AC/DC tribute bands (and trbute bands in general)

[moby]

Being a big fan of AC/DC I am feeling a little starved at the moment, the last album was several years ago, I last saw them live in October 2003.

So, to put things 'right' I am going to see 'Live Wire' a Bon Scott era AC/DC tribute band on February 5th.

Has anybody seen them or another AC/DC tribute band, or what do you think of tribute bands in general? What ones have you seen?

[moby]

Saw Live Wire on Saturday 5th Feb, they were very good, they had a 'Bon' and a 'Brian' and did a split set.
A good night's entertainment. You can find out more at www.livewiredc.co.uk

[moby]

Just seen Livewire again, same venue as 2005, another excellent gig, over 2 hours. Their 'Brian' was on holiday so Bon did both Bon and Brian, if you get my drift!. He was excellent switching between both easily. They did a whole shed of load stuff from Powerage which went down very well!

[moby]

An ancient Vauxhall saloon lurches into the car park belching blue smoke, all the windows are wound down and the sound of “Highway To Hell” fills the night air, the car screeches to a halt, the doors fly open and a sea of denim, leather, long hair and AC/DC patches tumbles out on to the pavement. Is this AC/DC in 1979 at the Hammersmith Odeon? Nope … but currently it’s the next best thing  …….



……. Livewire – The Wharf – Tavistock – 22nd September 2006


Only 8 months after their last gig at the Wharf in ‘Tavi’ they are back again! This is my third time seeing Livewire matching the number of times I have seen the ‘real’ thing!

I arrive to find a healthy crowd in the bar, grab a pint of Stella and head outside to the ‘patio’. The Wharf is in a beautiful setting in an old mill building next to a canal. On the patio area the venue has set up a barbeque, so I grab a burger to go with the pint and strike up a conversation with a local biker – I seem to gain kudos for my Motorhead t-shirt and he tells me about a Motorhead gig he saw in 1981.

A few minutes later I here the bass notes to the song Livewire starting, so I scoff down the burger drain the pint and head in side. Unfortunately the crowd seems smaller than previous gigs at this venue – but it seems to increase as the night goes on – the band were on stage earlier than normal though.

The first half of the show is the ‘Bon’ section and the usual selection of early classics was played, loads of crowd interaction as usual, including a sing-a-long with a member of the crowd. I had grumbled that at previous Livewire gigs that ‘Angaz’ (as he is called in this band) guitar sound didn’t cut through the mix enough – I am pleased to say that on this occasion that was well and truly remedied, in particular on Riff Raff where the guitar sound was a close to perfect as you can get. Highlight of this section for me was ‘Dirty Deeds’

Oh yeah – and I can now say I have touched ‘Bon’ 

They then went into an extended ‘Bad Boy Boogie’ half way through ‘Bon’ went off stage whilst ‘Angaz’ went through his strip session – revealing a pair of AC/DC boxer shorts! ‘Brian’ then came on to the stage and finished the song. This was an excellent way of doing the transition between the two halves of the show.

They then went into Thunderstruck – and something happened! I don’t know what it was but the energy level of the band seemed to go up a notch, the volume seemed to go up and the crowd seemed to get louder. I am not saying anything was wrong or missing from the first half, but it seemed to take on a new dimension with Thunderstruck!! And what a rendition it was – I have seen Thunderstruck done live by AC/DC themselves and I can honestly say Livewire’s version was as good as the real thing. I’ve listed the rest of the ‘Brian’ set below.

The encore consisted of a medley of songs with both ‘Bon’ and ‘Brian’ on stage at the same time! 

And then sadly it was over, nearly 2 and a half hours in a flash and all for just £10. Livewire seem to genuinely like playing Tavistock and commented on this several times during the gig, this year they came back again after just an 8 month gap, and I hope they will be back again soon!



The set list was something like this – the order may be wrong and I am sure I have missed some songs off, but it gives you a good flavour….

Bon - Livewire, Riff Raff, Gone Shootin, Sin City, It’s a Long Way, Dirty Deeds, TNT

Bon and Brian - Bad Boy Boogie

Brian -Thunderstruck, You Shook Me All Night Long, Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be, Back In Black, Heat Seeker, Who Made Who, Hells Bells, Stiff Upper Lip,

Bon and Brian - Highway To Hell, Whole Lotta Rosie, For Those About To Rock, Rocker