Unpredictable, uncontrollable and occasionally un-easy to get on with as he may be, though, Axl is also a man with a devastating energy to him. Unfocussed, it results in drama and shitshows, like Guns’ appearance at Download 2006 or Reading 2010. But when properly harnessed, he can Make It Happen. Some said it wouldn’t work, but truthfully, a more fitting fit to fill the vacant singer role in Acca-Dacca would be hard to find.
For AC/DC, here was a killer frontman, a singer with the same brawling vocal style as Brian Johnson or Bon Scott, who wasn’t a stranger to stadium stages. Plus, though it raised eyebrows, it might shake things up a bit, get some new energy in the room. Even if he did have to do the shows on a throne after doing his foot in at the Troubadour show.
“I’d heard a lot of things, but I talked to him one-on-one and he was very respectful to me and the others,” recalled Angus Young. “He would listen. We said, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get some rehearsals to get this happening’, and he fully committed and went about it very professionally. He was very respectful. If we were there to do the show, he was there, and he was there at the same time as us, ready to go.”
So it proved in the event. It was different, but not that different. The fit was good. And rather than disappoint ticket holders, what actually happened was that AC/DC gave fans a genuinely new moment, something unplanned, but brilliant. When everything looked screwed for AC/DC – Brian Johnson going, Malcolm Young having to retire, Phil Rudd being arrested and sentenced to eight months house arrest – here was a tour that didn’t bring things limping to a halt, but determinedly came out fighting.