AC/DC, Punchestown
Posted on 30th Jun 09 by Paddy Murphy | 
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Here follows an account of the AC/DC concert, with support from The Answer and The Blizzards. I will only concentrate on the music. It didn’t matter that the ques for beer were long, although if you boxed clever and went to the right bar the que was never longer than 20 minutes. The rain didn’t matter. [...]
Here follows an account of the AC/DC concert, with support from The Answer and The Blizzards. I will only concentrate on the music. It didn’t matter that the ques for beer were long, although if you boxed clever and went to the right bar the que was never longer than 20 minutes. The rain didn’t matter. The culchies, yes I know I’m one, beating seven shades outta one another didn’t matter and the mayhem waiting on the buses home didn’t matter either. They’re all worthy of a mention and many people will have let these factors ruin their day but just forget about these trivial things and let it be known that the gig fucking rocked.
The Blizzards got things off to a start. Most didn’t want them there but in fairness they, too, boxed clever. Going four songs before stopping for applause, frontman Niall Breslin, apologised for Thin Lizzy not showing but said they’d make the most of the opportunity they had.
For the most part, the audience just let them on with it. Some did abuse them, Drop-d even seen flags denouncing the band but those already in the party mood just got their boogie on and began enjoying the day.
New friends were made, old ones were randomly met in the soaked crowd and all the time the anticipation and excitement were building
Following on The Answer took to the stage a good while later and preceded to test the sound equipment to it’s limit. Frontman Cormac Neeson has made huge progress as an entertainer. But you’d expect that since the band have been supporting AC/DC since the start of this world tour. Hopefully, they will continue to grow in popularity and will get their songs onto mainstream radio. They’re known for being one of the hardest working bands around and with killer tracks to back their work rate up, they could well be Ireland’s next big thing. It’s a shame that they aren’t better known on their home island but with mammoth gigs like this then, surely it’ll only be a matter of time before they’re filling up venues by themselves.
The rain continued but spirits were not dampened, well, for the most part anyway. New friends were made, old ones were randomly met in the soaked crowd and all the time the anticipation and excitement were building.
Finally the speakers around Punchestown roared as we were treated to one of the most over the top sexual inuendo videos ever to be seen. Straight away the rain actually stopped, as if on que, and AC/DC began to knock us sideways with constant hit after hit. Runaway Train, Back in Black, Big Jack and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap got the set rolling and there wasn’t a soul in Punchestown not head-banging or punching the air with delight.
There was dancing, moshing, singing, and riding going on all over the field. It was nothing short of a delight to behold. Ok, AC/DC won’t change music history, they are not critically known as one of the greats. They’ve out sold most other of the world’s major acts the only exception being the Beatles. But the one thing that unites AC/DC to their fans is the love of having the craic. Leave your brain at home, leave your conscience there too because when you’re at an AC/DC concert you just go with the flow and rock the fuck out.
Rosie looked fantastic as she rode and gyrated the AC/DC train for the duration of the tune
The hits kept coming though. Thunderstruck, Hells Bells, War Machine, You Shook Me All Night Long continued to keep the crowd in the finest of form and even though the rain started again, this time coming in waves, nobody seemed to care. We were all too shagging wet anyway. T.N.T and the montorous Whole Lotta Rosie followed. Rosie looked fantastic as she rode and gyrated the AC/DC train for the duration of the tune.
After this Angus Young treated us to one hell of a whig out. A momentous guitar solo that he just didn’t want to end. He towered above the crowd on top of acherry picker while a torrent of rain flowed from the sky.
For the encore, the band returned with Highway to Hell and For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). As the canons roared the crowd answered back. The crowd began to make their separate ways to their cars or the unlucky ones made their way to the buses. You’ve heard the stories so there’s no need for me to repeat them here. The only factor that mattered on the night was that AC/DC rule the roost as the World’s finest live rock bands.
Tags: ac/dc, punchestown, the answer, the blizzards
80,000 people reaching to the heavens screaming for thunder.. now that’s why you pay your money yo!
an awesome spectacle altogether.. my top 5 live act list is being redrawn as we speak…….
damn straight, really really great gig
This is what music was meant to be. Not crappy dj’s mixing beats. Guitars, drums and vocals.Thats all you need. Total class. And the queue was only 10 mins not 20.
Steve from Lucan
ah crap, obviously we were goin to the wrong bar!, still though didn;t ruin the day, was just happy to see Acca Dacca finally.
The bar furthest away on the left as you look at the stage was the one to socialise at Paddy.
Shite utter shite. I was so wrecked from the 4 hour bus journey surrounded by dickheads, the hour or so long walk in the rain when the bus stopped moving altogether, that when a we finally reached the back of the crowd having missed the answer, I couldn’t have given a fuck about the gig. This country has a gift for sucking the fun out of rock n roll. I’ve waied years to see AC/DC, what a fuckin dissapointment
What a brilliant night. The Sanders family of associated old gits and younger moshers come over to Ireland for one gig a year, flying in from East Midlands, Bristol and Manchester airports respectively. We meet up at the same B&B every year and try to drink The Porterhouse out of Wrasslers XXXX, but to no avail. I think they get extra in that week.
It was our first visit to Punchestown, and it was quite an experience – well, the car parking was.
As for the gig – I was amazed that The Blizzards were chosen to step in as openers, but I was extremely impressed. I’d seen them at a small venue the year before, and was unsure whether they could hold the attention of a huge crowd, but by and large they performed creditably.
The Answer seemed to be much more to the liking of some – they had a fair number of dedicated fans to our left, and their stuff went down a real storm.
So on to the big one – AC/DC. I live in Castle Donington, the home of Download and The Monsters Of Rock, so I have seen Brian and the lads many times before (I’m so old, I still mourn the passing of Bon), but not for a fair few years. What really surprised me was the immense energy they still bring to their performance, with no let-up.
When the heavens opened, during Angus’s 15 minute ‘twiddle’ (was it during ‘Let There Be Rock’ or just afterwards? I can’t remember) and he held his guitar to the heavens, all that was missing was flashes of lightning as a backdrop. It was as if he actually had control of the elements at that moment.
It truly was a ‘Night to Remember – but this Titanic would have smashed any mere iceberg out of the way.
@kheed – 4 hours on the bus? wow. patience of a saint. we spent maybe 90 minutes on one before embarking on our hike. turned out to be the right call, despite the 2 hour stroll. made it there in time for the answer and to have a pint or two before the main event. next time you’re on a bus and it’s not going anywhere, take matters into your own hands, or legs, and just get walking. and i thought the performance of the band negated any bad feelings i may have had about getting there or home.
@eddie – yeah that epic solo was the tail end of Let There Be Rock. and you’re dead right, it was as if Angus was playing the thunder.. as Brian said during the show, “that boy’s got the devil in his fingers”
the best live one yet
loaded up on beer on the bus .the queues were not bad
the bus was a bad one but would do it all again
Brilliant gig – The sight of Angus on the pulpit in worshipful prayer with the axe under the pouring rain had me thunderstruck…the majesty of ….the power of the man ! Great stage set up…loved that cartoon opener …but most of all ac/dc were tight as ever and johnson’s 60 year old + vocals still a powerful force , ………as a minor point usual dreadful Irish organisation of transport but hey that’s part of our rock ‘n roll scene at this stage ….I mean honestly dublin bus and MCD couldn’t organise the proverbial in a brewery !!
Got there around 6 parked up great gig.. home by three 120 miles away.. brother lives 12 miles and took till 4am.. parrk and ride my arse… drive fuck the env.
AC/DC FOREVER!!
what a bunch of sychophants, if ac/dc came out and mimed for 2 hours ye still would be raving about how great it was. with an unnecessary guitar solo lasting far too long and being technically average, virtually no audience interaction and poor support acts, the overall gig was simply underwhelming.
hardly compares to any of the metallica shows of the last few years, ac/dc the best live band in the world? don’t make me laugh
Awesome Concert. Got right up into the gold section beside the runway because of an injury. I was the 15 year old girl with the white Ac/Dc top and the long brunette hair. If you saw me? HI!
Would do the whole concert again. A million times over!!
I waited in line for six hours to get e pit ticket, didnt get out of the car park till 2:40, wasnt home till 4:00
Would i do it again? Ur fuckin right i would, saw dem in the o2 as well but it didnt compare to this.
Absolutly brillian
By the way good review and all but the song is “Rock n Roll Train” not “Runaway Train”
By the way i respect “Dan’s” decision above, but he can stuff it up his metallica cramed ass!!! AC/DC forever!!!
Excellent gig, it was all about getting there early and probably leaving a bit early though, you have to plan these things a bit to get the most of it and avoid any hassle.Dont know if I would pay the same again to see them though, once was enough for that price and the support was a bit pathetic
To begin with and end with the memory I will treasure is that AC/DC from start to finish were incredible with the new songs holding their own with the old classics. One of the best rock concerts in terms of the sound and performance I have ever been at and I have racked up quite a few at this stage.
However the organisation of the concert truly bordered on catastrophic.
I and my friend left Cork on the train and were up in Dublin for 1.15pm so with plenty of time to grab the dedicated buses which we had pre-booked tickets for e20. All fine so far.
We met a friend and the three of us boarded a Dublin bus at 4pm with no queue and that was great. The bus ran unimpeded for the first 35 minutes or so which was great as we thought we were making great time (Punchestown is about 50minutes drive on a normal day I suppose). The bus itself was very comfortable as surprisingly the buses were only being half and 3/4s filled before setting out
However about 5km outside of Naas we ran into heavy traffic with buses, cars and local traffic heavily backed up. 1hr and a half later and we had only moved 100m (at most). To be honest we were all in a great mood and expected heavy traffic but people had started getting out of the bus after about 40minutes to walk to the site. We figured the bus would eventually get there so stayed on as long as we could but 100m per 90minutes with approx 7km to go was not really looking good so we left the bus.
Please note that everybody that left the buses were either cutting through the field or walking along the hard shoulder (which is huge as it a motorway). Not one person was walking in front of a bus so the hold up was not people related. We walked along the hard shoulder as we thought maybe our bus would catch up with us and we could jump back on seeing as we had a ticketmaster ticket etc as proof that we paid.
We walked all the way into Naas where the traffic was not moving at all so we were happy with our choice to walk as we were very doubtful about doing so. As it is a small town we quickly left Naas and began our journey to Punchestown (which is about 2/3 km from Naas). At this stage we had yet to see one garda directing traffic and not one person was walking on the road as there was plenty of room on the pathways.
We noticed that the traffic began to ease up once we left Naas and after 20 minutes or so a bus was only driving by every couple of minutes so we decidied to jump back on a Dublin bus. However we were infuriated to find that we were not allowed back onto the mostly empty buses. Every third one that went by was jammed so we didnt even bother to try getting on these buses but there were actually empty buses driving by that would not let us on??? We showed our tickets to the drivers who just shook their heads as if we were doing something totally illegal???? The odd driver would pull over and let some people on but always in the distance so we continued our walk. It was very odd to see nearly empty buses driving to Punchestown simply to let off handfuls of people and then turn around again?
The first time we did notice people blocking the buses was on the narrow strip into Punchestown where all the busese were being directed but please note that buses were being allowed by but there were large gaps inbetween buses with no traffic so the blockage was well before this. We eventually spotted our first garda directing traffic.
We arrived at the gates and were told our tickets had been cancelled by request so I had to go to the box office to collect our new tickets. A minor MCD fuck up for us specifically but it was another one on the list….
We entered the gig to find the place was crazy busy with ridiculous queues for the bars (double what I have ever seen) and the fact that they took the bottles off the bags of wine (wine in capri sun type bags) confirmed for me that bottle tops are taken off not for safety (i.e. throwing full bottles) but for to make more money by people dropping drinks or simply drinking quicker so that they do not have to hold their drinks. The first example of horrendous security occurred in these lines. People were jumping the barriers and queues and one guy jumped the queue about 5 times all the way to the top and every single time the security saw him, came down to him, gave him a stern look and then proceeded to help him get back over the barrier into the top of the queue. People were getting so angry and tension was mounting
Luckily we missed the Blizzards (I know short notice to replace Thin Lizzy but once again what were they thinking? they might as well have had the script. no offence to any of the bands but they didnt suit supporting ACDC no matter how good they are in their own genres)
We caught the last few songs of the Answer who were pretty good. ACDC came on and were incredible. Absolutely incredible and I will write about that on my own blog
The show ended and we headed home. We had met up with two other friends that drove from Cork and they headed for the park and ride. The way out for them was split into 4/5 diferent sections for each park and ride/exit but they told me later that they all simply blended back into one section after a few minutes. What kind of organisation was this? Speaking to my friends the next day they said that none of the security/staff knew where to go for each park and ride so everyone was following each other. The queues were incredibly long as expected and my friends didnt get back home to Cork until 7am. The gig finished at approx 11.30pm with no traffic on the road to Cork once they left Dublin.
However they were shocked on in the queues that no one could tell anyone which bus was going where and fights broke out as the tension cracked. They eventually boarded the bus and the driver actually said he didnt have directions to the park & ride and also did not know which one he was supposed to go to….. Also the bus left only 3/4 full again and the paying fans actually protested with the driver explaining that there were 20 or so empty seats. When the mcd staff came on board to see what the problem was they said that it was due to safety reasons. Empty seats for safety reasons? I understand not having anyone standing but if it is not safe to sit in a bus then why would anyone ride one ever????
We ourselves got very lucky accidentally by going down a wrong turn. We were directed back through some trees and ended up on a bus back to dublin pretty quickly but looking out the window i was horrified to see a scene similar to gladiator or Lord of the Rings with thousands of people queueing for the dublin bus with security trying to hold them back. Our bus was also not full.
Speaking with my friends on Monday one said that he honestly thought the revolution could have started that night as people who paid e86 for tickets were pushed to breaking point by the lack of giving a shit from MCD. People were treated like cattle and like shit and I cannot believe that concert was allowed to go ahead. 70, 000 capacity in a place that is notoriously hard to get to. Oxegen has improved but that is because the same amount of people (less if you assume the day trippers arrive after the campers) arrive on Thursday evening, Friday morning, afternoon, Evening, night and Saturdays and it still takes ages….
I am appalled and would love to know what to do about it. I will never go to Punchestown or anywhere above a capacity of 10,000 that is not central
sorry Ciaran, that was a bit dumb of me now wasn’t it, who sang Runaway Train?……wasn’t that soul asylum?
[...] it!. The opening riff is similar to styles heard on Aerosmith’s early work with a few dashes of AC/DC for good measure. But the band brings something fresh that completes it and stops it from sounding [...]
I’ve seen them three times, this one was the best..who gives a shit about rain when you’re watching the best rock band ever…FAN..FUCKIN..TASTIC…
The gig overall was terrible. AC/DC were amazing, but they always are. The Answer were trying so hard to be Led Zeppelin it was cringe worthy, and they have no memorable songs whatsoever. The Blizzards were so bad, so bad, except when they did that Michael Jackson riff. They should have got a Jackson cover band would have been far better than the two support bands that did play.
It rained for most of the gig, which meant it was miserable, the bar queues were stupidly long and usual MCD rip you off with expensive everything, from food, to merchandise and whatever else was available. They must have made so much off that gig. Next is the money. The tickets for this gig were in the region of €67 thereabouts, a rip off straight away, but then if you were getting the bus from Dublin it was another €20 on top of that, plus any food and drink you might get. You’d be looking at having spent at least €100 if not more.
Next point is the access to Punchestown. It took nearly 3 hours on the bus from Dublin to get to Punchestown. Disgraceful really, and of course being Ireland, there’s only one entry and exit point down a shitty little back road. Also most people me included headed back to get in the bus queue to go home at the end of Angus’s solo right before the encore, to basically make sure that we would not be stuck in a queue for hours behind nearly 80,000 people. it was utter madness and so badly handled when it came to getting on a bus home.
Overall I was very disappointed with the gig but pleased to see AC/DC. I was lucky enough to catch them in London as well in April which was a much better show in every way. The rain and everything else that was bad with the day would have been much more tolerable had there been more bands playing and a much higher standard of support bands. It would have meant value for money and believe me there is nothing better than seeing a few really good bands on the same bill topped by an amazing band.
There was an opportunity there for MCD and they didn’t take it. I don’t think that Thin Lizzy would have made a difference either really. Overall though a very bad experience, but AC/DC still rocked. They always do.