Monday
Apr182016
Watch Angus Young On Stage With Guns n' Roses
Monday, April 18, 2016 at 12:01AM
Guns n' Roses headlined Coachella on Saturday. That was the same day we learned that Axl Rose would, in fact, be taking over vocal duties for the rest of the AC/DC tour. To celebrate this news, Angus Young joined Guns n' Roses on stage. Awesome sauce.
Reader Comments (21)
Which is a shame, because they've been a great band for 40 years.
Most lead singers are irreplaceable that's what makes the sound, that's what makes the energy, the meaning behind lyrics, etc, etc.. What you have here is a complete disconnect.
So lets see they have 12 international dates and a reschedule of 10 US dates. We lost a lead singer due to health reasons and have decided to try the best we can to honor those dates. Is there going to be a mass amount of people returning their tickets because EGAD ! Axl Rose is picked to do 22 shows ?!?! Please... Hardly killing a legacy, more of honoring the thing that AC/DC stands for and that is RnR. He's the guest, its not his band.
So YOU may not like their choice of who they picked, but there are a lot of people that think its pretty f'in cool. They aren't making an album, this isn't the 3rd lead singer of Van Halen, this is one of the biggest lead singers of all time, fronting one of the biggest bands of all time. What's the problem ?? I'm as much of an AC/DC fan as GNR, so sh*theads on social media can say what they want.
Pretty sure playing 22 dates to the biggest venues in the world wouldn't be called sticking a fork in them now is it ??
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/04/15/acdc-retirement-rumors-swirl-around-health-concerns/7732943/
I'm with GNR! (Both the band and commentor here)!
The proof is in the video!
Not only will I see AXL/DC in Atlanta but I hope Axl and Angus put out a new AC/DC album! I bet they'd come up with some mean cool sh*t together! Even if they did just one new song as a single, that would be SO LARGE!!!
I'll even go out on a limb and say I like Axl's voice better than Johnson's. Johnson (God Love Him) is a Barker. Axl's a Screamer. I'll take s screamer over a barker any day. Look, I get it, Ace... Johnson is the voice from "Back in Black" to "Rock or Bust". But he's out. If it were any other singer, I would say it's time to throw in the velvet shorts, Angus... But it's not just another singer... It's frickin' Axl Rose and he is totally killin' it on these two tracks.
Rose just plain sings the Bon Scott stuff better than Johnson. What the h*ll, if they let Johnson butcher Scott's AC/DC stuff, why the hell not let Rose butcher Johnson's AC/DC stuff! Personally, I feel like I'm going to personally like Rose better than Johnson on "Back In Black", et al.
I mean, didn't Bon Scott co-write the words to "Back In Black", anyway? I even recall hearing back in the day, they've even got demos in the vaults with Scott singing numerous tracks from the album including the title song. Sorry, die hards.
Viva AXL/DC !!!
... AXL/DC!!!
Not sure why some people got their panties in a bunch over this???
I never had a doubt in my mind that this would be amazing.
Now AC/DC really is going out w/a bang...
Brian did the start of the tour & they got Axl "F#cking" Rose to finish it off because of Brian's health problems.
To be honest, I had no idea that AC/DC was even touring & now thanks to Axl Rose, I am constantly finding articles about them & I am extremely excited about this (along w/all of my friends/family & co workers who are metal fans).
This is a very fitting way to cap off such a long career.
Brian Johnson started the tour, so he was a big part of the final tour, however people want to look at it, that is a fact.
Nothing about this takes anything away from Brian & I fail to see how his bandmates are disrespecting him.
What could they have said to Brian???
If AC/DC got some no name/nobody to fill in then of course, I would say to just hang it up & I would find it VERY disrespectful...
BUT they got Axl Rose, this is a wonderful "Not in this lifetime" opportunity!!!
If Brian is at serious risk of losing his hearing, his bandmates pressuring him into touring for personal selfish reasons would be the most disrespectful thing possible.
In The End:
Thank god the other members of AC/DC were adult enough about things & gave Brian his space & privacy (that he rightfully deserves) in these trying times for him.
Hopefully they end up releasing an official live CD or DVD (or both) w/Axl.
I would buy both in a heartbeat.
Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win
Kicked in the teeth again
Aint this misery ever gonna end?
That article sucked. If I wanted to read speculation or rumors, I'd pick up US Weekly. So please don't insult my intelligence of memory. Any band in their sixties can always have rumors of retirement. Pretty sure the Scorps have retired twice now in the last year. :)
Just say you don't like Axl for being well... Axl. But that doesn't discount the old Twisted Sister saying "You Can't Stop Rock n Roll"
AC/DC fans rip Angus Young for dumping Brian Johnson, hiring Axl Rose
Published April 19, 2016 news.com.au
A prestigious AC/DC fansite has closed in protest of the band’s treatment of former singer Brian Johnson.
Johnson, who joined the band in 1980 after the death of Bon Scott, has been replaced by Axl Rose.
AC/DC Italia today announced it would close after 13 years online to “take a firm stand against Angus (Young) and co” and cited the “utter dismay” that they no longer recognize the band.
The site changed their cover photo to read AC/DC 1973 — 2016.
Last month AC/DC shocked fans when they said they would use a guest vocalist to finish their European tour, which had to be postponed due to Brian Johnson’s hearing loss rendering him unable to tour.
This week AC/DC released a blunt statement that confirmed Johnson was officially out of the band to “save his hearing” and thanked him for his “contributions and dedication” and wished him all the best with his “hearing issues and future ventures.”
It also confirmed the rumor Guns N’Roses singer Axl Rose would join the band for the final 12 shows of their tour, starting in Portugal on May 7.
However sources feel the hearing issue was a smokescreen, with Johnson’s age, 68, and desire to tour less at odds with Angus Young wanting to keep the lucrative band on the road for as long as possible.
Johnson has yet to make any statement about his departure from AC/DC.
Jesse Fink, author of last year’s hit biography “The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC,” said the backlash from fans over the treatment of Johnson has been brutal.
“AC/DC is all about the money now,” Fink said. “What fans wanted to see was the band stop, let Brian get better and maybe do one last show. You’d think someone who’s been in the band for 36 years would certainly be allowed to leave on his own terms.
“AC/DC would have been far better off to just call an end to it all and preserve the amazing mystique they have. They had gone for decades saying we’re a no bullsh — band, we don’t stand for the glitz and the excess of the rock industry, we’re about the music not about the money. Yet they’ve gone and done a complete 360. Now they’re the hard rock equivalent of Kiss.”
In the last two years Angus Young has become the only original member of AC/DC. His brother Malcolm, the band’s other main songwriter, left in 2014 after being diagnosed with dementia rendering him unable to play guitar.
Drummer Phil Rudd played on the “Rock or Bust” album but was replaced on the latest tour after battles with drugs and the police in New Zealand.
Sources suggest Angus Young now has all the band members on contract, leaving him able to hire and fire as he wishes.
Paul Cashmere of music website Noise 11 said Angus Young is doing irreversible damage to AC/DC’s legacy.
“Angus is turning the band into a circus,” Cashmere said. “Axl Rose tarnished Guns N’Roses’ brand name with generic replacements and Angus is about to do the same to AC/DC. A band is a partnership. AC/DC has become a corporation with its manager and rostered staff.”
Fink said some of the reports in his book about how the Young brothers operate AC/DC as a business have been vindicated in the last year.
“Angus and Malcolm are fairly ruthless with their own band members. You only have to look at (original bassist) Mark Evans, Phil Rudd and now Brian. Ever since he joined Brian has been an incredibly loyal lieutenant to the Young brothers, especially Angus in recent times. He follows the script, he says what he has to say, I don’t think anyone thought Brian would be cast aside like that.”
Fink said replacing Johnson with Rose is the first step in ensuring AC/DC can remain a lucrative touring act.
“There’s a bigger picture here. ‘Rock or Bust’ only went gold in the US. Bands aren’t making money from album sales, just touring. AC/DC can get up to $4 milliona show. They’re one of the most profitable and lucrative touring acts in the world. That’s where the Young family are making their money. They can’t keep on doing that with a guy who can no longer hit the right notes, which is the problem Brian was having.”
Johnson’s voice was singled out in reviews of the ‘Rock or Bust’ shows as being noticeably compromised.
“I thought Brian sang pretty badly,” Fink said. “I don’t think that was an isolated opinion. It was very much the Angus Young show on the last tour. But what the people running the AC/DC organization now don’t understand is the profile of the typical AC/DC fan. They see the band as very much a part of their family. They’ve developed this great kinship and loyalty to Brian Johnson. It’s really not about can Axl Rose sing better than Brian Johnson on ‘Whole Lotta Rosie,’ it’s about how AC/DC are a family to them and they don’t like the way this man has been treated.
“To misunderstand your fanbase so monumentally is quite staggering. I go to all the AC/DC fansites and read all the comments and 99-per-cent of the fans are disgusted. The true AC/DC loyalists don’t want to have anything to do with this group, they don’t see it as AC/DC. AC/DC is more than Angus Young. He’s a very important part of AC/DC but all the little parts were important, that was Malcolm and Phil and Brian. It’s extremely bewildering. Those four letters, that band, that brand, is an extremely important part of the fan’s lives. They’ve invested so much time and money and emotion into that band and they feel betrayed.”
Meanwhile, Angus Young flew four singers from U.S. AC/DC cover bands to Atlanta to audition for the band before settling on Axl Rose.
Darren Caperna of the Dallas-based Back in Black said he performed the entire “Rock or Bust” show with AC/DC as well as “Dog Eat Dog” and “Riff Raff.”
“It was so surreal,” Caperna said on the band’s Facebook page. “I still can’t believe that I sang with AC/DC! Even though I did not get the job it was the experience of a lifetime!”
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler was another singer rumored to audition with the band."
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/04/19/acdc-fans-rip-angus-young-for-dumping-brian-johnson-hiring-axl-rose/
I'm an AC/DC fan. We all don't feel the same way about the news of Brian Johnson and them deciding to keep going or not. What happened when AC/DC should of stopped after the death of Bon Scott ? How are those true DC "fans" and their animosity of them continuing on with Brian Johnson after Bon? Are they still having their black hearts hardened every day ?
The true test will be the fans plain and simple. If they don't agree with the product they won't show. They will have a disconnect and won't pay to show up and see the band they know and love. Yes Brian Johnson is missed, that gravely voice and personality quite like no other. If he can't continue in the band, then what are they supposed to do ?? Retire because you want to remember them in a certain way, because you can't stand the thought of Angus hopping around with someone else on stage ?? Pretty sure that man does what he wants.
Its almost selfish that the band should like do a survey and ask the fans for an opinion on what to do. Geez lets ask Bill in Ohio or Peggy from Oregon should we keep playing live music for countless people around the world to which takes them back and identify for an escapism in life OR should we stop playing music that people know in love because in your opinion "its not the same".
Pretty sure all bands change. Yes the longer tenured bands create more of deep following because their recipe never changed, but man give some new food a try before judgment.
Ace, you know I love ya but I just can't roll with ya on this one... I read all that stuff previously before you posted when I first said days ago, quite simply, doctors orders are Johnson cannot set foot on stage or else he'll lose his hearing.
Are you deaf, Ace? They guy can't do it anymore! So what's Angus supposed to do? Quit? Take a good look at that guy... Quitting is not an option.
Axl AND Angus are about to prove everyone wrong! Let There Be Rock!!!
Viva AXL⚡️DC !!!
And yeah, back in 1980, those guys were all in their 20's & the band was just beginning to find an audience. BIG difference. The way Angus & his corporation is going about this, is a disgrace... to Brian, to their 40+ year legacy, & to the fans that supported them all that time.
As the article said: "They had gone for decades saying we’re a no bullsh — band, we don’t stand for the glitz and the excess of the rock industry, we’re about the music not about the money. Yet they’ve gone and done a complete 360."
*And I say all of this not as some hardcore Brian Johnson fan. I have all the stuff Bon is on, & saw them from the times they played the Starwood & the Whiskey, all the way to the Back in Black tour.... But beyond Back In Black, I haven't bought a single AC/DC record. It wasn't the same band. I respect 'em for continuing to be successful but that's it. Pulling Axl in, even as a fill-in isn't going to doing anything but water down their legacy. Quitting should've been the only option, even if it was 10 gigs short of the finish line. I wouldn't have even done done "Rock or Bust" without Malcolm... but, like the non-hit said.... "Money Talks".