DUTCH COURAGE

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By 1978, AC/DC understood that it really was going to be a long way to the top their touring and schedule was relentless, but it was finally paying dividends. Having left Australia in 1976 with an to corner the UK market, the band s paired-back, muscular sound and the driving energy of their live shows made an instant impact upon British audiences. Yet European success was only a stepping-stone to their ultimate goal, and in 1977 their s turned to the USA. In July they headed across the Atlantic for their first run of shows and by the end of the year they were supporting Kiss on a concert tour, but the US proved a far tougher nut to crack than Europe. Early 1978 saw the band make a real commercial breakthrough in the UK, with the single Rock N Roll Damnation and album Powerage both propelled into the charts on the back of a hugely successful British tour. By the summer they were back in the US and headlining at smaller venues, but despite their hard work, AC/DC were struggling to gain any real traction in such a large and diverse musical environment. The band left the US on October 5th, 1978, disappointed but not disheartened, and returned to a continent they had already conquered, where hordes of fans awaited them. Before embarking on another British tour, they played a number of gigs in mainland Europe, and Dutch Courage presents one of these legendary concerts in its entirety and in superb quality. Playing De Vereeniging Hall in Nijmegen, Holland s oldest city, and broadcast live on Dutch station NPO, AC/DC are on fire as they rattle through a set of established classics alongside thunderous renditions of Powerage material (Riff Raff, Sin City, Gone Shootin ). For some AC/DC connoisseurs, including Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, 78 was the high watermark for the band, and the remarkable concert captured on Dutch Courage provides some pretty convincing evidence to add to that argument.