This past weekend, Blaine and I attended an AC/DC tribute concert at the Sanderson Centre in Brantford, Ontario. The band in question calls themselves Hells Bells, and they’re actually the longest-running AC/DC tribute band in the world, according to their website. The band came together in Toronto in 1994.
If you’re a fan of AC/DC, you’re familiar with the voice of their lead singer, Brian Johnson, and the fact it is quite unique in its sound. I’m not going to lie, I was a little leery to see a tribute band because AC/DC’s sound is so particular, but holy hell, these guys are pretty damn close to the real thing. I may have been hearing things, or convinced myself of this, but I swear to God, the lead singer of the tribute band managed to successfully shift his voice when singing songs performed by Brian Johnson and also songs performed by Bon Scott, AC/DC’s original singer. Johnston’s voice is more gravelly whereas Bon’s was higher-pitched, and the difference in the tribute band’s singer’s pipes when he sang Back in Black (sung by Johnson) versus Jailbreak (sung by Scott) was undeniable.
These guys exploded onto the stage with their opening song, Hells Bells, and maintained this explosive energy all the way to the end of the show. The guy on guitar playing Angus Young’s parts was insanely energetic and even honoured Angus as authentically as possible by wearing a schoolboy outfit and even doing a striptease and mooning the crowd all the while. These guys were even down in the audience with the fans while they were performing.
Out of all of the songs they performed, my favourite was Long Way to the Top because the lead singer brought out bagpipes and played the song as it exists. It was fucking awesome, loud as shit, and everything an AC/DC tribute concert should be. Check out their Facebook page.
ontheedgeofeverything 
