For those about to rock this weekend at the T-Dome, we’re sure AC/DC salutes you. Even if, by chance, the band doesn’t (and we’d find that hard to believe), here at Weekly Volcano World Headquarters we absolutely do. An AC/DC show at the Tacoma Dome is an event of epic proportion, and as the date draws ever closer, the excitement in Grit City only grows. Say what you will about Tacoma’s budding artistic and intellectual shoegazer scene, but a band like AC/DC — not afraid to pen a tune about their bigger than life testicles or rely on the same time tested power-chord formula that’s carried the band for 35 years — will always be a band for Tacoma. 

 

Tacoma was built for a band like AC/DC — and it shows.

 

For every muffler with a hole in it and every car that burns oil in Tacoma, there’s a fan of AC/DC. For every blue-collar job and every step dad in this town, there’s a fan of AC/DC. For every can of ice beer sold …

 

I think you get the point.

 

The things that drive AC/DC are many of the same things that drive the heart of Grit City, so when the band returns to town — not just for their first performance in years (thanks to the fact they haven’t toured since 2001), but they return promoting their first new record in eight years, Black Ice, and it’s actually really fucking good — well, it’s worth getting excited about.

 

And no doubt, plenty of people are excited about the return of Angus and Co. There’s a palpable buzz that can be felt in the right corners of this down and dirty town of ours.

 

Yes, there’s no way around it. When AC/DC plays the Tacoma Dome this Sunday, it’s going to be one hell of an event. In honor of such a noteworthy occasion, I decided to ask some of my favorite local Tacomans to weigh in on the big show. Whether they were fans of AC/DC or not, they didn’t disappoint.

 

First, I asked Chris Trashcan — the man behind Tacoma’s Red Hot and bands like The Mexican Blackbirds and Gold Teeth — whether AC/DC is still a quintessential band.

 

Trashcan: “They are a definite ‘desert island record’ type of band, but I think selling their newest record exclusively at Wal-Mart is the final nail in the coffin. Some people jumped off when Bon Scott died, but Brian Johnson made some great records with them, too. My brother’s first record was Dirty Deeds, and we listened to the shit out of that thing. No doubt their early records were certifiable benchmarks in rock and roll, but it kind of thinned out as time went on. This is the same reason I won’t go see The Stooges or The New York Dolls or The Sonics. Those bands made music fueled by angst and an intensity you get from being young, and I’d hate to see a bunch of old guys flying that flag. I prefer to keep those memories sacred and don’t want to ruin the image in my mind. So yes, quintessential, but you have to choose the right stuff.” 

Darren Sampson, who along with his wife, Rachel, and with guidance from Dave Graham books Tacoma’s Java Jive, had this to say about AC/DC: 

 

“My fondest personal memories of AC/DC are from my childhood. In early elementary the neighborhood kids would play smear the queer in my front yard to an AC/DC soundtrack. It seems appropriate. Rachel and I are quickly nearing 3,000 titles in our CD collection. None of them are by AC/DC. Not one song. Recently Mike Krushka of Sons of Ivan was ribbing me that I’m a softy (aka pussy) for not having any AC/DC in my CD collection. A few days later my coworker, an older gentleman who knows I’m a music nut, offered to let me borrow the new AC/DC disc. To be honest, I wasn’t interested, but I appreciated the gesture, so I accepted it and planned on returning it the next day. I lost it! I never lose CDs, now I’ve got to buy a new AC/DC CD to replace the one I didn’t want in the first place. And I know I’ll find the lost CD as soon as I buy a new one.” 

Finally, Manjo Taliban, lead force of Tacoma’s Blanco Bronco, added his two cents on AC/DC.

Manjo: “AC/DC are legends to be sure. They were my father’s favorite band and we had some bonding moments playing some of their songs together on guitar. They rate a decent ways away from my top bands, but if I am in the mood for some solid brutal straightforward emotionally-raw rock and roll sung by banshees, AC/DC is as good as it gets. AC/DC were so good growing up I thought they were devilkin singing of the devil’s scrotes with that there song about balls of theirs.”

[Tacoma Dome, AC/DC, Sunday, Nov. 30, 8 p.m., $89.50 at Ticketmaster, 2525 E. D St., Tacoma, 253.272.3663]