Gig review: AC/DC UK at Rescue Rooms

There are tribute bands, and then there is AC/DC UK. This group of accomplished musicians do a sterling job of recreating one of rock music’s greatest bands. I spoke with the band before the gig as they were setting up on stage.

Roadies were hauling cannons up on top of huge stacks of Marshall speakers while the lads were getting ready to stun the Nottingham crowd who were queuing outside, with a couple of fans sporting light up devil’s horns adding to the overall vibe. ‘Angus’ was sat on the stage practising his riffs unplugged while ‘Brian Johnson’ aka Gavin Bolt spoke to me of his excitement of the band’s return visit to Rescue Rooms, a venue the band always love playing.

It’s not just venues like Rescue Rooms that have paid host to these guys: they’ve played at sold out events and festivals worldwide, appearing on TV and were even featured in the Hollywood blockbuster Expend4bles starring Sylvester Stallone. In 2023, the boys headlined The Legends of Rock Festival in Portugal playing in front of an audience of 5,000 fans as well as performing to a televised audience of five million in Poland at The Undercover festival. Not bad going for a tribute act!

Once the stage was set, the lads grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading upstairs to the dressing room where they were all magically transformed into what you might just believe were those most famous of Antipodean rockers with ‘Brian Johnson’ sporting his trademark Peaky Blinder’s cap and ‘Angus’ as the immortal schoolboy complete with shorts, cap and blazer.

Without further delay and to much applause, cheers and loud whistling, the band tore into a blistering set which lasted just over two hours starting off with Shoot To Thrill. ‘Brian Johnson’ proved to be untiring with his frenzied onstage presence, running about, arms swinging and whipping the crowd up who gladly responded with myriad devil’s horns salutes.

This was an unstoppable force with AC/DC’s greatest songs being delivered in an irresistible style raining down like a hailstorm, assaulting the senses with all the power of a rock and roll earthquake with classic tunes which included Rock and Roll Damnation, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, High Voltage Rock and Roll and Thunderstruck.

‘Angus’ delighted the crowd with some mesmerising guitar licks as well as the famous Angus Young duckwalk. ‘Brian’ paid tribute to Bon Scott with a powerful rendition of The Jack which instantly transported me back to the time I actually saw Bon Scott singing this song with AC/DC back in 1976 at Cleethorpes Winter Gardens.

The rest of the band were solid in their support of these two front men with ‘Stevie Young’ complementing his ‘brother’ with some tasty riffs and backing vocals. The bassist channelling Cliff Williams certainly provided the requisite thumping bass sounds, with Angus’ school tie wrapped around his mic stand. Situated at the back, but certainly not backward in projecting a thunderous sound was the band’s very own version of Phil Rudd, who is actually fairly local, living at the other end of the A52 in Derby.

I was worried that ‘Brian’ might wear himself out, such were the intensity of his onstage gymnastics, but I was assured by Lisa Woolley, who is one of the band’s promoters, that he would most certainly last the course, as he’d done this so many times before. Suitably reassured by her words I enjoyed the band’s further offerings as they charged through yet more AC/DC classics including Hells Bells, T.N.T., Whole Lotta Rosie and Let There Be Rock.

‘Brian’ was still going as strong as ever as seemingly the last number of the evening was played. At this point the band made the pretence of going off, only to return after Angus’ solo with Bonnie, then launching into a stunning finale of Highway To Hell, finally finishing spectacularly with For Those About To Rock accompanied by some ear splitting retorts from the cannons on the Marshall speaker stacks.

The crowd really appreciated what had been sheer professional entertainment; the band said their goodbyes as the smell of the cannon charges drifted on the air. In a generous gesture, the drummer threw a drumstick into the balcony and another into the crowd as a keepsake of what had been a memorable performance by some guys who really know how to pay tribute to some of Rock and Roll’s greatest heroes.

The people behind tonight’s show, Alan and Lisa Woolley of Raw Promotions in Derby, are now in their thirtieth year of promoting gigs. This dynamic duo plan to put on more such events in Nottingham, starting with The Smiths tribute band, The Smyths, who are booked to appear at The Level on 7th November.

AC/DC UK performed at Rescue Rooms on 6th June 2024. They will be appearing at The Flowerpot in Derby on 29th August.