Over the Memorial Day weekend, I was lucky enough to catch the AC/DC tour when it stopped at Soldier Field in Chicago. It was a great night. Though fifty-four degrees with wind coming off Lake Michigan wasn’t exactly the summer kick-off I was hoping for.
Of course, being the consummate Classic Rock columnist that I am, my goal was to not only enjoy the show but hopefully come home with an idea for a column. Then a father and son sat down in the seats directly in front of my friend Jack and me. Watching how much they enjoyed the show left me with questions I was never able to get answered. If I had been willing to infringe on their night for an interview here are the questions I would have asked.
How old are you?
My guess is they were maybe forty-five and fourteen, respectively. Even better, they were by no means the exception in the crowd. In fact, after going to this show, I’d like everyone to stop obsessing about the aging Classic Rock audience falling off the supposed “demographic cliff.” The average age at this show was simply not that old. It wasn’t twenty-nine, but it wasn’t sixty-five either. Just from spending a lot of time walking around before the show and in-between acts, I would say it was fifty or even a little younger.
What does seeing this show together mean to you?
The people in front of me were not a rare occurrence. Beyond the overall age of the people at the show not being super high, even more exciting were the numbers of families – parents and children of all ages – enjoying the show together. I may be reading into this, but for the father and son in front of me, it looked like they were having a truly memorable night. It gave me hope that there are more generations to come who are going to embrace the music we all love.
What led you to buy the light-up devil horns?
Taking a cue from the iconic “Highway to Hell” album cover. Every merch booth was selling red costume horns, which light up and blink, for a mere $30 a pair. I admit when Jack and I first saw them, we turned our noses up. Read this with the full sarcastic tone that’s intended, “$30 for silly plastic horns, I’ll pass,” I said.
By the time it got dark and the concert got going, I realized that easily every third person, including the father and his teenage son in front of me, was wearing a pair of light-up horns. A great reminder to not take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the Rock formats, when the station’s target audience is men. It’s easy to fall into being too cool for the room. In Classic Rock, we get into being purists about the music or thinking that guys don’t like songs from the poppier side of the format or that our audience won’t embrace anything that’s too silly. That is, until you see them wearing red, blinking, devil horns.
How do you know those songs?
In homage to my column from last week about opening the request lines and the value of playing an occasional deeper track, I will admit there were a few songs on the setlist I didn’t actually know. I’ll own up to being a little lost on “Demon Fire,” “Sin City,” and “Riff Raff” for example. I’m only admitting this for one reason. Each time I wasn’t into a song, the father and son in front of me were rocking with a vengeance.
I’d be curious to know how they got, not just exposed but bonded to some of the band’s deeper tracks. I’m guessing it wasn’t from the radio. That’s why playlists of well-tested, tried, and true hits are important. So is periodically finding a way to carefully dig deeper, especially into the biggest acts with strong catalogs like AC/DC.
What was your favorite song of the night?
Honestly, I only included that question so I could share my answer, “Whole Lotta Rosie” kicked serious ass!
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.
