AC/DC recently released another classic live show on DVD. No Bull: The Director’s Cut brings all fans, worldwide, to the legendary concert on July 10, 1996 at Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas in Madrid, Spain [“Ballbreaker Tour”].
The main menu features a cartoon Angus Young [Guitar] hilariously playing matador with a bull while “T.N.T.” pumps hard through the speakers.
The concert’s intro consists of a large wrecking ball that swings around the stage until destruction is achieved.
Enter the Aussie legends:
“Back In Black” opens the show with the band in perfect form. Brian Johnson [Vocals] at 5’5″ runs all over the stage, belting the tune directly from his b*lls. Angus runs, jumps, and kicks like a thrilled 3rd grader at the playground.
“Shot Down In Flames” is the next high energy tune that keeps the crowd jumping and fist-pumping. Malcolm Young [Rhythm Guitar] does his signature stationary head bob, while Angus runs side-to-side during the solo. The band is clearly having a fantastic time.
“Thunderstruck” The opening “Thun-der” shouts are not as powerful on this particular night — maybe the sound guy should have turned up Malcolm’s mic, or the crowd should have been mic’d better to fill up the space.
“Girls Got Rhythm” Johnson dedicates this track to the ladies in the house, then does a little lady dance during part of the verse.
“Hard As A Rock” The band is completely drenched in sweat by the opening of this song. While the band is still pumped, the show seems to have a lost a little energy by this point — due to the fact that this was a brand new song at the time of the concert. The crowd responds well when Angus mutters, “harder than a rock” into the microphone before the outro.
“Shoot To Thrill” One of the best moments ever in an AC/DC tune happens to be when Angus plays with the toggle switch following the guitar solo — it is even better live as he runs full speed to the side of the stage. “Pull the trigger!”
“Boogie Man” is the spooky blues song of the concert. Drummer Phil Rudd enjoys a cigarette during the tune as Angus does his guitar call-response thing with the crowd — of course they dig it.
“Hail Caesar” Johnson announces that the building is perfect for this tune. Images of powerful world rulers are displayed on the background screen during the song, while the crowd pumps their fists to chants of “Hail! Hail!”
“Hells Bells” The crowd erupts when the opening bells chime; Brian Johnson actually swings upside down on the rope of a giant AC/DC bell over the stage, then commences with some air guitar.
“Dog Eat Dog” is a classic Bon Scott track that is often forgotten about. Angus duck walks back-and-forth during the fast picked guitar solo.
“The Jack” Johnson informs the crowd that this song is “about a dirty woman,” so they ought to get dirty. After all, the tune is about venereal disease. The crowd gets extra loud to shout the chorus — “She’s got the jack, jack, jack, jack…”
“Ballbreaker” begins with Johnson being lifted on the giant wrecking ball where he performs half of the song from.
“Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” The crowd claps along with the intro blues riff until the drums enter with Johnson’s vocals. However, the crowd disappointingly dies out. Perhaps, this track was not a classic back in 1996 or in Spain.
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” This is a very high energy version of the tune — a little faster, a little meaner. This song always gets me in the mood for the Norm MacDonald and Artie Lange movie, Dirty Work.
“You Shook Me All Night Long” What’s to say about this classic? There is no such thing as a bad version of this cut. The crowd loves it, the band loves it, Satan loves it, God loves it! It is just one of those tracks that brings everyone and everything together.
“Whole Lotta Rosie” The band plows through this one with a tremendous inflatable pudgy woman on the stage.
“T.N.T.” It is amazing that the band is still breathing after all the running, sweating, and head banging up to this point — it definitely did not prevent them from delivering a great performance of this tune. Angus does a freak out ground dive at the end.
“Let There Be Rock” could have easily been the closer to the show, due to its madness brought on by Johnson and Angus.
“Highway To Hell” The large wrecking ball drops to the stage to introduce Angus with devil horns in a cage, which arises from the floor of the stage. The song begins and the crowd jumps blissfully for its entirety.
“For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” appropriately closes the show with cannons on stage ready to blast. FIRE! The cannons are so cool when they FIRE the blanks.
If you enjoyed Live at Donington concert from 1992 then you will surely dig No Bull: The Director’s Cut.
AC/DC is Brian Johnson [Vocals], Angus Young [Lead Guitar], Malcolm Young [Rhythm Guitar], Cliff Williams [Bass], and Phil Rudd [Drums].
Hi. Enjoyed your song-by-song review of the DVD. I noticed while watching the song “You Shook Me All Night Long” using the Angus-Cam version that Angus had to switch guitars shortly after the song began. He started the song with his black Gibson SG but then quickly ran off to stage-left to retrieve a RED Gibson to complete the song. The rest of the concert was then performed with his black Gibson again. Did a string break? Did the audio pickup fail? What caused him to have the emergency switch? Just thought I’d point it out. If you watch the song using the regular concert view the switch is not noticeable because the camera is on Brian. I love the grin Angus gives Malcolm when he returns to the stage to complete the song then quickly switches back to his intense axe-wielding personna.
Nice eye…I’m surprised I didn’t think anything of the ax switch. I assumed that the recording was cut from 3 nights of shows at the Plaza de Toros in July 1996, and that was a result of the editing. Now I have to throw the DVD back in.