Reviewed on Wednesday November 4 (photo by Ashley Mar)

In order to pick a local opener, promoters presumably did an advanced Google search on “current Australian rock band” minus the terms “living end” and “grinspoon”. Kingswood is who they came up with, and the end result was… fine enough. Within four songs and 20 minutes, they were out of the masses’ greasy hair. You could well have blinked and missed it. This, of course, was far from the case when The Hives made their way onto the stage.

You’ve no doubt read at length on how the suited-up Swedes deliver one of the absolute finest rock shows on the planet, and you’ll find no arguments against that here. It’s all high-kicks, guitar slings and early-2000s staples like ‘Main Offender’ and ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ to rile up the early arrivals in stupendous fashion. Their excitement at warming the stage for AC/DC was palpable, and even a solitary heckler couldn’t break their stride. “I can’t hear what you’re saying because you don’t have a microphone,” teased frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist. “Maybe you could have one if you played in a band for 20 years – then you’d get to open for AC/DC!” ’Nuff said.

A burst of pyro. The unmistakable ring of a Gibson SG. Drums that sounded like a giant making its way towards you. The bat-shriek of the perennial ‘new guy’ who’s fronted the band for 35 years. AC/DC arrived with all the subtlety of a swinging hammer, launching forth into the title track from 2014’s Rock Or Bust – and, as the thousands who filled the place will attest, we wouldn’t want it any other way.

It’s when you’re hit with the prospect of seeing Acca Dacca that you’re reminded of just how many hits and signature songs they have accumulated. Just when you thought it was safe to take a breather, they barrelled into another slew of songs that were instantly recognisable from their opening. ‘Dirty Deeds’, ‘Back In Black’, ‘Thunderstruck’… take your pick. It was all present and accounted for, and delivered with both the precision of a veteran act and the energy of musicians less than half the age of the five men onstage. It defied physics, how great this ended up being.

Can AC/DC survive much longer? Who knows. Still, having this moment felt like validation enough to keep the machine duck-walking as long as it’s still standing.

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