In the presence of rock gods

There is not and will never be a more powerful form of music than rock 'n roll. Fads and trends come and go: pop, rap, R&B, country. Their popularity ebbs and flows, reaches a peak amidst a chorus of ear-splitting prepubescent female shrieks, then falls into obscurity. But rock 'n roll - true rock 'n roll - will always come back with a vengence...and Vengence, I name thee AC/DC.

The last time they toured was 2001, when I was in college. Of course, they performed in Philly in the dead of winter when I couldn't make the 4 hour trip home, which just killed me. After all, who knew when - or if - they'd ever tour again! There had been rumors of them hanging it up for years and I missed what could've been my last opportunity to see the hardest rockin' band EVER. I was devastated. And in subsequent years, there had been rumblings of a new album, a new tour, but nothing ever came of the rumors. So when the existance of Black Ice, their first LP since 2000, was confirmed this past summer, I got on every ticket notification system out there because, goddammit, NOTHING was going to stop me from seeing them live.

And nothing did. I got tickets the minute they went on sale (for my mom and dad too...are they not the coolest parents on earth??) in a freaking awesome part of the arena - upper tier, but side-stage and second row, a virtually uninhibited view. I got my hands on a copy of the new album, listened to some of my old ones and started feeling more excited about a concert than I ever had.

The Wachovia Center was a madhouse last night. I think Pierre Robert said it best in his broadcast on 'MMR: "It's all about the peace, love and rock 'n roll tonight, my friends." I wish I could describe the show itself for you, but there aren't words. The best I can do is to say that it fuckin' ROCKED. I was leaping to my feet and punching the air and headbanging with the other 20,000 people there. When the "Rock n' Roll Train" crashed onto the stage and Angus started wailing on his guitar in the first chords of that song, I screamed myself hoarse. And when they played "Thunderstruck", well, it was damn near orgasmic. The gigantic bell for "Hells Bells", the appearance of...ahem...a very buxom blow-up doll for "Whole Lotta Rosie", Angus and his striptease during "The Jack", his devil horns during "Highway to Hell." God, the whole thing was amazing.

There are very few things in life that make me happier than a kick-ass guitar, pounding drums, and a screaming front man. Need an example why?