AC/DC appears to be previewing their first live performance in almost seven years. Last night (March 28th), the rock icons took to social media to publish a 23-second teaser video for an American music festival called Power Trip. The rock festival is slated to take place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on the weekend of October 6th to 8th, 2023, and will “feature legendary rock heavy performers from the 1970s and 1980s,” according to The Scenester.
The video for AC/DC combines collaged shots of rock equipment and desert scenery, gradually revealing the Power Trip logo. The brief video concludes with the classic riffs from AC/DC’s seminal 1980 hymn ‘Back in Black.”Are you ready for a Power Trip?’ the band captioned the video. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, and Tool all uploaded Power Trip videos yesterday, implying that they will all be performing at the event. Tomorrow (March 30th), an official announcement will be made.
If Power Trip does truly herald AC/DC’s long-awaited return, it will be the band’s first performance at the Wells Fargo Center since 2016, when Axl Rose was still singing with the band. They haven’t performed with Brian Johnson on vocals since February 2016, when doctors ordered him to retire or risk losing his hearing. Johnson has subsequently teamed up with audio expert Stephen Ambrose, who designed a new type of in-ear device that allows him to perform live. Last September, Johnson performed the AC/DC classics ‘Let There Be Rock’ and ‘Back in Black’ alongside Lars Ulrich, Justin Hawkins, and the Foo Fighters at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Goldenvoice produced the Desert Trip Festival at the Empire Polo Club in 2016, which featured The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters, and The Who among others. AC/DC’s most recent studio album, ‘Power Up,’ was released in November 2020, but the band hasn’t performed live since.