AC/DC
The POWER UP Tour
w/ The Pretty Reckless
The Rose Bowl – Pasadena, CA
Friday, April 18th, 2025
Review/Pics: Will
Picture a gloomy, haze filled, Friday evening. Everywhere you look; People in denim & leather; grown men & women standing around in school boy uniforms with flashing red devil horns. You’re either in the middle of a delirium induced fever dream or you’re at the Rose Bowl about to attend an AC/DC concert.
Yes, there was talk that it may never happen again, but hope was given when AC/DC were announced as one of the legendary (not you TOOL) acts at the POWERTRIP Festival in 2023. I feel that may have been a litmus test for the band to see if they could re-take the reigns and still rock the socks off their adoring fans. Well they passed that test and in 2024 announced a world tour that kicked off in Europe and finally made it’s way to the U.S. in 2025.
Now, I unfortunately wasn’t approved to shoot the show, so I attended as a reviewer. So the pictures I took were all from my Sony Point and Shoot. You do the best you can with what you have. So the pics at least give a bit of a flavor of the show.
Which brings us to…
The Pretty Reckless
Quite surprisingly, AC/DC chose The Pretty Reckless, a relatively new band (TPR were formed in 2009) to open for them in their highly coveted support slot. I was ecstatic to see that they weren’t just included for the European leg of the tour, but they’d be letting them tag along for the U.S. dates too.
I was lucky enough to cover The Pretty Reckless during their own headlining tour in 2022 (check it out here) and was blown away by not just how great they were live, but by how ravenous their fans were. How would their theater dates translate to the stadium sized setting? Just fine.
When The Pretty Reckless kicked off their set at 7pm on the nose, the Rose Bowl stadium was half-full at best. And such is the pity for those still making their way in, because TPR were definitely worth the early arrival.
As the singer, Taylor Momsen automatically becomes the focal point of the band. And Taylor is more than worthy of the praise. Adorned in her usual baby doll dress (that seems like more of a slip) and double stack combat boots, she stomps around the stage, delivering her raspy, yet pristine vocals. Set opener “Death By Rock N Roll” set the tone for the evening.
Their hour long, 9 song set was all straight-ahead, in-your-face rock, outside of “Witches Burn” which is a slower song, but packs an emphatic punch with it’s message of female empowerment.
TPR’s not-so-secret weapon is the amazing guitar work and songwriting ability of her partner in crime, Ben Philips. I’d have to throw Ben in the incredibly underrated category of guitarists. Those unaware of his prowess were able to catch a glimpse when he ripped off an extended solo during “Heaven Knows“.
The Pretty Reckless play what, I would brand as dramatic rock. You could close your eyes and picture a lot of their catalog as part of a soundtrack to a movie. Check out “Witches Burn” “Only Love Can Save Me Now” or “25” to see what I mean. The good thing is it translates beautifully to the big stage.
By the end of their set the sun had started to set and the Rose Bowl had started to fill up. I encourage anyone with tickets for this tour to get there early to catch a glimpse of a band that will someday be filling up stadiums on their own.
Setlist:
AC/DC
Legends. That’s all you have to know when you go to see AC/DC. One of those bands that transcends genres. Yes, they’re one of the biggest rock acts, EVER. But they’re also the band that your girlfriend would be screaming to while running to the dance floor at the disco when the DJ interrupted the Michael Jackson medley by throwing on “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back In Black” during the “rock block”.
There were fans of all ages at this show but It wasn’t just a show for the casual listeners either. This tour, the band have pretty much copied their Power Trip setlist that threw in a few older surprises along with all the radio friendly, standard selections.
Blasting off with “If You Want Blood“, Angus Young, in red schoolboy uniform, with his Gibson SG in tow, immediately kicked into duck stepping high gear. Brian Johnson, dressed in black t-shirt and jeans and wearing his signature, paperboy tweed cap, delivered some screeching vocals right off the bat that sounded great through “Back in Black“, “Demon Fire” and “Shot Down In Flames“.
Their fourth song in was “Thunderstruck” and that’s where you could see a bit of the ravages of time kicking in. Angus‘ intro to the song was a bit slowed down from where it used to be and from here on Brian’s voice started straining a bit. Some songs you could see him fighting through, with a knowing smile. There’s a reason that the band aren’t playing back to back shows. They need some time to recover the muscles and rest up. But what this also tells you is, it’s a band that aren’t relying on tracks. What you’re hearing is 100% pure, straight ahead live rock ‘n roll from real musicians. And more importantly for me, and for the thousands of fans singing along to every lyric…We didn’t care.
There was basically no banter or lengthy intro between songs. Instead the band would huddle around a small, dimly blue lit area around the drum set and each new song would be introduced by that crunchy, familiar, guitar tone of Angus.
The band is now anchored by the driving rhythms from guitarist Stevie Young, taking over the reigns from his dearly departed uncle, Malcolm. The pounding bass and drums for all these classic songs are now under the care of Chris Chaney and Matt Laug, respectively.
The setlist spans their career and although a typical AC/DC fanatic is not going to get every song they’d want from the band in a 2 hour set, you’re getting all the mainstays. As they have historically done, they only played a couple of songs from their latest release, Power Up. Those being “Demon Fire” and “Shot In The Dark“. And of course there’s “Back in Black“, “You Shook Me All Night Long“, “Highway To Hell“, “Dirty Deeds…” etc. But we’re also getting “If You Want Blood” “Sin City“, “Riff Raff“, “Have a Drink On Me” that some of the more casual fans might not be as familiar with.
There were also of course the familiar set props you’d expect like the bell during “Hells Bells“; a voluptuous, busty, neon animated woman for “Whole Lot Of Rosie” and a stage length, battalion’s worth of Canons for “Those About To Rock (We Salute You)“.
During set closer, “Let There Be Rock“, Angus took center stage, or center walkway, for an extended solo (that in my opinion went on a little too long. I’d have enjoyed a shorter solo and thrown in, say “It’s a Long Way To The Top” or “The Jack “, but I digress). The confetti popped and littered the night air while 70 year old Angus Young twisted around on his side while hammering away on his guitar.
I would imagine that this is probably the last big hurrah for the band. I’d be curious to hear from Brian in the coming weeks and months how he’s feeling. As I said, you could tell he was aware of his vocal limits and I wonder what affect that may have on his psyche. And let me be clear, he has nothing to apologize about. He gutted it out and worked at what he needed to do to make it through each song. The show was fantastic and if they decided to come back in a few years, I’d be first in line.
Go. See. The. Legends! It’ my mantra. And AC/DC are indeed legends.
Setlist:
Encore:
Related Links:
AC/DC
The Pretty Reckless
