Munich and New Jersey. They don’t share very much in common, culturally and physically. But their largest stadiums were home to several performances during AC/DC’s Rock or Bust World Tour.
The Olympiastadion hosted the 1972 Olympic Games, the 1974 World Cup Final, and was home to FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich from its opening until 2005. On May 21st, 2015, AC/DC drew nearly 80,000 people to the eastern Bavarian complex. It was a cold, dreary, rainy day… but 10 minutes before the show was to start, and after the opening band – Vintage Trouble – had rocked the crowd, the skies cleared and the speakers blared.
The opening chords to Rock or Bust rang throughout the stadium and it was time for a show… a BIG show. The band was having a blast on stage, and the audience was jubilant throughout the performance (I was on the floor in the second-tier GA). For over two hours, AC/DC shared with the German city a love of life, rock, and one or two beers.
East Rutherford, NJ’s MetLife Stadium is also the home to the New York Football Giants and the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS! Although it’s capacity is somewhat smaller than its München counterpart, nearly 70,000 came to the venue to share a rock ‘n’ roll party. The weather was perfect, the crowd was happy, and I was closer than ever before to the gang.
Sadly, the band as we know it may never tour again due to lead singer Brian Johnson’s hearing loss. This is a massive blow not only to the American music scene, which has seen dwindling attendances throughout the nation, but to the global rock and metal community, as well.
If this is the end of AC/DC, it was one hell of a way to bid farewell.
