As first teased by Q last week, venerable hard rockers AC/DC have officially announced the European dates for Power Up Tour 2024 and while there is no new release, the band will more than likely continue pounding out the material from 2020's Power Up.
Team AC/DC also revealed in addition to the legendary frontline of vocalist Brian Johnson and guitarist Angus Young, they will be joined by Stevie Young (who played on Power Up), nephew of founder Malcolm Young, who passed in 2017. Drummer Matt Laug will take over for Paul Rudd, who famously had well-documented legal troubles starting in 2014 (pleading guilty to drug charges and threatening to kill a former assistant in 2015). After his stay in-home detention, he returned to record Power Up with the band in Vancouver, BC. However, Laug was the drummer in their only show since then, at 2023's Power Trip Festival in Indio, Calif.
Angus Young still making faces at the Power Trip Festival, October 2023.
Bassist Chris Williams had semi-retired after the death of Young, but returned for the recording of Power Up and sole performance last October. In the bass position will be former Jane's Addiction member and noted session musician Chris Janey.
Chris Janey at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute concert, Wembley Stadium, September 2022.
The Power Trip one-off gig was AC/DC's first show in six years with Johnson. Prior to that, the Rock or Bust Tour in 2016 was their last full-length go-round. But in March of that year, right in the middle of the tour, everything went off the rails when the band issued a statement, revealing Johnson's profound hearing loss: if he didn't stop right there and then, he would go completely deaf.
The following month, Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose was announced as Johnson's replacement for the remaining 22 dates. This left the group in a precarious position, deciding if they would continue as a touring band... or even a band at all.
Axl Rose onstage with AC/DC, Washington, DC, September 2016.
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Audio expert Stephen Ambrose, who invented the world's first wireless in-ear monitor technology (IEMs) was able to reconstruct a version to get Johnson back onstage. All original band members reconvened at Warehouse Studio in Vancouver in 2018 which resulted in Power Up and three 2020 Grammy nominations – for Best Rock Album, Best Rock Performance and Best Music Video.
The 2024 European tour ends a six-year drought in the band's full-tour concert appearances. There was no support for Power Up due to the Covid-19 pandemic and assurances from Johnson that he could actually get onstage without issue were solved at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium in September 2022, when he joined Metallica's Lars Ulrich and the Foo Fighters for covers of "Back In Black" and a Bon Scott-era version of "Let There Be Rock."
AC/DC in Barcelona, Spain during their Rock or Bust Tour, 2015.
The 76-year-old Johnson came off the stage and was convinced he could do live touring – "it was sh*t or bust. If these [hearing aids] don’t work in front of the world and all the music world," he told Spin – and with the Indio, Calif. gig a success, a full-blown tour has finally been announced.
Tickets for Power Up Tour Europe 2024 will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Feb. 16 between 9-10 a.m. local time here. Tickets for the two Wembley Stadium shows will be available here.
AC/DC POWER UP TOUR EUROPE 2024
17-May Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Veltins Arena*
21-May Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Veltins Arena*
25-May Reggio Emilia, Italy, RCF Arena
29-May Seville, Spain La Cartuja Stadium
05-June Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Johan Cruyff Arena
09-June Munich, Germany, Olympic Stadium*
12-June Munich, Germany, Olympic Stadium*
16-June Dresden, Germany, Messe*
23-June Vienna, Austria, Ernst Happel Stadium
26-June Vienna, Austria, Ernst Happel Stadium
29-June Zurich, Switzerland, Letzigrund Stadium
03-July London, England, Wembley Stadium
07-July London, England, Wembley Stadium
13-July Hockenheim, Germany, Ring*
17-July Stuttgart, Germany, Wasen*
21-July Bratislava, Slovakia, Old Airport
27-July Nuremberg, Zeppelinfeld*
31-July Hannover, Messe*
09-August Dessel, Festivalpark Stenehei
13-August Paris, France, Hippodrome ParisLongchamp
17-August Dublin, Ireland, Croke Park+
TICKETS ON SALE 10AM LOCAL TIME FEBRUARY 16
*11AM LOCAL TIME FEBRUARY 16
+9 AM LOCAL TIME FEBRUARY 16
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