Even as you read the name, there’s a good chance that your brain has pressed play on one of their many iconic songs.

AC/DC’s recent 2025 “Power Up” Tour of Australia reaffirmed their huge popularity, giving many “oldies” another night to remember and many “youngies”, their first opportunity to experience AC/DC live in concert.

This week marks a local milestone for the iconic band, and our community’s small part in their story as the 50th anniversary of their first show in Dubbo.

AC/DC performed twice in Dubbo in the 1970s, both in the month of December. The first show took place on Friday, December 19, 1975, and the second on Tuesday, December 14, 1976. Both shows were held at Dubbo Civic Centre.

Their now classic debut song “High Voltage” appeared in February 1975, with “TNT”, recorded in only 10 days, on December 1, 1975.

Just prior to their first Dubbo show, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was released as a single, with even 2DU playing this now classic anthem – only after 4pm as was station policy at the time.

AC/DC was being advertised on the 1975 tour as "An evening of high voltage from Australia's most dangerous and exciting PUNK ROCK BAND".

The classic line-up of Bon Scott, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Mark Evans and Phil Rudd were tearing up the Central West.

They played Bathurst Civic Centre on Tuesday December 16, Parkes Civic Centre on Wednesday, Cowra Civic Centre on Thursday, Dubbo on Friday and Orange Amoco Hall on Saturday, December 20, 1975.

AC/DC played their second and final Dubbo show on December 14, 1976, as part of their highly controversial “A Giant Dose of Rock & Roll” Tour.

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What was an AC/DC concert like in 1975?

Former 2DU Breakfast announcer Frank Wilcox shared his experience.

“I was doing brekky on 2DU and we were playing their music, but only after 4pm,” Frank explained.

“I was lucky enough to interview Angus and Bon, and my memory is that they were ‘typical’ rock and roll stars – pretty irreverent but nice guys,” he said.

“There was certainly a buzz around the city, and a big crowd was expected. I was lucky enough to introduce them on stage – and they were LOUD!”

It was even more exciting backstage as Frank and his wife Jan ventured backstage.

“Jan and I were lucky to be invited backstage after the concert, and to say there were a lot of people backstage is an understatement!” Frank recalled.

“This was Jan’s first real concert and she was understandably very excited.

“There had been a lot of excitement leading up to the concert, and the concert itself was a sell-out I believe. I do know that the band gained a lot of dedicated fans on that day.”

And the show?

“I remember that they played their hits - TNT, High Voltage and the classic It’s A Long Way To The Top. They finished the evening with an encore of Baby Please Don’t Go.

“There was a real buzz in the city for several weeks after the concert,” Frank concluded.

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Why were they such a hit?

The early popularity of AC/DC was certainly due to their almost non-stop touring, playing hundreds of shows a year, sometimes performing twice in a night, and their appearances on the weekly TV show Countdown – must-see TV which people enthusiastically dissected with their mates in the days following the show.

Remember, this was many years before the invention of the “video recorder” (aka VCR) and decades before those fantastic “Rage” Countdown marathons on the ABC.

A certain minister of the Australian parliament, at the time, denounced AC/DC as “a cause for the moral decline in the nation’s youth.”

The rest of the AC/DC story is well documented. The songs, legendary.

If you have had the pleasure of attending one of their tours over the last couple of decades or cranked up one of their many live shows on DVD or Blu Ray, one thing always stands out: the cross-section of ages that attend; and all, whatever the age, sing along loudly to every song.