AC/DC hit the stage with a bang. Two cannons fired pyrotechnics into the air as the sound system blasted the audience with ‘For Those About To Rock’. The crowd went wild; cheers, whistling, jumping up and down in a frenzy to the beat and Angus Young’s guitar riff.
Shirley wasn’t a fan of the Australian rock band, but her boyfriend, James, was. They had traveled for four hours that afternoon to get to the open-air concert near Nottingham and had struggled through the huge crowd to get as near to the stage as possible. They were almost twenty feet from James’ guitar idol and James didn’t take his eyes from the stage once during the whole concert.
Shirley struggled to maintain her balance as she was rocked back and forth by the swaying audience. The proximity of those around her was making her feel claustrophobic. She didn’t feel comfortable at all and she began to resent her decision to accompany James to the concert.
Into the third song and Shirley was beginning to feel boredom set in. She began to wish time would move on and the end of the show. James was cheering and clapping to the beat. She struggled to see much of the show as the group of boys in front of her was several inches taller; all she had was a good view of the backs of their heads with the occasional glimpse of a stage light.
She had also made a mistake with the choice of clothing she had worn. A t-shirt and denim jeans would have been better suited than her thin blouse and denim skirt. Still, she felt cooler than some of the others in the crowd who were now perspiring profusely.
Into the sixth song, and Shirley didn’t have a clue what Brian Johnson, the vocalist for the band, was singing. Something about a Jack was all she could make out.