Marty Friedman had a reunion set with Megadeth for the second half of their performance at Wacken 2023.
They played Trust, Tornado of Souls, Symphony of Destruction, and Holy Wars… the Punishment Due.
“Shoots and Ladders”, by Korn. Live.
“Mama Said Knock You Out”, live 2022 by LL Cool J
“Holy Diver”, live cover by Primus featuring Puddles the Clown.
“Rock or Bust & Highway to Hell”, opening the 2015 Grammy Awards. Introduced by LL Cool J. Check out Lady GaGa, Tony Bennett, Jay Z, and Katy Perry rocking out with their devil horns.
Live at River Plate (Buenos Aires) 2012
Great crowd at this one. The concert footage was well shot. It’s yet another example of how great they are playing live. This was recorded during the Black Ice Tour, so the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” is a big set piece.
Malcolm retired in 2014 due to poor health. He had lung cancer, but dementia was the real issue. He had effectively lost all of his short term memory. He performed with the band until 2010, but that was it. Malcolm drank and smoked weed until his brain turned to mush. He died at age 64.
This was how Marshall Amplifiers, Gretsch Guitars, and Sweetwater Musical Equipment memorialized Malcolm:
His beat-to-shit Gretsch, left on a stand in front of a Marshall Stack.
I cannot overstate the influence of Malcolm Young. Just Google musicians talking about Malcolm Young. He is widely considered if not the best, he’s a top 3 all time rhythm guitarist.
Think about it like a pro-athlete’s statistics. Malcolm wrote or co-wrote hits in every decade of his career. He was the band leader for the band that has the number 3 selling album of all time. In any genre. The criticism of AC/DC is usually some form of “all their songs sound the same”. Well, Coca Cola always taste the same too, doesn’t it? Four chords, and 20 albums worth of riffs that stick in your head. Turn on rock radio for a day. Any day. You’ll hear two or three of Malcolm’s songs. Every day of the week, you’ll hear two or three of his songs.
I honestly rank him as the best rhythm guitarist of the last 50 years, but other musicians are probably more qualified than me to say so. And they did.
From Wikipedia’s entry on his legacy:
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Train”, live at River Plate 2009
AC/DC LIVE, 1992
For me, this is amongst the best live albums ever recorded. AC/DC, as a band, writes music that is supposed to be played live. Malcolm and Angus think of themselves as blue collar working musicians that made their money playing bars and writing new material on the road.
And they’re really, really good at playing their stuff live. They’re a fantastic live act. Any of the poorly reviewed records from the 1980s, if you saw them play those songs live, it was probably the best concert you’ve ever seen. Jim Breuer has a great bit about AC/DC. Where they play the same show every time, doesn’t matter what the tour is. You’re gonna hear the hits, and a few songs from the new record. And it ROCKS. Breuer then launches into a rather accurate parody of them saying “they could play the Hokey Pokey and TEAR IT UP.”
Yes. Yes they could.
But they’re not playing the Hokey Pokey here. They’re performing the definitive live versions of every song on the track listing. I have already posted several videos from this live album. Look up any of these songs on YouTube, and the best live version is probably from this record.
My favorite part is when they tip their caps to a fallen comrade: Whole Lotta Rosie, Let There Be Rock, Bonny, Highway to Hell, and T.N.T.
And the almost 15 minute version of “Jailbreak” is the video I will be posting.
“Moneytalks” live at Donington 1991.
“Thunderstruck”, live at Donington 1991.
Probably their definitive live performance of this song.
“For Those About to Rock” live at Donington 1991.