AC/DC

Short Biography

AC/DC's BLACK ICE New Zealand Tour Dates:

Thu 28 January - Wellington - Westpac Trust Stadium
Thu 4 February - Auckland - Western Springs

Tickets for Wellington can be purchased from Ticketek.

NEW ZEALAND will be the first to see AC/DC -- the greatest rock and roll band on the planet who have sold over 200 million records worldwide -- perform on the Australasian leg of their massive Black Ice World Tour.

When tickets went on sale in Australia recently, they smashed all previous records. It became t...

Short Biography

AC/DC's BLACK ICE New Zealand Tour Dates:

Thu 28 January - Wellington - Westpac Trust Stadium
Thu 4 February - Auckland - Western Springs

Tickets for Wellington can be purchased from Ticketek.

NEW ZEALAND will be the first to see AC/DC -- the greatest rock and roll band on the planet who have sold over 200 million records worldwide -- perform on the Australasian leg of their massive Black Ice World Tour.

When tickets went on sale in Australia recently, they smashed all previous records. It became the fast selling tour in Australian history. In Melbourne, AC/DC hit fever pitch where fans queued overnight then snapped up 110,000 tickets in 45 minutes.

Nationwide more than half a million tickets were sold in less than 4 hours.

It will be the band's first time in New Zealand for 13 years and will - without any question - produce the most spectacular event ever staged in this country country.

AC/DC will blast their way through New Zealand with one of the largest stage productions ever seen. The production will be moved around the country by 48 semi-trailers.
 
Tickets for this Rock and Roll EXTRAVAGANZA go on sale on:

Tuesday 28th July, 2009

There is just one ticket price: $159.90

Dates on the Black Ice world tour in the US and Europe have sold out virtually as quickly as they were announced and the performances themselves have left the critics raving:
 
"AC/DC remain the gold standard for arena spectacle rock'n'roll." The Times (UK)

"Rock ‘n' roll that outlasts time." Chicago Tribune

"It's been way too long since someone tore the roof off the place like this."
Orange County Register (LA)

The New Zealand concerts come on the back of the release of the hugely successful Black Ice album.  Released on October 20, 2008 on Albert Productions and distributed by Sony Music, Black Ice sold close to 2 million copies globally in the first week of release and debuted at the number one spot in a staggering 29 countries.

Black Ice is AC/DC's first new album in over eight years and it's evident the band is still an incredible force in rock.

Black Ice has been certified Multi Platinum in 18 countries, including the US, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Italy, Argentina and the Czech Republic. 

Additionally Black Ice has achieved Platinum status in five countries (including the UK and Spain) and Gold status in four countries (including The Netherlands, Poland and Brazil).  With over 6.5 million copies of Black Ice shipped worldwide, combined with over 5.5 million in catalogue sold last year, AC/DC has surpassed The Beatles as the #1 selling catalogue artist in the US for 2008.

Don't miss the rock event of the decade which is heading to New Zealand in January and February 2010!

In-depth Biography
AC/DC's mammoth power chord roar became one of the most influential hard rock sounds of the '70s. In its own way, it was a reaction against the pompous art rock and lumbering arena rock of the early '70s. AC/DC's rock was minimalist -- no matter how huge and bludgeoning the guitar chords were, there was a clear sense of space and restraint. Combined with Bon Scott's larynx-shredding vocals, the band spawned countless imitators over the next two decades. AC/DC were formed in 1973 in Australia by guitarist Malcolm Young after his band, the Velvet Underground, collapsed (Young's band has no relation to the seminal American group). With his younger brother Angus as lead guitarist, the band played some gigs around Sydney. Angus was only 15 years old at the time and his sister suggested that he should wear his school uniform on-stage; the look became the band's visual trademark. While still in Sydney, the original lineup featuring singer Dave Evans cut a single called "Can I Sit Next to You," with ex-Easybeats Harry Vanda and George Young (Malcolm and Angus' older brother) producing.

The band moved to Melbourne the following year, where drummer Phil Rudd (formerly of the Coloured Balls) and bassist Mark Evans joined the band. The band's chauffeur, Bon Scott, became the lead vocalist when singer Dave Evans refused to go on-stage. Previously, Scott had been vocalist for the Australian prog rock bands Fraternity and the Valentines. More importantly, he helped cement the group's image as brutes -- he had several convictions on minor criminal offenses and was rejected by the Australian Army for being "socially maladjusted." And AC/DC were socially maladjusted. Throughout their career they favored crude double entendres and violent imagery, all spiked with a mischievous sense of fun.

The group released two albums -- High Voltage and TNT -- in Australia in 1974 and 1975. Material from the two records comprised the 1976 release High Voltage in the U.S. and U.K.; the group also toured both countries. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap followed at the end of the year. Mark Evans left the band at the beginning of 1977, with Cliff Williams taking his place. In the fall of 1977, AC/DC released Let There Be Rock, which became their first album to chart in the U.S. Powerage, released in spring of 1978, expanded their audience even further, thanks in no small part to their dynamic live shows (which were captured on 1978's live If You Want Blood You've Got It). What really broke the doors down for the band was the following year's Highway to Hell, which hit number 17 in the U.S. and number eight in the U.K., becoming the group's first million-seller.

AC/DC's train was derailed when Bon Scott died on February 20, 1980. The official coroner's report stated he had "drunk himself to death." In March, the band replaced Scott with Brian Johnson. The following month, the band recorded Back in Black, which would prove to be its biggest album, selling over ten million copies in the U.S. alone. For the next few years, the band was one of the largest rock bands in the world, with For Those About to Rock We Salute You topping the charts in the U.S. In 1982, Rudd left the band; he was replaced by Simon Wright.

After 1983's Flick of the Switch, AC/DC's commercial standing began to slip; they were able to reverse their slide with 1990's The Razor's Edge, which spawned the hit "Thunderstruck." While not the commercial powerhouse they were during the late '70s and early '80s, the '90s saw them maintain their status as a top international concert draw. In the fall of 1995, their 16th album, Ballbreaker, was released. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album received some of the most positive reviews of AC/DC's career. Ballbreaker entered the American charts at number four and sold over a million copies in its first six months of release. Stiff Upper Lip followed in early 2000 with similar results. The group signed a multi-album deal with Sony the following year that resulted in a slew of reissues and DVDs. The band returned to the studio in 2008 for Black Ice, an all-new collection of songs that was followed by the group's first world tour since 2001. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide