Australian rockers to play at Magnetic Hill on Aug. 6

Posted in the Times and Transcript

"In the morning we'll be officially announcing the worst-kept secret in Atlantic Canada," laughed Andre Hudon in an interview last night.

"AEG Live and Donald K Donald will be producing the AC/DC Black Ice World Tour at the 2009 Magnetic Hill Music Festival on Aug. 6."

Hudon is president of Donald K Donald, the Montreal-based promoter that brought both the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour in 2005 and The Eagles in 2008 to what has emerged as one of the most prominent outdoor concert sites in the world.

"The band knows all about Magnetic Hill," said Hudon, "their production manager is the same guy who was here for both the Stones and the Eagles so they know the site very well."

Hudon said promoters are "perhaps being optimistic, but we expect the band to draw Stones-like numbers.

"AC/DC is the hottest rock band in the world today; it's the show that Canadians want to see and we are thrilled they have chosen the Hill."

The Rolling Stones drew 80,000 people four years ago.

Although the world economy was running hot at the time, the band might in fact achieve good numbers given ticket prices will be cheaper than either the Stones or the Eagles.

General admission tickets are $99.50 and there an as-yet-undetermined number of reserved grandstand tickets for $219.50.

Early-bird tickets for The Eagles were $109.50, regular $124 and reserved grandstand $249, all similar to the Stones show. None of the quoted prices include HST.

Hudon said it is the band itself that wanted the lower prices.

"They just wanted to make the show accessible to their Canadian fans," said Hudon, "but needless to say they are in very high demand all over Europe and worldwide they are just huge right now."

Hudon said it was unfortunate that other news media in the region announced the show a few days ago without confirmation from the promoters, as this type of behaviour can make it tough for a deal to come together.

"It was an unfortunate incident," he said, "it created some hurdles for us but everything came together in the end."

Hudon said the band will choose supporting bands themselves and are unlikely to announce them until they begin the North American leg of the tour at Gillette Stadium in Boston on July 28.

Hudon said DKD is looking forward to another stop at a very successful site.

"We love Moncton and Magnetic Hill," he said, "we have a great relationship with the City of Moncton and the Province of New Brunswick. We think of AC/DC coming to your town as a tribute to what they have done, the investments they have made to make the Hill such a great site."

AC/DC, a hard-edged crew of blues-based rockers formed in 1973, is mainly defined by the Young brothers, lead guitarist Angus (famous for the British schoolboy outfits he wears on stage) and rhythmn guitarist Malcolm.

Just as well known in the early days was vocalist Bon Scott, but despite his 1980 death at the age of 33 in the back seat of a car after a night of heavy drinking, the band just got bigger.

Rounded out by Cliff Williams on bass and Phil Rudd on drums, the band honed its skills in bars all over Australia through the mid-1970s and late in the decade had emerged as huge stars down under with such albums as High Voltage and T.N.T.

The band emerged as a worldwide legend with the album Highway to Hell in 1979 and the title track remains a classic 'rock anthem' today.

Even those who claim a lack of familiarity with the group will recognize the song and many others if they've even been near a hockey rink or a baseball diamond.

The band mourned the passing of Scott for about a year but regrouped under Englishman Brian Johnson as Scott's replacement and they have simply grown in stature since.

Their first album with Johnson, Back in Black, was released as a tribute to Scott in 1980 and many consider it to be AC/DC's signature work with such hits as You Shook Me All Night Long and Hells Bells as well as the title track.

Through the 1980s, the band released several more hit singles including For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), Who Made Who and Shake Your Foundations.

In 1990, the band released another landmark album, The Razor's Edge, which featured the hit title track along with anthems Thunderstruck and Money Talks.

It would embark on a massive world tour in support of the album. The concert DVD Live at Donington captures the band during this period.

In 1995, the band released Ballbreaker and took off on another huge tour. In 2000, they followed it up with Stiff Upper Lip, which featured the hit title track and hit tune Satellite Blues.

After another lengthy tour, the band packed it in for several years, which caused some to wonder if AC/DC would ever record another album.

In 2008, however, the band returned in fine form with Black Ice, another collection of bluesy guitar riffs, pounding drums and throbbing bass. Johnson's famous gritty vocals bellowed out the lyrics to hits Rock And Roll Train and Big Jack.

The band is now in the middle of another massive world tour, including a two-night stand in London this week and dates in Ireland, Germany, Greece and France over the next few months.

The stop at Magnetic Hill is part of a summer tour all over North America.

Back In Black is one of the best-selling albums of all time, topping the list along with albums like Michael Jackson's Thriller and The Eagles Greatest Hits.

In the summer of 2003, AC/DC performed second on the bill to the Rolling Stones at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, a concert intended to help the city rebound from the effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic. While the Stones headlined the show, media reports the next day indicated that AC/DC was indeed the crowd favourite.

A recent survey conducted by Bristol Omnifacts Research for the Times & Transcript shows that AC/DC is the band most people in the area want to see.

When 605 people were asked who would be their choice for a band to play at a Labour Day concert on Magnetic Hill, 16 per cent chose AC/DC.

U2 followed at 10 per cent and Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Elton John and Celine Dion each took two per cent of the votes.

With files from Eric Lewis