All killer, no filler AC/DC tribute in Newbury

Live/Wire, AC/DC Show on Saturday, February 25 at Arlington Arts. Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON

From the moment they struck-up with Live Wire and TNT to the end of their encore of For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) 130 minutes later (with no interval) Live/Wire delivered a blistering set of high octane rock.

Both musically and visually this is a superb tribute.

Podge Blacksmith as Brian Johnson and Simon Davies as Angus Young never stop moving, crisscrossing the stage and playing to the audience.

The rest of the band, Paul Alwin on percussion, Dan Mosley on rhythm guitar and Eddie Clarke on bass deliver all the riff-soaked power of AC/DC in all its glory. It was no surprise that Arlington Arts was packed to capacity.

I’ve seen Live/Wire several times before and they seem to get better every time.

From the get-go tonight the crowded standing section was fist pumping and giving horned salutes while singing along raucously to the lyrics. The atmosphere was (pun intended) electric.

The band responded and gave their all, which made for a great show. I have no hesitation in saying that if you like AC/DC you really ought to check-out Live/Wire. You won’t be disappointed.

Pretty much everything you’d expect is included in the set from Hells Bells to Back In Black to Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Thunderstruck, Whole Lotta Rosie and plenty more.

In a career spanning some 47 years AC/DC sold over 200 million albums worldwide and Live/Wire provide a passionate and fitting tribute.

It was good to see a fair sprinkling of children and young people in the audience and I’m confident that nobody left Arlington tonight feeling short changed or anything less than fully impressed and entertained.

To quote the rock-jocks this show was “all killer, no filler”.

Yet again, Arlington Arts brought some great live music to Newbury.

Absolutely brilliant.

Brian Harrington