23 June 2009

AC/DC...DONNINGTON, ENGLAND 1991

Interviewer...when you guys played Donnington in 1991, as you recall is that the largest audience the band has ever played to ?
Angus...at that time it probably wasn't the largest but is was probably one of the most enthusiastic i think because Donnington festival at that time it was pretty, the hard rock, the big thing of Europe so you know....it certainly stands out as an event at the time.
Interviewer...and how would you compare the 91 festival to the previous ones, there is one in 81 and 84 Angus...i think this one was probably the best because the other ones, when we had first done it , in fact the first time we played Donnington i think it was just the second time they held it so it was never really looked at as being a kind of annual event,and it kind of took off from there and every year after that they had a build up, a big following and every year after that it became one of the steady stream of festivals didn't it ?
Interviewer...your fans are some of the most loyal and committed ever, how would you describe their following.
Malcolm...it's like, i don't know, like in the States but in England, football, they totally follow to Russia or anywhere, well we've got that type of following, hard core fans that save up from the end of one tour, sell their motorbikes whatever to get their cash together to go on the next world tour. A lot of times the crew guys have all put in backstage so that they don't have to buy the tickets cause their all broke halfway through the tour, we've lent a few bob out to them a few times you know just to get them through but their totally dedicated they'll starve to death for a week just to see a show, we're proud of our hard core fans.
Angus ...we share their bond. {laughs}
Interviewer...and how did the production come about for the show, is their anything special about the show.
Angus..well I'm sure there was a, well there was a huge production, camera wise i think for the filming of it that was big in fact. When i saw the stage actually going up for that cause we'd done a lot of open air shows and on that tour and it kind of looked like, every time i saw the building of it it looked like a mini hotel goin up so it was a huge production want it ?
Malcolm...yeah 21 cannons we had
Angus... couple of giant blow up things we had, big Rosie you know that big girl
Malcolm...we had thunder, thunder storm at the beginning
Angus...that's right a real one, {laughs}, that wasn't true...so we had also that big platform too to bring me out in the middle of the crowd, I'm good at gettin lost in that crowd so it helped me find my way
Malcolm...it did get lost on the way back
Angus...so we ordered 2
Interviewer...why did you decide to film it in such an extensive way
Malcolm...it was David Mallet who you know, we think is best video director come live film, you know for rock n roll music he's just got that, he's a real music fan David Mallet and he's, he would like to out do himself with a band like us each time so the budget is usually pretty fiery,the managers freak and the record labels usually freak worse but we managed there to pull off the 35mm and 20- 25 cameras, one in a helicopter and they had all sorts of, to get the permission to do that because Donnington is near a small airport ,so the police and everything were involved everyone got together for that show cause they knew it was gonna be a good one so it was excitin for us you know at the time because even it wasn't, like Angus said it's probably not, we did the show in Rio with nearly 400,000 people there so it wasn't as big as say Rio but the, being in England at the time and being Donnington the third time back and the fans had sold it out way before and the anticipation of going to do it, it was certainly , it felt like this could be a pinnacle at that time for us and it certainly came off that night the band came off, the pressure we were on, that if the band played crap there was a lot of money down the tubes so i think that helped it a lot that night it just gave us that extra surge of energy to get through to get it right
Angus ..yeah you could have gone the other way, a big show and everythin all those cameras and all that money and you get on and the last thing you want is, the audience is great everythin going well and then on comes the band and spoils it all, so you don't want that to happen {laughs}
Interviewer...were there rehearsals for this show and what were those like
Malcolm...it's not really a rehearsal is it because the stage like that is put together for that show so the guys just get up, get a feel for the stage see how big it is especially Angus goin out on the wings, the distances what to watch out for you know, this joint is not to safe here Angus so if you scoot over this bit
Angus...I've got a lot of friends but my enemies leave mine fields
Malcolm...mind you when you do a sound check there the place has got a sort of 3,000 people there workin its not really a sound check it's like a mini gig warm up
Interviewer ...is it something about David Mallets style that compliments the band that you continue to work with him
Malcolm..yeah yeah he's he used to do um a TV show here as well while he was doin videos he was always into this old TV show called St Trinians, movies they made back in the late 50s early 60s all the kids used to love and he loved all the school girls gettin up to all the naughty things in life so when he first got together with us and saw Angus in his school boys uniform it was a partnership made in heaven you know he just liked workin with the school boy thing
Angus...Brittany wasn't invented then
Malcolm...but that was his intital thing but once he got into the music and the band as well, there was a lot of rock n roll sex and everythin else that comes with it, he just loved it he always loved workin with us guys it wasn't serious work with us guys, he sparkled when he worked with us on Donnington his excitement made you feel this is gonna be unbelievable. the filming we saw , he pulled it off big time
Angus ...he's done a few things like that with us over the years, film and stuff ,especially an out door thing which is a hard thing to do when you think , you got all the elements against you , weather, is that gonna be good and you put that in the combination with all the different things, staging and everything, lighting, cameras and you always as Malcolm says he gets real excited he's more excited than anyone runnin around and i think that's what gives him his big kick when he's doin it ...he should wear the school suit actually
Interviewer....what goes into the decision making process for a set list for a show as large as Donnington, how do you choose the songs.
Angus....well you have to, being who we are we got a big album collection so we try to...you know that you gotta try and play ones that you know , the favourites and then you kinda every now and then play something, a few songs you mighten have done before and pull something out of the hat you know and um but i would say that the bulk of ...especially at that Donnington show you try to do a few of your current songs of that time and a lot of your older tracks that they know, i mean you couldn't play a show like Donnington show without playing songs like Whole Lotta Rosie and Hell ain't a Bad Place To Be or then again you couldn't walk away without playing Back in Black or Shoot To Thrill or
Malcolm....TNT or For Those About To Rock
Angus...there's some things you've gotta get out there you cant escape you gotta play em
Interviewer.....do you feed off the energy of the crowd ?
Malcolm....if their not movin
Angus....they become like crocodiles don't they, they gonna snap your head off
Malcolm....that's the whole burst it gives you that, it's when their up it becomes a complete thing, the band ride on it, if their on a wave then you know it's gettin, some nights if there's...playin different venues and the sound may take 3 to 4 songs to get the sound out front, we've gotta make adjustments sometimes but once their all up and part of it at the same time the band is like on a surf board catchin a great wave it's ...your just goin on for the ride then
Angus....and you go with them and its something to see when their doin it because sometimes their louder than you they make more noise than you we can just go into cruise control
Malcolm....yeah the confidence in everything rather than just the nerves and it's just shear pleasure
Angus...if i can keep my pants on {laughs}
Malcolm.....well for halfway through the show anyway
Interviewer.....do you have a favourite Brian moment from the show ?
Angus....a favourite Brian moment
Malcolm....like his bell, he likes gettin up on his bell that's usually where he can show off his skills..he used to be a paratrooper in his like teens i think he joined the services for a few years
Angus....till he learned he had to fall out of aeroplanes {both laughing} and confidently
Malcolm....but he likes swingin on that bell
Interviewer.....is there a favourite Cliff moment
Angus....Cliff, Cliff's always pretty quiet isn't he ?
Malcolm....yeah, its good seein him rockin though when he's...he stands back a lot like i do as well but he's ...you can tell when he's havin a great time, you'll see him between his hair when he comes over the stage and he's got a big grin on his face and that's about the highlight of Cliff on stage but when he's got that grin he's lovin it you know it's just another piece of the five where every ones havin a great time and your just lovin it instead of lets just get there, you've gotten...the kids are all happy everyone just becomes more relaxed with it all, i don't mean laid back but the energy increases but you don't feel the pain {laughs} its magic really when you see everything locked in, everyone having a great time on stage and that's what happened at Donnington. There were a few songs to settle down, pressure was on but i think by that 3rd song we were just we were on that wave then
Interviewer.....Mal do you have a favourite moment of Angus ?
Malcolm....of Angus ? well there's a lot....i always like the endings you know when he gets up and does the one arm stuff some nights it just sounds like it's biblical {laughs}
Angus....and on other nights you just wish he wasn't there {laughs}
Malcolm....nah its the way the light hits him instead of the devil he comes across more as a little angel you know what i mean ? I've seen people with tears in their eyes watching it
Angus....that's the ones that want the refund {laughing}
Malcolm....maybe {laughing}
Angus.....hold on I'll be right there {laughing}
Interviewer.....and Angus do you have a favourite moment of Malcolm from that show ?
Angus....Mal ? ah there's tons of moments, i just like watchin his plectrums get chewed up, especially at the end because its a bit like a buzz saw, for those about to rock especially at the end with the cannons going off cause we're doin it in cues and they're waiting on my cue and watching what I'm doing and where i am on the stage and you can just see his hand goin his right hand and you can just see the plectrums it's like dust coming off and you can see all around his feet all these dead plectrums , they've gone to plectrum heaven {laughing}
Malcolm.....hell [laughing}
Angus...that's right or hell whatever {laughing}
Interviewer.....and Donnington 91 performance was in the midst of the razors edge world tour um what do you recall most about the making of that album and performing the songs such as thunderstruck live
Angus... well it was probably an album, i always remember the build up of that track thunderstruck from that album it kinda was a track that each time you looked there was something new added like ah it wasn't a short process, song started as a basic a little guitar diddle i had on acoustic guitar and then Malcolm he listened to it and said well we'll try this rhythm here and it kind of built it was the kind of song that went along each time and , i remember at the time being in Canada and saying well I'm going home for a week and when i came back they'd added even more things on it, i was really impressed when i come in and i could hear all this big chant going on and i said where did that come from but it just sounded so cool hearin this big thunder cause Mal says i don't know if you'll like this, we added this while you ,you gone and the next thing you know he says we've got another little chant goin on, we'd had that idea from the beginning just this other little chant, when all of that was all added and you heard it all in the end you went what a track cause it wasn't a normal kind of track, you know this slow thing with the guitar then the rhythm comes in and the bass and the drums then the vocals comes in and it kind of builds all the way along then when the band comes in you've got this big thunderstruck
Interviewer.....during Money Talks you would propel millions of ac/dc bucks or Angus bucks into the crowd
Angus.....that's right...very good currency
Interviewer...did you ever think that currency should have been adopted in Europe instead of the euro
Malcolm......they were talkin about that, i think it was Alvin our business manager over there, he said Mal these dollars are worth more than the euro are they're worth more value $10 on the street for one {laughing}
Interviewer....and following Donnington you head lined a show at tushino airfield in Russia, it was reported one million plus people how did performing at this massive festival compare to Donnington ?
Malcolm....well that was different
Angus....it was certainly different
Malcolm.....cause that was sort of historical in a real way it more than them changin over from communism to their freedom their democracy you know
Angus....capitalist
Malcolm....and we were there within a week
Angus....and what better capitalists to call on
Malcolm.....but that was a free show, everyone just felt honored to be in Moscow you know and that show you were playing to people who'd never seen anything like a live show never mind, they might have seen an Elton John in the past you know they'd already seen the weird ones over there but they'd never really seen a hard core big big show and they put things like Disney no not Disney Warner bros cartoons on there

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