The Back in Black Tour was a concert tour by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC in support of their seventh studio album Back in Black, which was released on 25 July 1980.

Background

This was AC/DC's first tour with new vocalist Brian Johnson, who replaced Bon Scott after the latter's death in February 1980, making his first appearance on stage on 29 June 1980 in Namur, Belgium. The band transported their own one-ton "Hells Bell" on the road, which was lowered to the stage each night as the bell tolls of "Hells Bells" were heard. Johnson would finish it off with several hard hits, hammer in hand as the band commenced the show.

During the North American and European legs, the band were supported by a number of different opening acts, including Humble Pie, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Blackfoot, Gamma, Whitesnake and Maggie Bell.

Reception The responses from the audience during the band's performances in the United Kingdom were described as near rabid with anticipation.

Mike London from Billboard, however, had given the show he attended in New York a negative review - stating that while the band had established itself as a leader in heavy metal, the show lacked imagination and failed to live up to the band's sound, describing the stage theatrics as lifeless and overused. He noted that the fans attending the show had shown a general positive response, but later in the show grew tired of the poses and solos that Angus Young had given. Concluding his review, London stated his disappointment - saying that AC/DC's music deserved better treatment than what the band performed that night.

Tour dates + List of 1980 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country Venue 29 June 1980 Namur Belgium Palais des Expositions 30 June 1980 Antwerp Borgerhout-Zaal Cine Roma 1 July 1980 Deinze Brielpoort 2 July 1980 Arlon Hall Polyvalent 3 July 1980 Breda Netherlands Het Turfschip 5 July 1980 Wateringen Velo Sporthal 13 July 1980 Edmonton Canada Northlands Coliseum 14 July 1980 Calgary Max Bell Arena 16 July 1980 Vancouver Pacific Coliseum 19 July 1980 Winnipeg Winnipeg Arena 20 July 1980 Thunder Bay Fort William Gardens 22 July 1980 Ottawa Ottawa Civic Center 23 July 1980 Montreal Montreal Forum 25 July 1980 London London Gardens 26 July 1980 Kitchener Kitchener Memorial Auditorium 27 July 1980 Sudbury Sudbury Community Arena 28 July 1980 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens 30 July 1980 Erie United States Erie County Fieldhouse 31 July 1980 Philadelphia The Spectrum 1 August 1980 New York City Palladium 3 August 1980 Landover Capital Centre 6 August 1980 Norfolk The Scope 7 August 1980 Roanoke Roanoke Civic Center 8 August 1980 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum 9 August 1980 Fayetteville Cumberland County Arena 10 August 1980 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum 12 August 1980 Atlanta Fox Theatre 13 August 1980 Knoxville James White Civic Coliseum 15 August 1980 Johnson City Freedom Hall Civic Center 16 August 1980 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum 17 August 1980 Toledo Toledo Speedway 18 August 1980 Dayton Hara Arena 19 August 1980 Lexington Rupp Arena 20 August 1980 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium 22 August 1980 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center 23 August 1980 West Palm Beach West Palm Beach Auditorium 24 August 1980 Jacksonville Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum 26 August 1980 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum 27 August 1980 Agora 29 August 1980 San Antonio San Antonio Convention Center 30 August 1980 Dallas Dallas Convention Center 31 August 1980 Amarillo Amarillo Civic Center 1 September 1980 El Paso El Paso County Coliseum 4 September 1980 Long Beach Long Beach Arena 5 September 1980 Daly City Cow Palace 6 September 1980 Oakland Oakland Auditorium 7 September 1980 San Bernardino Orange Pavilion 10 September 1980 Lincoln Pershing Auditorium 11 September 1980 Bloomington Met Center 13 September 1980 Milwaukee Milwaukee Auditorium 14 September 1980 Madison Dane County Coliseum 16 September 1980 Normal Horton Fieldhouse 18 September 1980 St. Louis Kiel Opera House 19 September 1980 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center 20 September 1980 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon 21 September 1980 Fort Wayne Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 24 September 1980 Indianapolis Market Square Arena 25 September 1980 Louisville Louisville Gardens 26 September 1980 Kalamazoo Wings Stadium 27 September 1980 Detroit Cobo Arena 29 September 1980 Columbus St. John Arena 30 September 1980 Pittsburgh Stanley Theatre 1 October 1980 Cleveland Public Hall 3 October 1980 Rochester War Memorial Auditorium 4 October 1980 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 5 October 1980 Syracuse Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium 7 October 1980 Allentown Stabler Arena 8 October 1980 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9 October 1980 Springfield Springfield Civic Center 10 October 1980 Boston Orpheum Theatre 11 October 1980 19 October 1980 Bristol England Colston Hall 20 October 1980 Leicester De Montfort Hall 21 October 1980 22 October 1980 Birmingham Birmingham Odeon 23 October 1980 25 October 1980 Manchester Apollo Theatre 26 October 1980 27 October 1980 Sheffield Sheffield City Hall 28 October 1980 29 October 1980 Hanley Victoria Hall 31 October 1980 Newcastle Mayfair Ballroom 1 November 1980 Glasgow Scotland Apollo Theatre 2 November 1980 4 November 1980 Newcastle England City Hall 5 November 1980 6 November 1980 Queensferry Deeside Leisure Center 7 November 1980 Southampton Gaumont 8 November 1980 10 November 1980 London Hammersmith Odeon 11 November 1980 12 November 1980 14 November 1980 Apollo Victoria Theatre 15 November 1980 16 November 1980 20 November 1980 Stockholm Sweden Göta Lejon 22 November 1980 Oslo Norway Chateau Neuf 24 November 1980 Kiel West Germany Ostseehalle 25 November 1980 Köln Sporthalle 26 November 1980 Hanover Eilenriedehalle 27 November 1980 West Berlin Deutschlandhalle 29 November 1980 Paris France Le Bourget 30 November 1980 2 December 1980 Nürnberg West Germany Messezentrum 3 December 1980 Heidelberg Rhein-Neckar-Halle 4 December 1980 Essen Grugahalle 5 December 1980 Bremen Stadthalle 7 December 1980 Frankfurt Festhalle 8 December 1980 Boblingen Sporthalle Böblingen 9 December 1980 Saarbrücken Saarlandhalle 10 December 1980 Hamburg Messehallen 11 December 1980 13 December 1980 Strasbourg France Hall Rhenus 14 December 1980 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion 16 December 1980 Ravensburg West Germany Oberschwabenhalle 17 December 1980 Munich Olympiahalle 19 December 1980 Lyon France Palais des Sports 20 December 1980 Lille Foire Expo Internationale

+ List of 1981 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country Venue 8 January 1981 Metz France Parc Expo 9 January 1981 Besançon Palais des Sports 10 January 1981 Grenoble Alpexpo 11 January 1981 Nice Trinite Stade Municipal 13 January 1981 Avignon Parc Exposition de Chateaublanc 15 January 1981 Barcelona Spain Palacio Municipal Deportes 17 January 1981 Madrid Pabellon de Deportivo del Real Madrid 18 January 1981 San Sebastián Velodromo Anoeta de San Sebastian 19 January 1981 Toulouse France Hall Expo 20 January 1981 Pau Foire Expo Hall F 22 January 1981 Le Mans La Rotonde 23 January 1981 Brest Parc de Penfeld 24 January 1981 Caen Hall Expo 25 January 1981 Brussels Belgium Forest National 1 February 1981 Osaka Japan Expo Hall 2 February 1981 Nagoya Shi Kokaido Hall 4 February 1981 Tokyo Nihon Seinenkan 5 February 1981 13 February 1981 Perth Australia Perth Entertainment Centre 17 February 1981 Adelaide Memorial Drive 23 February 1981 Sydney Sydney Showground 24 February 1981 Brisbane Festival Hall 25 February 1981 27 February 1981 Melbourne Sidney Myer Music Bowl 28 February 1981

Cancelled dates + List of cancelled dates, showing date, city, country, venue and reason for cancellation Date(1980) City Country Venue Reason 6 July Nijmegen Netherlands De Vereeniging Low ticket sales (120 sold) 16 August Thornville United States Legend Valley rowspan="2" 27 August Lafayette Le Centre Civique 19 November Copenhagen Denmark Odd Fellow Palæet Stage set did not fit

Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references Date(1980) City Venue Attendance Gross 14 July Calgary, Canada Max Bell Arena 3,426 $33,072 16 July Vancouver, Canada Pacific Coliseum 8,197 $73,773 20 July Thunder Bay, Canada Fort William Gardens 4,249 $34,929 28 July Toronto, Canada Maple Leaf Gardens 8,500 $80,750 1 August New York City, United States Palladium 3,385 $30,400 13 August Knoxville, United States Coliseum 6,886 $54,170 15 August Johnson City, United States Freedom Hall 6,146 $48,959 6 September Oakland, United States Auditorium 6,500 $62,350 10 September Lincoln, United States Pershing Auditorium 4,529 $35,343 13 September Milwaukee, United States Auditorium 6,000 $51,493 14 September Madison, United States Dane County Coliseum 10,100 $80,701 18 September St. Louis, United States Kiel Opera House 3,519 $30,367 27 September Detroit, United States Cobo Arena 11,137 $107,843 30 September Pittsburgh, United States Stanley Theatre 3,742 $32,002 3 October Rochester, United States War Memorial Auditorium 10,200 $76,331 10–11 October Boston, United States Orpheum Theatre 5,600 $51,059

Personnel Angus Young – lead guitar Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Phil Rudd – drums Brian Johnson – lead vocals

Notes

References Citations

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