For many it was the most anticipated concert of the year. For everyone present it was the concert of the century! Finally the AC/DC in an Italian stadium, after the double stage in Milan last March.
Italy rock rediscovered itself as an AC/DC addict after the release of the latest unreleased album 'Black Ice'which gave Angus and co. a popularity perhaps never achieved before in our country. The audience besieging the Stadio Friuli from the very early hours of Wednesday morning is as varied as ever: the age range is from 14 to 60, and the high percentage of young people testifies to the immortality of the music of the Australian band, which is still able to give its fans two hours full of non-stop rock & roll.
The afternoon in Udine begins with Maurizio Solieri and his band: a tight set (probably the 'baddest' of the entire evening), with songs from his solo album 'Volume I', performed at lightning speed, as well as the English version of 'C'è chi dice No!', a song written by Maurizio for Vasco Rossi.
With Michele Luppi on vocals (much appreciated by the more metal-loving audience, having been the voice of Vision Divine) and his old band, mostly made up of members of Blasco's clique, the Maurizio Solieri band gets a warm round of applause at the end of half an hour of sanguine and inspired rock.
At 20.15 it is the turn of Vibrationsready to unveil their rock soul even to those who only remember them from a few video clips seen on television. In reality, 'Le Vibra' are a rock band with 'attributes', as their concerts have always testified, and this one in Udine is no exception: 45 minutes of tight rock, with songs that would make many young foreign bands envious, from 'Le Strade del Tempo' to 'Va così', and the concluding 'Seta'. The duet with old friend Pino Scotto on Led Zeppelin's cover of 'Rock & Roll', dedicated to Ronnie James Dio, which launches the band towards a crescendo ending.
9.30 p.m... AC/DC! The bizarre video we had seen at the Forum also opens the Udine concert and we start with 'Rock N' Roll Train', complete with a train in the now famous set. In line come all the classics, performed with total precision by the rhythm trio, consisting of Phil Rudd, Cliff Williams and Malcolm Young, while the two front men Brian Johnson (in great form) and Angus Young (inexhaustible) scamper around the stage and along the catwalk like two young kids.
The setlist and stage gimmicks echo the concerts seen in March 2009, but under the Udine sky and with a band in such good shape, everything seems fresh and decidedly unique.
On the notes of 'For those about to rock' and cannon shots their set and a day of pure Rock & Roll came to a close.
And from Udine all over Italy, the cry rises up, more relevant than ever: Rock And Roll ain't noise pollution! (AC/DC, 1979).
Photos of Francesco Castaldo
