AC/DC - The Pretty Reckless - Praha Letnany, Prague 26th June 2025

I managed to secure tickets to the AC/DC gig for Prague and went about sorting planes, hotels and taxis to get us there. First up, anyone who says going abroad for this type of gig is cheaper than going at home is just plain wrong. The gig tickets were cheaper, but not by much and by the time flights and a place to sleep were added in it was certainly going to cost more that the top tickets at Murrayfield would have. But it was going to be so worth it!

So, just to make sure we made it to last Thursday’s gig on time, we left the house on Tuesday morning at 6AM and made the journey. That got us to the hotel in time to dump our bags and get out for a lunchtime beer in Prague. I’ll not bore you with a city review, safe to say it was a nice place with lots to see.

The big focus for us was Thursday. We were up and out the hotel by 11 o’clock grabbing lunch and a beer before heading over to the Praha Letnany, a disused airfield on the outskirts of the city which now serves as a venue for some pretty big gigs.

This was a Live Nation event, and if you are a lover of Live Nation, look away now.

I never feel they do much to make the concert experience easy for the fan and always look for a way to make a bit of profit. This was a cashless event, but we had to buy a chip upon which we deposited cash. The chip was cheap, about 50p, but multiply that by 62,000 and that’s a nice turn for the promotor. There was a deposit for AC/DC branded glasses, fair enough, but this could not be redeemed until after the show, so every beer bought came with an added cost. Finally, and the thing that really ripped ma knitting, was the search policy. The weather was due to be 31°C, which for this fair-haired Scot, was at least on the

warm side. My small tube of factor 50 was not allowed in – a wee bit dangerous in my view. Yup, Live Nation are not in the business of making friends.

We were keen to bag a good spot so got there at 1530 and remained in place looking forward to the support band. From our vantage point it was great to see middle aged men appearing in schoolboy outfits and flat caps in obvious homage to the two men who are now, very much, the heart of the headliners.

I last saw The Pretty Reckless at Download, I think 12 years ago and have been an on and off listen to list since. Bang on 6 o’clock they strolled on stage and started to hit us up with some banging riffs that were the start of “Death by Rock and Roll”. Just before the lyric kicked in, singer Taylor Momsen appeared from the side of the stage, took the mic and set about delivering 50 fantastic minutes of music for the many thousands who had arrived early enough to hear them. The stick outs for me were “Witches Burn” from the latest album and “Make me Wanna Die” from their first album. I really enjoyed their 50 minutes and The Pretty Reckless have been on my personal listen to list since Friday.

There can be few bigger opportunities for a rock band than having the support slot for AC/DC, I felt The Pretty Reckless grabbed their chance with both hands and really made the most of their opportunity. A fantastic start to the night.

By stadium standards, this was a mega quick turnaround. Forty minutes after the support left the stage, the lights dipped and the intro animation for the headliners came on. AC/DC were about to hit the stage.

They blasted forth with opener “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”. That got the toes tapping, “Black in Black” was next up, a real crowd pleaser and “Demon Fire” from the Power Up album completed the openers.

Wee, quick grumble…put your phones away folks. Be in the moment and let others do the same. A quick photo is not something, I think, many people have an issue with, but to all the ‘fans’ who think they are making a Cecil B De Mille classic recording of a concert – you are not, you are simply being a selfish…I will let you finish the sentence.

As with all AC/DC shows, it really was a show! The Marshall stacks, the graphics and the camera work take this from being a gig into being an event.

Brian Johnston, strutted about the stage in his flat cap and sleeveless shirt. His shoulders hunched and smiling like he had just got the call to let him know he’d been given the gig in the band. Angus was in his red, velvet school buy outfit, a colour that drew the lights and the eye to this most diminutive of guitarists. The band was completed by Stevie Young, who on the rhythm takes the berth where his uncle Malcom used to play, Matt Laug was on drums and Chris Chaney kept solid rhythm on bass. These guys were as tight as any AC/DC line up.

Five songs in and the opening bars of “Thunderstruck” brought a huge roar from the crowd. Now, it's fair to say this was also the song where my own doubts crept to the front of my thoughts. No matter how hard anyone runs, time will always start to catch up and, I felt, during this song both main protagonists may have felt Father Time’s breath on their necks. Neither Brian nor Angus could quite make their notes. The crowd were there to carry them through, but the polish had dulled a little on who were always a couple of stick out performers. Time, that’s all it was, just time. These were thought that returned across the set.

But this is AC/DC and they still rock!

There are, thankfully, very few surprises in an AC/DC setlist. Fans come to hear the same bluesy rock the band have been consistently producing for the last 50 years. “Have a Drink on Me”, “Hells Bells” and, of course “Highway to Hell” are found in the meat of the show, but it was the last few that really made me smile. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, “Riff Raff” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” took us to the crescendo. Then the graphic of Rosie appeared – she may not be exactly pretty or exactly small, but she got one of the biggest cheers of the night.

The main set ended with “Let There Be Rock” which included a solo from Angus, which, whilst enjoyable, perhaps overstayed it's welcome just a little.

After the shortest of breaks, “T.N.T.” and “For Those About to Rock” finished a two-and-a-half-hour trip around some of the highlights of the back catalogue belonging to one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever.

We left the stadium and went for a beer. We got talking to other fans. Like us, everyone had loved the night but thought it was a good tour and gig for the band to bow out on.

I was there with my 19 year old, Gregor. He agreed with that sentiment but was very keen to point out, that we had just seen AC/DC and they were still awesome and that he was now able to say he’d seen them, something most of his mates never would be able to say. He was right on both counts, and, judging by his smile and mine as we discussed the night, it had been a cracker.