Angus Young on why AC/DC could never have played Live Aid
Even though they’re not as productive as they were at the height of their career, there’s no question that the name of AC/DC would still be able to attract a gigantic audience and fill some of the biggest stadiums around the world.
The Aussie hard rockers were at one stage one of the biggest groups of their kind in the world, and their legacy is still being passed down to younger generations, with them remaining one of the most listened to and best-selling groups of all time, regardless of genre. One of the main draws towards them, however, was that their live performances were simply a cut above their peers, and that’s still true to this day.
They might have lost a few members over the years, with being forced to replace Bon Scott with Brian Johnson being the most notable example, as well as the death of Malcolm Young and the decisions made by Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams to retire from touring, but the ones who remain are still able to entertain the masses wherever they go in the world.
The over-the-top theatrical elements of their performances are even able to win over sceptics, which says a lot about how good they are at their craft. It’s hard to engineer a band like AC/DC, because their authenticity and genuine belief in their daft antics is what has ultimately made them so appealing to audiences over the years, and anyone who chooses to try and imitate this isn’t going to get very far unless they’ve got the natural charisma to back it up.
You simply can’t imagine them ever feeling as though there would be an environment where it wouldn’t work for them, and that they’d be able to have audiences in the palm of their hands wherever in the world they landed.
However, there were certain shows that, despite their gigantic appeal, they were reluctant to do, and even though there’s sufficient evidence to prove that they would have been a runaway success in pretty much any context, they still refused.
Many people feel their omission from landmark cultural events such as Live Aid, where many of their contemporaries and other major names of the period played when they were at their biggest, was questionable, but AC/DC’s guitarist Angus Young stated during a 1992 interview with Classic Rock that he always had his reasons.
“People sometimes ask us why we don’t do benefits like Live Aid,” he said, placing the famed fundraiser in the same category as other events of the same nature. “I just thought it would have been a bit strange: ‘Hi, we’re going to play ‘Highway To Hell’, ‘Hell’s Bells’ and ‘Back In Black’ for you!’ I don’t think it would have been taken in the proper context.”
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been the greatest environment for them to showcase them at their best, but nor would it really have been ideal for anyone else in this context. Nobody can truly show off their full repertoire in 15 minutes, but the nature of it being for a good cause rather than a paycheck is the major point over the performance, which highlights how Young and the rest of the band were missing the larger point of being asked to play.
