The Answer to the question who is AC/DC’s opening act
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
The Answer hopes to leave no doubt
Irish band proving itself after being picked to open AC/DC shows
When the time came to pick the supporting act for their first tour in eight years, rockers AC/DC found The Answer in Northern Ireland.
While the band’s name seems fitting, Cormac Neeson, lead singer of the Irish hard-rock quartet, acknowledges that The Answer might have Americans asking “The who?”
“We step up onstage every night just taking it as a given that nobody’s heard of us basically,” Neeson said with a laugh. “It’s the only way we can approach this tour, but I mean, we get up there and people are very receptive. … We generally leave to standing ovations.”
Since last fall, The Answer has been rocking on “The Black Ice World Tour,” the band’s first slate of shows in America. The tour will slide into Tulsa’s BOK Center Monday night. The Answer also will play a solo show Tuesday at Two Frogs Grill in Ardmore.
AC/DC hand-picked The Answer from among 200 bands vying for the tour’s opening slot. The Irish band plays a brand of blues-based, metal-edged rock that’s clearly influenced by the Australian rock stars.
“I don’t whether it’s a case of them maybe seeing a bit of themselves in where we’re at the moment,” Neeson said. “it’s quite refreshing to know that a band like AC/DC still has the humanity to give it to a band that really needs it and we feel deserves it as well.”
The Answer was in London working on their second album when their A&R man took them to a local pub to break the bad news that the band wouldn’t be able to tour Europe with Black Stone Cherry. Instead, he revealed that they would be coming to America with AC/DC.
“It was maybe 4 o’clock in the day in quite a quiet London pub, but we were jumping about like lunatics and screaming and shouting and throwing beer over each other,” he said. “It was a moment of elation … and an opportunity we’ve always dreamed of getting and it’s thankfully been thrown our way.”
The band is making the most of a “priceless education” on how to put on an arena show and tour.
“AC/DC, they just get up there and play for two hours and just hold the audience’s attention from start to finish. You know, there’s never a dull moment, and I think we’re soaking it all in for whenever it comes to the stage where, fingers crossed, we’ll be doing arena tours of our own,” Neeson said.
Seeing the veteran Australian rockers pour passion into their performances is inspiring for The Answer, he said.
“All the guys in the band … they’re giving every last ounce of strength that they’ve got to make sure that every single one of these 15,000 to 40,000 people are going home with smiles on their faces. I mean, I think they’d rather die than have a crowd go home and not have enjoyed the show.”
The Answer released their U.K. debut, “Rise,” in 2006 and went on to open for famed rock talents such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and Deep Purple. The band’s song “Never Too Late” was picked for the game “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” and a 2008 EP of the same name marked their first U.S. release.
The band is using club dates like the one at Two Frogs to road test new music from its sophomore album, “Everyday Demons,” set for March 31 release. The rockers also have performed on “Late Night with David Letterman” and been featured in Rolling Stone since AC/DC picked them.
“We’re very grateful and to a certain degree humbled by all the good stuff that’s going on in our lives at the moment. And it’s just down to us to make the most of it now.”
In concert
AC/DC with The Answer
When: 8 p.m. Monday.
Where: BOK Center, 200 S Denver, Tulsa.
Tickets and information: (866) 726-5287or www.bokcenter.com.
The Answer solo show
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: Two Frogs Grill, 2646 W Broadway, Ardmore.
Tickets and information: (580) 226-3764 or www.okctickets.com.
-BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool.,