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AC/DC In Tampa, FL With Photos!

By Travis Failey, Planet Earth Contributor
Thursday, June 5, 2025 @ 9:45 AM

Raymond James Stadium Gets Powered Up On May 16th

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All Photos By Travis Failey Photography

It's 1990, and AC/DC are touring the world on their Razor's Edge release to packed arenas, and for the first time in my life, I'm going as my roommate has tickets for us.

Or so I thought. After waiting for hours for him to arrive for us to head to the venue, he never showed. We were friends no more as he didn't get the Joes before Janes memo.

Flash forward 35 years, and AC/DC are back doing stadium tours throughout the world, and I'm not missing them again as it will be my first time seeing them.

With time, though, things have switched a bit for the band as their on-stage lineup has changed considerably for this tour. With the passing of guitarist Malcolm Young, drummer Phil Rudd's past legal and medical issues, and bassist Cliff Williams not touring with the band at this time, founding member Angus Young and singer Brian Johnson are left to carrythe load on the Power Up Tour, and they did this in spades.

As THE PRETTY RECKLESS finished up their ten-song set, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa was on its way to a full house. By the time AC/DC finished with one of the greatest opening songs to start off a show ever with "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" there wasn't an empty seat in the stadium. Keep in mind this is a football stadium where the Bucs play, and AC/DC put 72,000 people in the seats and on the floor, with many of them wearing light-up devil horns.

Brian Johnson then went out on the long catwalk and said hello to the crowd with arms wide open as the crowd roared. As Johnson returned to the big stage, Angus Young struck the opening chords to "Back In Black", the title track to their first release with Johnson after Bon Scott's death. The album has sold 50 million copies and it's the number 3 album of all time in sales.

The band then went into "Demon Fire" one of two songs in the set from the Power Up release with the other being "Shot In The Dark". The placement of both of these was strong as they were surrounded on both sides by fan-friendly hits like "Shot Down In Flames" and "Highway to Hell".

I was a little worried early on about Brian Johnson's voice as the band finished up with the Tampa favorite "Thunderstruck", but he got stronger as the set went on.

"Thunderstruck" has been used by the Tampa Bay Lightning for years during their intro and during games, and the band put out a tour-specific shirt with "Tampa, You've Been Thunderstruck" on the back. It's a great-looking shirt, and it sold out during the night. Speaking of merch, AC/DC really brought it out on this tour. Other than a MAIDEN show, I don't think a band has brought more stuff for the crowd to purchase, and they had multiple stands in the stadium.

Stickers, albums, t-shirts, of course, and a huge variety of things for people to purchase, but the number one thing that the fans bought were the aforementioned light-up devil horns that Angus wore during "Highway to Hell".

They sold thousands of them at 25 bucks a pop, and when the stadium went dark, they were all that you could see except for the moon beaming in the background.

After another fan favorite in "Have a Drink On Me", a huge bell came down towards the stage, with AC/DC glowing in red wrapped around it as the opening chimes of "Hell's Bells" rang out. The crowd also chimed in as the chorus rang out into the night sky.

After "Shoot To Thrill", Angus decided to play his guitar a bit with his tie during "Sin City" off the Powerage album. The set list was full of Bon Scott material which included "Dirty Deeds", "High Voltage" and the deep track "Riff Raff", also off of Powerage.

The crowd went back into a dancing frenzy as the opening notes of "You Shook Me All Night Long" rang out as Johnson even adjusted the lyrics by singing "Knocking me out with those Tampa Thighs".

After a personal favorite of mine in "Whole Lotta Rosie", it was Angus' time to shine once again as he did throughout the whole night. He was an Energizer Bunny on stage and just crushed an extended no-frills solo during "Let There Be Rock" on an elevated stage. Confetti filled the platform and stage, and you could barely see Angus as the confetti engulfed him.

A few people started to hit the exits but there was no way I was going to leave as I made it down to the floor close to the barrier that separated the seated area from the pit in front of the stage. What a difference from the first level to the floor with some people really out of control to the point of being detained and let out of the building. What a sight.

After a very short break, AC/DC came back on stage with Angus in front of the microphone yelling "Oi, Oi, Oi" with fire blazing on the background screens during the opening of "T.N.T.".

After its conclusion, AC/DC paused a bit and then brought out the full arsenal and by that I mean the cannons as "For Those About To Rock" completed the 21-song setlist. Many bands throughout the years, like SLIPKNOT have used it for their stage entrance curtain drop song, and as I heard the opening notes live for the first time, It gave me chills across my body. It was truly a memorable experience.

The three canons on top of the stage risers exploded as Johnson screamed "Fire" with the crowd in unison yelling "We Salute You" as Angus wailed away on his guitar. The huge video screens raged with fire and brimstone as fireworks exploded throughout the stadium into the sky with thunderous applause from the Tampa crowd.

The band disappeared from sight and Johnson waved to the crowd and jogged off the stage with exuberant energy. It's amazing what Young and Johnson have left in the tank at their ages and I can only hope that I'll have a fraction of that later in my life.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the job that bassist Chris Chaney, drummer Matt Laug and Stevie Young did. All of them were outstanding and knew exactly what their role was. They never came out to the front but were note-for-note perfect all night. The stadium security was also great dealing with the drunks that were prevalent in the stands and on the floor.

As I left the stadium, there was still a buzz as the crowd hit the streets of Tampa completely satisfied from the experience that AC/DC just provided them. My only regret is that I never saw them during their heyday, 30-plus years ago.

I guess the old adage "good things come to those that wait" came to fruition and rang true on Friday night just like "Hells Bells" did once again.

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Travis Failey Photography

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