 2015, they were being sold for $20 each (so I skipped out on that). Fucking inflation.
Angus is a wild fucking animal, I must say. He may be 7 years older from when I last saw him, and his hair is bleach white now, but fuck can that guy rock out with the best of them for 2+ hours. He actually puts Slash to shame if I'm being honest. Sure, he didn't swing from the giant bell, but I can forgive him for that, given he must have ran for a couple miles in total during the show, all over the stage, up the raised genie left, and on top of their Marshall stacks. Dude is a treasure, and I'll cherish each chance I have to watch him do his thing live.
And again, having Brian back was great too. He didn't talk much between songs, but that was fine with me. I could tell he was having a jolly time up there as they tore through hit after hit after hit (it never stopped, I swear). They played for almost 2.5 hours, which is a long time, considering I had lined up at the gates in the campsite at 1pm, then got into the venue when the gates opened at 4pm, and then stood at my GA rail spot the rest of the time, all under a relentless desert sun. It was brutal, and about halfway into the set, my feet were killing me and I was starving, and that's when I looked up and saw my friend Stacie standing right in front of me holding a pizza box with a few slices in it. She handed it over to me, gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek and ran off. Holy shit, what a life saver! That brought some new life into me, to finish out the night strong. I'll never forget that.
And big props to the people/crew/new friends around me who were all well behaved and courteous (unlike some of the folks from the night before). This recording goes out to all of them, and to all AC/DC fans (those who were there, and those who weren't). I salute you!
