Acca Dacca rocks Adelaide

Walking around Adelaide today, there seemed to be a disproportionate number of people wearing AC/DC shirts, maybe about 1 in every 10. This evening on the way to ultimate practice, it seemed that the number had grown to at least 3 out of 5 clad in black. And as we made our way to North Adelaide, the numbers grew to the point that we were almost surrounded. Vintage 70s and 80s AC/DC shirts mixed with brand new shirts from their current tour that were probably purchased yesterday. Some people sported original “Back in Black” tour garb. If you didn’t have an AC/DC shirt, a black shirt was the next best thing, along with red blinking devil horns and very large tattoos.

Apparently we were the ONLY people in the greater Adelaide area that didn’t know that Acca Dacca was playing the Adelaide Oval tonight. We had Frisbee training (that’s practice) tonight in North Adelaide—close enough to the Adelaide Oval that we could hear the music. Heading back to the train station, we realized that lots of people were sitting on the grass outside of the Oval listening to the music. It was 8:30, so we figured AC/DC wouldn’t be on for at least half hour, but just as we got close, lights started flashing and we heard loud booming sounds.

Sure enough Acca Dacca had come to the stage. We stayed to listen for a few songs, and then were going to head to the train, which was leaving at 8:55. But just then, Back in Black started. So, we listened to that, and to make a long story short, we missed our 8:55 train, went back out to the grassy hillside along the River Torrens, and listened for nearly another hour to the concert. I reckon it was the best place to hear the concert. We had the lovely river and colorful fountain right in front of us, the music wasn’t too loud, and there were all sorts of people, including families, sitting and listening next to us. They were all so civilized—not the kind of crowd you would expect to be at an AC/DC concert—which makes us think that perhaps AC/DC is a bit more popular here than in the US. In fact, we saw a group of fairly inebriated folks pick up their beer cans in the box and then place the box right next to a trash can.

The sheer variety of people out tonight highlights an interesting difference between Aussie and American culture. I call it the ‘cable TV effect.’ In the US, there is a channel for everything, so you can get your fix of home repair, bull riding, Dr. Who, 1940s movies, or whatever. You can get your news and commentary in whatever ideological slant you want. The result is a culture that has a lot less in common than the Aussies. Here, nearly everyone watches the same few national news channels and is at least aware of the major Australian music groups, particularly someone as big as AC/DC. As a result, everyone has a common cultural ground that makes society a lot easier to move around in and discussions about political and social issues a lot less polarized (compared to, say, the United States). People with a certain amount of shared information are much more likely to understand people with different opinions. Perhaps we have something to learn from the Aussies on this one.

Anyways, the concert was excellent. We heard Hells Bells, You Shook Me All Night Long, and TNT Dynamite, which we didn’t realize was an AC/DC song. It makes sense though, since we hear it all the time in our local grocery store. And, they actually sounded pretty good, which is impressive considering their singing style and their age.

Tonight was actually the second night in a row that we’ve just missed our train, which means waiting for an hour, but both nights, we’ve managed to come up with some pretty decent ways to entertain ourselves while we wait. Last night, we were on our bikes. Just missing the train, we decided to ride back into the city to look at the Northern Lights. Adelaide lights up several of the older buildings on North Terrace, and they’re actually quite beautiful to look at. We’ll take some pictures soon and post them.

It’s definitely time for bed, but we were just so pumped up after listening to Acca Dacca with the rest of Adelaide, that we had to post this tonight. You should all go rock out to Acca Dacca as soon as you can!