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Flick of the Switch Tour

The Flick of the Switch Tour was a concert tour by the Australian hard-rock band AC/DC, in support of their ninth studio album, Flick of the Switch, which was released on 15 August 1983.

Background[edit]

The Flick of the Switch tour took place in North America through the fall of 1983 when it was initially postponed,^[1] with the band performing on the Monsters of Rock Tour in 1984 alongside Van Halen.^[2] The North American leg had lower attendance for some shows on the tour, with mixed reviews coming in for the album.^[3] At the sold out show in New York City, the audience were described as "crazy as ever", with the band's music barely being heard over the audience.^[4] In 1985, during the recording of the Fly on the Wall album, the band took some time off studio to play two concerts at the Rock in Rio Festival in Brazil, on 15 January and 19 January, along with Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake,^[2] in front of 400,000 in attendance.^[5] The stage design for the tour featured two cannons and pyrotechnics which was handled by Pete Cappadocia.^[1]

This was the first AC/DC tour to feature drummer Simon Wright,^[6] after the departure of Phil Rudd.^[7]

During the Tacoma Dome performance, two fans, a 21-year-old Fort Lewis soldier and a 14-year-old female fired off a skyrocket at the ceiling, burning a hole through it and causing damage costs of $25,000. They were both placed into jail, the 21-year-old later sentenced to three years of hard labor,^[8] while the 14-year-old was placed in a juvenile facility.^[9]

Set list[edit]

1. "Guns for Hire"
2. "Shoot to Thrill"
3. "Sin City"
4. "This House is on Fire" or "Bedlam in Belgium" or "Rising Power" or "Badlands" or "Landslide"
5. "Back in Black"
6. "Bad Boy Boogie"
7. "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"
8. "Flick of the Switch"
9. "Hells Bells"
10. "The Jack"
11. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
12. "Highway to Hell"
13. "Whole Lotta Rosie"
14. "Let There Be Rock"
15. "T.N.T."
16. "You Shook Me All Night Long"
17. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

Tour dates[edit]

Personnel[edit]

• Angus Young – lead guitar
• Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Simon Wright – drums
• Brian Johnson – lead vocals

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Perkins, Jeff (2011). AC/DC: Uncensored on the Record. Warwickshire, England: Coda Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-908538-54-3.
• Masino, Susan (2015). AC/DC FAQ: All That's Left to Know about the World's True Rock 'n' Roll Band (Paperback ed.). Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-4803-9450-6.
• Popoff, Martin (2017). AC/DC: Album by Album (Hardcover). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-5374-5.
• Apter, Jeff (2018). High Voltage: The Life of Angus Young, AC/DC's Last Man Standing. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-0-89733-047-3.
• Masino, Susan (2020). Let There Be Rock: The Story of AC/DC. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-913172-14-5.