Why is Nashville called Music City? The history of the nickname.
Nashville earned its nickname after decades and decades of musical pursuits.
Because Nashville got “Thunderstruck” with weather on May 20, AC/DC‘s Nissan Stadium show was postponed until May 21. Turns out, the reschedule was a genius move, not only because the storms that rolled through Tuesday were strong and dangerous, but because the rescheduled date brought idyllic weather for an outdoor rock show.
At showtime, the skies were clear and the springlike temperatures hovered in the low 70s with a slight breeze drifting through the stadium — quite a difference from the strong winds, severe storms and torrential rain from the night before.
As the house lights went dark at 9 p.m., after openers The Pretty Reckless, the stadium glowed with blinking red horns fans were wearing as a nod to the band’s “Highway to Hell” album cover.
An animated video played of the AC/DC trucks rolling into Nissan Stadium before guitarist Angus Young, clad in his signature shorts (red velvet this time) with his gray hair flowing under a bright blue cap made his way down the catwalk stage.
The sold out house let the band know it was worth the wait.
Singer Brian Johnson addressed the crowd saying in his thick British accent, “Thank you for sticking with us, Nashville! This is the music capital of the world. We’d also like to thank the crew. They had to take this (stage) down yesterday and put it back up again.”
Show spanned decades of music
The band kicked off the Nashville show on its “Power Up” tour with a throwback to their 1979 “Highway to Hell” album with “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It”) and wasted no time launching into their biggest hit, “Back in Black.” The show spanned their decades-long catalog including a cut from the 2020 “Power Up” album and didn’t overlook crowd favorites such as “Thunderstruck,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and “Shoot to Thrill.”
Young, at 70 years old, put on the show of an 18-year-old chock full of energy with quick guitar work and plenty of Chuck Berry-inspired fancy footwork. He played with the crowd, danced around, threw down some impressive solos and never missed a lick. He even stepped into a circle late in the show that elevated him above the crowd as confetti cannons blasted fluttering bits of paper into the crowd.
Johnson’s voice isn’t what it used to be, but his trademark gravely vocals were surprising considering he’s been singing in a rock band for 40 years.
After two hours of non-stop music, the band exited the stage and let Young hold the audience captive with a 10-mintue long guitar solo. After a brief pause, the band returned to light up the stadium with an electric encore consisting of “T.N.T” and leaving their final mark with “For Those About to Rock,” highlighted with cannon blasts from side stage and fireworks.
If you try to talk to a friend or coworker the next day and they can’t hear you, it’s probably because they were at arguably one of the loudest rock shows Nissan Stadium has ever hosted.
AC/DC is half a century strong
The Grammy Award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been making music together for more than 50 years, playing their first show together in 1973. While members have changed throughout the years, Young founded the band with his late brother Malcom.
The band’s current lineup consists of Johnson, Young, Stevie Young (rhythm guitarist and nephew of Malcom and Angus), Matt Laug on drums and Chris Chaney on bass.
The North American leg of the band’s “Power Up” tour consisted of 13 shows wrapping on May 28 before the band heads back to Europe.
AC/DC’s setlist for May 21, Nissan Stadium in Nashville
- “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”
- “Back In Black”
- “Demon Fire”
- “Shot Down in Flames”
- “Thunderstruck”
- “Have a Drink on Me”
- “Hells Bells”
- “A Shot in the Dark”
- “Stiff Upper Lip”
- “Highway to Hell”
- “Shoot to Thrill”
- “Sin City”
- “Rock N’ Roll Train”
- “Dirty Deeds”
- “High Voltage”
- “Riff Raff”
- “You Shook Me All Night Long”
- “Whole Lotta Rosie”
- “Let There Be Rock”
- “T.N.T.”
- “For Those About to Rock”
Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content
