Rock or Bust World Tour

Rock or Bust World Tour was a 2015–2016 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their sixteenth studio album Rock or Bust (2014).[2][3][4][5]

Rock or Bust World Tour

Tour by AC/DC
Rock or Bust World Tour Promo Poster
Associated album	Rock or Bust
Start date	10 April 2015
End date	20 September 2016
Legs	7
No. of shows	41 in Europe 36 in North America 11 in Oceania 88 total[1]
Box office	$221.1 million
AC/DC concert chronology

Background

Opening on 10 April 2015, at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.

Malcolm Young was replaced by his and Angus' nephew Stevie Young and Phil Rudd was replaced by their former drummer Chris Slade. They have both played for AC/DC on the Blow Up Your Video World Tour and on the Razors Edge World Tour, respectively.

In Germany, the band set a new world record in the number of sold tickets within the shortest timespan, with more than 300,000 tickets sold out in seventy-seven minutes.[6]

In Switzerland, the band set a new record in the duration to a 'sold out' concert. The concert in Zurich was sold out in 6 minutes (over 40,000 tickets)[7]

The band played at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, performing "Rock or Bust" and "Highway to Hell" on 8 February 2015.[8]

The last 22 shows were rescheduled as Brian Johnson was ordered to stop touring immediately.[1] Ten shows from 8 March 2016 to 4 April 2016 were cancelled and had to be rescheduled,[9] with Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses appearing in Johnson's place[10] marking first time that AC/DC has featured a lead vocalist other than Brian Johnson since they concluded the Highway to Hell Tour on 27 January 1980.

As part of this tour, AC/DC performed the first concert at the Olympic Stadium in London since its redevelopment following the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.[11]

Longtime bassist Cliff Williams announced that he would retire upon completion of the tour, citing losing interest following the health issues with Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson, and the legal issues with Phil Rudd.[12]

The band broke their normal routine at the end of the final concert with Angus Young leading Williams out to the front of the stage to take a final bow. Rose also introduced the band members one by one.[13] On 30 September 2020, AC/DC officially confirmed that Johnson, Rudd, and Williams had rejoined the band with plans for a new studio album and possibly tour,[14] signaling that this tour may not be the last tour with Johnson and Williams, as the next tour would include Johnson and Williams, along with Phil Rudd who was unable to participate in the "Rock or Bust World Tour" due to legal issues, and guitarists Angus and Stevie Young; reuniting the surviving "Back in Black" members for another tour.

Setlist

AC/DC performing in Tacoma, Washington on Feb. 2, 2016.

AC/DC with Axl Rose performing the first concert at the Olympic Stadium in London, on June 4, 2016.

1. "Rock or Bust"
2. "Shoot to Thrill"
3. "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be"
4. "Back in Black"
5. "Play Ball (only 2015)"
6. "Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder (only 2016)"
7. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
8. "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation (only 2016)"
9. "Thunderstruck"
10. "High Voltage"
11. "Rock N Roll Train"
12. "Hells Bells"
13. "Baptism by Fire (only 2015)"
14. "Givin' the Dog a Bone" (only 2016)"
15. "Dog Eat Dog (only 2016)"
16. "If You Want Blood (You've Got It) (only 2016)"
17. "Touch Too Much (only 2016)"
18. "Live Wire (only 2016)"
19. "You Shook Me All Night Long"
20. "Sin City"
21. "Shot Down in Flames"
22. "Have a Drink on Me"
23. "T.N.T."
24. "Whole Lotta Rosie"
25. "Let There Be Rock" (including Angus Young's guitar solo)

Encore

25. "Highway to Hell"
26. "Riff Raff (only 2016)"
27. "Problem Child (only 2016)"
28. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

Note: "Sin City" played before "You Shook Me All Night Long" on 2016 shows. "Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder" and "Givin' the Dog a Bone" only played on 2016 shows.[15][16]

Coachella Set list

Coachella Set List

1. "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be"
2. "Shot Down in Flames"
3. "Back in Black"
4. "Rock or Bust"
5. "Shoot to Thrill"
6. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
7. "Thunderstruck"
8. "Play Ball"
9. "The Jack"
10. "High Voltage"
11. "Hells Bells"
12. "Baptism by Fire"
13. "You Shook Me All Night Long"
14. "Have a Drink on Me"
15. "Sin City"
16. "T.N.T."
17. "Rock 'N Roll Train"
18. "Whole Lotta Rosie"
19. "Let There Be Rock"

Encore

20. "Highway to Hell"
21. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets, and gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance[17]	Revenue[17]
Leg 1 – North America[17]
10 April 2015	Indio	United States	Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival – Empire Polo Grounds	—	198,000 / 198,000	$28,088,088
17 April 2015
Leg 2 – Europe[18][19][20]
5 May 2015	Arnhem	Netherlands	GelreDome	Vintage Trouble	30,000 / 30,000	—
8 May 2015	Nuremberg	Germany	Zeppelinfeld		80,000 / 80,000	—
10 May 2015	Dresden		Ostragehege		90,000 / 90,000	—
14 May 2015	Zeltweg	Austria	Red Bull Ring		105,000 / 105,000	—
16 May 2015	Hockenheim	Germany	Hockenheimring		100,000 / 100,000	—
19 May 2015	Munich		Olympiastadion		140,000 / 140,000	—
21 May 2015
23 May 2015	Paris	France	Stade de France		150,000 / 150,000[21]	—
26 May 2015
29 May 2015	Barcelona	Spain	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys		60,000 / 60,000	—
31 May 2015	Madrid		Vicente Calderón Stadium		104,360 / 104,360	—
2 June 2015
5 June 2015	Zürich	Switzerland	Letzigrund Stadion		100,000 / 100,000	—
7 June 2015
19 June 2015	Cologne	Germany	Jahnwiesen		80,000 / 80,000	—
21 June 2015	Hanover		Hanover Fairground		75,000 / 75,000	—
25 June 2015	Berlin		Olympiastadion		70,000 / 70,000	—
28 June 2015	Glasgow	United Kingdom	Hampden Park		50,335 / 50,335	$5,126,269
1 July 2015	Dublin	Ireland	Aviva Stadium		50,000 / 50,000	—
4 July 2015	London	United Kingdom	Wembley Stadium		80,000 / 80,000	—
6 July 2015	Dessel	Belgium	Festivalpark Stenehei		50,000 / 50,000	—
9 July 2015	Imola	Italy	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari		90,034 / 90,034	$7,482,298
12 July 2015	Gelsenkirchen	Germany	Veltins-Arena		55,000 / 55,000	—
15 July 2015	Roskilde	Denmark	Roskilde Festival Site		55,000 / 55,000	—
17 July 2015	Oslo	Norway	Valle Hovin		40,000 / 40,000	—
19 July 2015	Stockholm	Sweden	Friends Arena		50,460 / 50,460	—
22 July 2015	Hämeenlinna	Finland	Kantola Event Park		55,000 / 55,000	$5,016,055
25 July 2015	Warsaw	Poland	National Stadium		48,000 / 48,000	—
Leg 3 – North America[22][23][24][25][26]
22 August 2015	Foxborough	United States	Gillette Stadium	Vintage Trouble	48,000 / 50,000	—
26 August 2015	East Rutherford		MetLife Stadium		48,881 / 50,000	$4,492,251
28 August 2015	Quebec City	Canada	Plains of Abraham		48,588 / 58,000	$4,047,480
31 August 2015	Montreal		Olympic Stadium		36,917 / 46,100	$3,238,650
3 September 2015	Ottawa		TD Place Stadium		32,000 / 32,000	—
5 September 2015	Moncton		Magnetic Hill Concert Site		50,000 / 50,000	—
8 September 2015	Detroit	United States	Ford Field		43,000 / 43,000	—
10 September 2015	Toronto	Canada	Downsview Park		40,000 / 40,000	—
15 September 2015	Chicago	United States	Wrigley Field		29,732 / 29,732	$3,024,480
17 September 2015	Winnipeg	Canada	Investors Group Field		34,000 / 34,000	—
20 September 2015	Edmonton		Commonwealth Stadium		55,000 / 55,000	—
22 September 2015	Vancouver		BC Place		45,000 / 45,000	—
25 September 2015	San Francisco	United States	AT&T Park		46,167 / 46,167	$4,446,189
28 September 2015	Los Angeles		Dodger Stadium		46,215 / 46,215	$3,975,040
Leg 4 – Oceania[27][28][29][30]
4 November 2015	Sydney	Australia	ANZ Stadium	The Hives, Kingswood	140,000 / 140,000[31]	—
7 November 2015
12 November 2015	Brisbane		Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre		90,000 / 90,000[32][33]	—
14 November 2015
21 November 2015	Adelaide		Adelaide Oval		50,000 / 50,000[34]	—
27 November 2015	Perth		Domain Stadium		80,000 / 80,000[35]	—
29 November 2015
6 December 2015	Melbourne		Etihad Stadium		100,000 / 100,000[36]	—
8 December 2015
12 December 2015	Wellington	New Zealand	Westpac Stadium	Shihad, Villainy	30,000 / 30,000[37]	—
15 December 2015	Auckland		Western Springs Stadium		30,000 / 30,000[38]	—
Leg 5 – North America[39][40][41]
2 February 2016	Tacoma	United States	Tacoma Dome	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown[42]	21,337 / 21,337	$2,544,102
5 February 2016	Paradise		MGM Grand Garden Arena		13,817 / 13,817	$1,416,474
8 February 2016	Denver		Pepsi Center		—	—
11 February 2016	Fargo		Fargodome		19,308 / 19,308	$2,049,080
14 February 2016	Saint Paul		Xcel Energy Center		14,858 / 14,858	$2,010,470
17 February 2016	Chicago		United Center		13,773 / 13,773	$1,696,155
20 February 2016	St. Louis		Scottrade Center		13,985 / 14,320	$1,520,878
23 February 2016	Dallas		American Airlines Center		13,727 / 14,391	$1,519,861
26 February 2016	Houston		Toyota Center		—	—
28 February 2016[nb 1]	Kansas City		Sprint Center		15,000 / 15,000	—
Leg 6 – Europe[44][45]
7 May 2016	Lisbon	Portugal	Passeio Marítimo de Algés	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown[46]	60,000 / 60,000	—
10 May 2016	Seville	Spain	Estadio de La Cartuja		60,000 / 60,000	—
13 May 2016	Marseille	France	Stade Vélodrome		60,000 / 60,000	—
16 May 2016	Werchter	Belgium	Festivalground Werchter	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Black Box Revelation[47]	60,000 / 80,000	—
19 May 2016	Vienna	Austria	Ernst-Happel-Stadion	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown[48]	50,000 / 50,000	—
22 May 2016	Prague	Czech Republic	Letnany Airport	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Doctor Victor[49]	60,000 / 60,000	—
26 May 2016	Hamburg	Germany	Volksparkstadion	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown[46]	47,000 / 47,000	—
29 May 2016	Berne	Switzerland	Stade de Suisse		41,500 / 45,000	—
1 June 2016	Leipzig	Germany	Red Bull Arena		45,000 / 45,000	—
4 June 2016	London	United Kingdom	Olympic Stadium		65,000 / 65,000	—
9 June 2016	Manchester		Etihad Stadium		55,000 / 55,000	—
12 June 2016	Aarhus	Denmark	Ceres Park		25,000 / 25,000	—
15 June 2016	Düsseldorf	Germany	Esprit Arena	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Massendefekt[50]	30,000 / 45,000	—
Leg 7 – North America[51]
27 August 2016	Greensboro	United States	Greensboro Coliseum	Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown[46]	12,320 / 13,898	$1,268,400
30 August 2016	Sunrise		BB&T Center		11,930 / 12,944	$1,263,029
1 September 2016	Atlanta		Philips Arena		11,173 / 13,012	$1,169,355
4 September 2016	Columbus		Nationwide Arena		11,032 / 15,771	$1,366,460
6 September 2016	Cleveland		Quicken Loans Arena		8,355 / 9,113	$901,870
9 September 2016	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills		7,897 / 12,626	$904,984
11 September 2016	Buffalo		KeyBank Center		10,000 / 14,000	—
14 September 2016	New York City		Madison Square Garden		13,737 / 13,737	$1,555,320
17 September 2016	Washington, D.C.		Verizon Center		11,708 / 14,182	$1,423,688
20 September 2016	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center		14,089 / 14,089	$1,216,141
Total						$221,100,000

Personnel

• Angus Young – lead guitar
• Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Stevie Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Slade – drums
• Brian Johnson – lead vocals (Legs 1-5)
• Axl Rose – lead vocals (Legs 6-7)

Grossing

The Rock or Bust Tour was the second most attended tour of 2015 behind One Direction and third highest-grossing tour behind Taylor Swift and One Direction (Pollstar Year End Top 100 Worldwide tours of 2015). The tour grossed $180 million from 54 shows in 2015.[52] and $40.1 million from 32 shows in 2016.[53] Total gross: $221.1 million from 86 shows performed.

Footnotes

1. "Doctors Tell AC/DC Frontman Brian Johnson To Stop Touring Immediately". theMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
2. "Ac/Dc: First 2015 European Tour Dates Announced - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
3. "AC/DC The Archives". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
4. Guardian music (24 September 2014). "AC/DC's Malcolm Young departs as new album Rock or Bust announced". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
5. "AC/DC Tour 2015 Confirmed for North American Stadiums". Retrieved 11 February 2015.
6. "AC/DC Tour 2015 / 2016 | Tickets". Vorverkaufstarts.de (in German). 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
7. Blick (16 December 2014). "Ausverkauft nach 6 Minuten: AC/DC brechen den Allzeit-Rekord!". Retrieved 18 April 2016.
8. "Ariana Grande, Madonna Among First 57th GRAMMY Performers". The GRAMMYs. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
9. "AC/DC to reschedule Upcoming U.S. Tour dates". acdc.com. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
10. "Rock Or Bust World Tour Continues With Axl Rose". acdc.com. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
11. "Axl Rose and AC/DC play first ever concert at London's Olympic Stadium". NME. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
12. Foerste, Jonathan (July 2016). "Still Rockin' in Southwest Florida". Gulfshore Life. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
13. "AC/DC Play Last 'Rock or Bust' Show in Philadelphia: Photos, Set List, Review". Ultimate Classic Rock.
14. Greene, Andy (30 September 2020). "AC/DC Confirm Return of Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
15. "AC/DC Average Setlists of year: 2016 | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
16. "AC/DC Average Setlists of year: 2015 | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
17. "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
18. BubbleUp, LTD. "AC/DC – The Official Website". AC/DC Official Website. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
19. "Ticketcorner Tickets, Events, Konzerte, Skitickets & Skipässe". AC/DC – Tickets. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
20. BubbleUp, LTD. "AC/DC – The Official Website". AC/DC Official Website. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
21. "Actualités AC/DC : dernières news, actu concert et musique". Retrieved 18 April 2016.
22. Reed, Ryan (11 February 2015). "AC/DC Announce North American 'Rock or Bust' Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
23. "AC/DC Tickets, Tour Dates & Venue Information". Retrieved 18 February 2015.
24. "Current Boxscore". Billboard. 1 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
25. "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 6 October 2015. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
26. "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
27. "AC/DC Announce Aussie Dates For 'Rock Or Bust' World Tour". theMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
28. "AC/DC 'Rock Or Bust' Australian Tour Dates Announced – Music Feeds". Music Feeds. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
29. "Ticketek Australia". Retrieved 18 April 2016.
30. "AC/DC Have Added New Shows To Their Australian Tour – Music Feeds". Music Feeds. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
31. "AC/DC: Rock or Bust tour review (Sydney)". Daily Review: film, stage and music reviews, interviews and more. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
32. "Review: AC/DC, Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre, November 12, 2015". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
33. "AC/DC QSAC Sean Hourigan ♫ theMusic.com.au – Australia's Premier Music News & Reviews Website". theMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
34. "'Great Test pitch' expected for Adelaide Oval day-night match, despite AC/DC concert". ABC News. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
35. Collins, Simon. "For those about to rock: ACDC set to leave Perth thunderstruck – The West Australian". Retrieved 18 April 2016.
36. "AC/DC deafen Melbourne: review". 3AW. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
37. McKee, Hannah (16 December 2015). "AC/DC concert receives 27 noise complaints, makes earth shudder". Stuff. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
38. "AC/DC cranks it up for most of Auckland from Western Springs". Stuff. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
39. "AC/DC Announces 2016 American Tour Dates". Billboard. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
40. grahamhartmann (14 December 2015). "AC/DC Announce 2016 U.S. Tour Dates". Loudwire. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
41. jeffgiles (14 December 2015). "AC/DC Announce 2016 U.S. Tour Dates". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
42. "AC/DC The Archives". Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
43. BubbleUp, LTD. "AC/DC – News". AC/DC Official Website. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
44. BubbleUp, LTD. "AC/DC – News". AC/DC Official Website. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
45. LTD., BubbleUp. "News". AC/DC Official Website. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
46. "AC/DC Tour Archive". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
47. "AC/DC Tour Archive - Show summary". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
48. "AC/DC Tour Archive - Show summary". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
49. "AC/DC Tour Archive - Show summary". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
50. "AC/DC Tour Archive - Show summary". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
51. Website, AC/DC Official. "Tour". AC/DC Official Website. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
52. "Pollstar | Welcome to the New Pollstar!" (PDF).
53. "Pollstar | Welcome to the New Pollstar!" (PDF).

References

1. This show was originally scheduled for 29 February 2016, but has been pushed back to the previous day to allow vocalist Brian Johnson to attend a funeral of a close friend.[43]