Highway to Hell Tour
Tour by AC/DC
Angus Young (left) and Bon Scott (right) performing at Ulster Hall in Belfast
Location
  • Europe
  • North America
Associated albumHighway to Hell
Start date17 August 1979 (1979-08-17)
End date27 January 1980 (1980-01-27)
Legs3
No. of shows99
AC/DC concert chronology
  • If You Want Blood Tour
    (1978–1979)
  • Highway to Hell Tour
    (1979–1980)
  • Back in Black Tour
    (1980–1981)

The Highway to Hell Tour was a concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC in support of the group's seventh studio album, Highway to Hell, which was released on 27 July 1979. The tour had 3 legs around Europe and North America lasting 5 months starting on 17 August 1979 at Haffmans Park in Bilzen, Belgium, and concluded on 27 January 1980 at Southampton, England. This was the last tour with Bon Scott, who died due to alcohol poisoning, three weeks after the Southampton show, which therefore cancelled the Japan and Australian legs of the tour.

Background

During the band's tour in the United States, the band attracted capacity crowds, with one venue having to turn away over two thousand fans after being sold out minutes after the box office opened.[1] The band were set to tour in Japan and Australia in early 1980,[2] but the legs were cancelled following the death of vocalist Bon Scott as a result of alcohol poisoning.[3]

Def Leppard was the opening act for part of the European leg after they were approached by Peter Mensch of Leber-Krebs management, who had booked them on a tour of the UK supporting the band.[4][5] During the shows in Texas in the United States, Riot and Molly Hatchet were the opening acts for the band on their North American leg.[6]

Setlist

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city country and venue[7]
Date City Country Venue
Leg 1 – Europe (warm–up leg)[8][9]
17 August 1979[a] Bilzen Belgium Haffmans Park
18 August 1979[b] London England Wembley Stadium
20 August 1979 Dublin Ireland Olympic Ballroom
21 August 1979
23 August 1979 Belfast Northern Ireland Ulster Hall
24 August 1979
27 August 1979 Aix-les-Bains France Verdure Theatre
1 September 1979[c] Nuremberg West Germany Zeppelinfeld
Leg 2 – North America[9]
5 September 1979 Oakland United States Oakland Civic Auditorium
6 September 1979 Reno UNR Gym
7 September 1979 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
8 September 1979 Fresno Warnors Theatre
9 September 1979 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
10 September 1979 Long Beach Long Beach Arena
13 September 1979 Amarillo Amarillo Civic Center
14 September 1979 Lubbock Lubbock Municipal Auditorium
15 September 1979 Midland Chaparral Center
16 September 1979 El Paso El Paso County Coliseum
18 September 1979 McAllen La Villa Real Convention Center
19 September 1979 Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum
20 September 1979 Houston Houston Music Hall
21 September 1979[d] Dallas Dallas Convention Center
22 September 1979[e] San Antonio San Antonio Convention Center
24 September 1979 Beaumont Beaumont City Auditorium
26 September 1979 Memphis Dixon–Myers Hall
27 September 1979 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium
28 September 1979 Johnson Freedom Hall Civic Center
29 September 1979[f] Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
30 September 1979 Greenville Greenville Memorial Auditorium
2 October 1979 Knoxville Knoxville Civic Coliseum
3 October 1979 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
5 October 1979 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum
6 October 1979 Birmingham Boutwell Memorial Auditorium
7 October 1979 Dothan Dothan Civic Center
8 October 1979 Atlanta Fox Theatre
10 October 1979 Columbia Carolina Coliseum
12 October 1979 Norfolk Norfolk Scope
13 October 1979 Wheeling Wheeling Civic Center
14 October 1979 Charleston Charleston Civic Center
16 October 1979 Towson Towson Center
17 October 1979 Buffalo Shea's Performing Arts Center
18 October 1979 Cleveland Public Auditorium
19 October 1979 Chicago Aragon Ballroom
20 October 1979 Toledo Toledo Sports Arena
21 October 1979 Columbus St. John Arena
Leg 3 – Europe[9][5]
26 October 1979[g] Newcastle upon Tyne England Mayfair Ballroom
27 October 1979 Glasgow Scotland The Apollo
28 October 1979
29 October 1979 Manchester England Manchester Apollo
30 October 1979
1 November 1979 London Hammersmith Odeon
2 November 1979
3 November 1979
4 November 1979
5 November 1979 Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre
6 November 1979
8 November 1979 Stafford Bingley Hall
9 November 1979 Leicester De Montfort Hall
11 November 1979 Brussels Belgium Forest National
12 November 1979 Amsterdam Netherlands Jaap Edenhal
13 November 1979 Cologne West Germany Sartory-Saal
14 November 1979 Hanover Eilenriedehalle
16 November 1979 Essen Grugahalle
17 November 1979[h] Kürnach Kurnachtal-Halle
19 November 1979 Passau Niderbeiernhalle
20 November 1979 Offenbach Stadthalle
21 November 1979 Dortmund Westfalenhallen
23 November 1979 Hamburg Messehallen
24 November 1979 Munich Circus Krone Building
25 November 1979 Bern Switzerland Festhalle
27 November 1979[h] Regensburg West Germany RT Halle
28 November 1979 Oberschwabenhalle
29 November 1979 Hof Freiheitshalle
1 December 1979 Ludwigshafen Friedrich-Ebert-Halle
2 December 1979 Neunkirchen Hemmerleinhalle
3 December 1979 West Berlin Eissportahalle
4 December 1979 Offenbach am Main Stadthalle Offenbach
6 December 1979 Metz France Metz Expo Hall
7 December 1979 Reims Palais Des Sports
8 December 1979 Lille Foire Commerciale
9 December 1979[i][j] Paris Pavillon de Paris[10]
10 December 1979 Grenoble Parc Expo
12 December 1979 Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand Sports Hall
13 December 1979 Montpellier Palais Des Sports
14 December 1979 Nice Théâtre de verdure de Nice
15 December 1979
17 December 1979 London England Hammersmith Odeon
19 December 1979 Brighton Brighton Centre
20 December 1979 Birmingham Birmingham Odeon
21 December 1979
16 January 1980 Poitiers France —
17 January 1980 Bordeaux
18 January 1980 Toulouse Gymnase du Lycée Pierre Aragon
19 January 1980 Lyon Palais des Sports de Gerland
20 January 1980 Rouen —
21 January 1980 Nantes Stade de la Beaujoire
22 January 1980 Brest Parc de Penfeld
23 January 1980[k] Le Mans La Rotonde
25 January 1980 Newcastle England Mayfair Ballroom
27 January 1980[l] Southampton Gaumont Theatre

Cancelled dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and reason for cancellation[7]
Date
(1979) 		City Country Venue Reason
22 November Bremen West Germany Stadthalle 4 —
30 December Göppingen Haldenberghalle

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross and references
Date
(1979) 		City Venue Attendance Gross Ref(s)
September 5 Oakland, United States Civic Auditorium 5,000 $49,150 [11]
September 7 Santa Cruz, United States Civic Auditorium 1,954 $16,694
September 8 Fresno, United States Warnors Theatre 2,100 $16,800
September 18 McAllen, United States Villa Real 2,439 $18,950 [12]
September 20 Houston, United States Music Hall 3,005 $24,389
September 26 Memphis, United States Dixon–Myers Hall 2,352 $16,710 [13]
September 27 Nashville, United States Municipal Auditorium 5,093 $36,363
September 28 Johnson City, United States Freedom Hall 7,710 $49,675

Personnel

Notes

  1. ^ This show on 17 August 1979 was a part of Jazz Bilzen.
  2. ^ This show on 18 August 1979 was an opening act for The Who's 1979 tour.
  3. ^ This show on 1 September 1979 was a part of the Open Air Festival.
  4. ^ Originally scheduled for 22 September 1979.
  5. ^ Originally scheduled for 21 September 1979.
  6. ^ Originally scheduled for 30 September 1979.
  7. ^ Originally scheduled for 25 October 1979.
  8. ^ a b Originally scheduled for 18 November 1979.
  9. ^ 2 shows have been played.
  10. ^ Originally scheduled for 7 December 1979.
  11. ^ Originally scheduled for 9 December 1979.
  12. ^ Originally scheduled for 18 December 1979.

References

Citations

  1. ^ "New Mac album out in 8 days". Sydney, Australia: The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 September 1979. p. 104. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  2. ^ "LRB's tour nets tow hit singles". Sydney, Australia: The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 October 1979. p. 118. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  3. ^ "'Schoolboy' rock group singer found dead". Glasgow, Scotland: The Glasgow Herald. 21 February 1980. p. 7. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  4. ^ Konow 2009, p. 132.
  5. ^ a b Huxley 2015, p. 101.
  6. ^ Sharpe-Young 2007, p. 317.
  7. ^ a b Durieux, Arnaud. "AC/DC Tour History - 1979/80 "Highway To Hell" World Tour". ac-dc.net. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  8. ^ Masino 2009.
  9. ^ a b c Masino 2015.
  10. ^ Perkins 2011.
  11. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 38. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 22 September 1979. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 6 October 1979. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 41. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 13 October 1979. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

Sources

Categories