AC/DC - Stiff Upper Lip Live
Performance 
Production
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AC/DC - Stiff Upper Lip Live
Performance |
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Stiff Upper Lip is the latest offering from the brothers Young, et al, and although they are now all fiftyish year old members of the rock and roll hall of fame, they can still flex their rock and roll muscle better than any other band around. Thank God that they still insist on hitting the road every few years to blow the screaming heads off of rock fans around the world with their second-to-non concert extravaganzas. I mean, who else out there even comes close? Iron Maiden? Rush? Maybe, but these guys are all nearing retirement age as well. This concert was recorded during AC/DC's 2000 world tour in support of their Stiff Upper Lip album, and took place at the Olympiastadion, in Munich, Germany, in front of 80,000 crazed fans. AC/DC have released three concert DVDs in the last decade which have varied greatly in production quality, but not in performance quality. Although the No Bull, and Live At Donington DVDs both showcase phenomenal performances by the band, the production quality suffered somewhat due to decade old recording technology aimed with VHS in mind. Stiff Upper Lip was recorded specifically for DVD and it shows. The results are fantastic. This concert has the requisite selection of must-play songs - with a few different ones thrown in just to keep themselves from getting bored. How can they NOT play "Back In Black", "Hells Bells", "Highway To Hell", and "For Those About To Rock" every concert. The fans certainly don't seem to mind. For every major tour, AC/DC always flaunts some incredible stage prop that brings the house down. For No Bull, they literally brought the house down with a giant wrecking ball, which destroyed a massive fake wall that blocked the stage. For Donington, they had the gigantic "Whole Lotta Rosie" doll, and she appeared here as well. Stiff Upper Lip opened with the song of the same name, as a colossal, Satan-meets-schoolboy, Angus Young statue maneuvered up behind the drum kit with eyes glowing red and mouth spewing smoke. Yup, this definitely ain't no Pearl Jam concert. The show kicked off while it was still daylight out, so you could not feel the full affect of their incredible light show yet. The band are noticeably older in appearance now, all a little balder, grayer, and chubbier, but if you are farther back than the tenth row, you would swear that these guys were clones from the Back In Black tour. Angus alone must sweat off about 10 pounds every show, running around in that schoolboy uniform. That is until his strip tease during "Bad Boy Boogie", where only a German flag emblazoned pair of boxers hides his goods. He still gives it his all, playing like a man possessed. Phil Rudd is back behind the drum kit, after being replaced temporarily by Chris Slade back in the early 90's. Brian Johnson's voice is even more shredded to pieces, but then again wasn't it always? He didn't exactly sound like Luther Vandros on Back In Black 25 years ago. Johnson is still one of the best front men in rock and roll though. He had those 80,000 Germans eating right out of his hand for the entire show, and they loved what they were being fed. "Thank you sir, may I have another - Heil Brian!". Malcolm still plays like his feet are glued to one spot on the stage and he hammers out the rhythm like a machine. For brother's, he and Angus's styles couldn't be more different. There really were no significant highlights to point out with this show. It was just another rock-solid, electrifying AC/DC concert like all the rest. The energy was non-stop intense, and the music sounded better than ever. Don't expect to hear much from their 1980's output, however. Albums like Flick Of The Switch, Fly On the Wall, and Blow Up Your Video almost always get completely ignored, on all of their DVDs. And what's with only playing one song from the Stiff Upper Lip album? You know, the album you are touring in support of!? Not that I personally mind. This could have been the "Back In Black / Highway To Hell in their entirety" tour and I'd be ecstatic, but what about all of the disappointed hardcore fanatics out there? Ah, screw 'em! Anyways, they closed this phenomenal show with their, apparently, mandatory show closer, "For Those About To Rock". The cannon fire during the 21-gun salute was captured magnificently this night. Very loud, lots of smoke, and a ripping guitar solo from Angus. This is definitely the best looking and best sounding of the three AC/DC DVDs. Both the Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround mixes are exceptional, especially the DTS. The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen, which presents the enormity of their stage show with clear and vivid detail. My one complaint is that the camera work suffers from the infamous hyper angle change syndrome. Some shots are literally only for a split second - what purpose does that serve? Minus one point you fool. They do capture some fantastic shots of the entire stage, the crowd, and close-ups of each band member, but the editor just got a little carried away with the quick changes. I stopped buying AC/DC albums somewhere around the release of Flick Of The Switch. I think they set the bar so high with Back In Black, that everything that followed sounded disappointing to me. I still, however find it physically impossible to walk by a new AC/DC concert DVD and not pick it up. Stiff Upper Lip continues the run of outstanding concert videos that have documented one of the greatest hard rock bands in the world. Don't miss it. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - June 2004 |
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Set List |
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| Running Time: 128 Minutes |
Year Released - November 2001 |