Kirriemuir · Melbourne · Fremantle · Loughborough · Buenos Aires
Rig live. De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 20 October 1980.
A band named for electricity, whose places swing north and south of the equator like a current. Throw the switch and follow it: a truck on Swanston Street, a bolt nobody was allowed to fit, a one-ton bell that sounds like eight, and two bronze Bons half a world apart.
On stage and on the cabinets: The Back in Black tour lighting rig at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 20 October 1980 (kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0); AC/DC in an Atco press photo for Let There Be Rock, 1977 (Atco Records, Public domain); Bon Scott on stage in Grenoble, 10 December 1979 (Elfast, Public domain); Brian Johnson, Angus Young and Malcolm Young at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 20 October 1980 (kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0); Angus Young at the Manchester Apollo, 3 October 1982 (Harry (Howard) Potts, CC BY 2.0).
AC: alternating current · DC: direct current
Every place below is plotted at its real latitude, in the order the band reached it: north of the line for Scotland and England, south for Australia and Argentina. On AC the line swings back and forth across the equator. On DC it runs dead straight.
No current. Throw the switch to AC or DC.
No current
The switch is open. Pick a side.
1963–1965 · Sydney
The Young family came from Scotland in 1963 and stayed first at the Villawood Migrant Hostel. In 1965 they settled at 4 Burleigh Street, where Angus and Malcolm honed their playing before forming AC/DC in 1973.
The house went on the National Trust’s list of historic homes in 2013. Developers who had bought it knocked it down at the end of 2024, then said they were genuinely sorry: they had not known what it was.
Swanston Street, Melbourne · 23 February 1976
On Monday 23 February 1976 the ABC’s Countdown filmed AC/DC playing It’s a Long Way to the Top on the back of one of its own flatbed trucks, travelling south down Swanston Street with ordinary traffic. At one point a tram overtook them.
The band and three pipers on an ABC flatbed, engine running.
Three pipers from the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band rode with them: Les Kenfield, Alan Butterworth and Kevin Conlon. The idea was Countdown director Paul Drane’s: put the band on the back of a truck. He says the clip cost about $300.
Federation Square · 12 November 2025
3pipers
Three pipers, as on the truck in 1976.
On 12 November 2025, 374 pipers played the song together at Federation Square, on Swanston Street, beating a record of 333 set in Bulgaria in 2012, according to the Australian Book of Records.
Les Kenfield, one of the pipers from the truck, was among them. Angus Young is the only member of today’s band who was on it.
Brunton Avenue, Melbourne · 1,260 m from the square
On the same day as the pipers, AC/DC were booked at the MCG, a short walk from Federation Square: their first Australian show in a decade.
Tours run daily, with varied hours on event days: adults $38, concession $26, children 5 to 15 $17, a family of four $91.
Melbourne · Adults $38 · concession $26 · 5–15 $17 · family of four $91
Daily tours of the ground where AC/DC played their first Australian show in a decade, on 12 November 2025. Hours vary on event days.
See pricesMelbourne
Live marketplace results for Melbourne laneway and rock-music walking tours. Check each itinerary for AC/DC Lane.
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Compare toursOff Flinders Lane, Melbourne · 2004 to 2014
In 2004 Melbourne City Council looked at renaming Corporation Lane, a narrow downtown alley, after the band, as an alternative to giving them the keys to the city. A councillor said the band had a real connection to Melbourne, and pointed to the clip they played on the back of a flatbed truck.
2004
2004. The new sign goes up without the bolt.
Press the button to try.
A public lane off Flinders Lane, in the middle of the city. Walk in at any hour.
Loughborough, Leicestershire · 1980
Back in Black opens with a bell. Tony Platt went to Loughborough to record one. Strike it the way he did.
Silence in Queen’s Park.
Queen’s Park, Loughborough · 900 m from the foundry
Tony Platt tried the Carillon first: the 1923 war memorial tower has 47 bells, and he tried its Denison bell, which weighs 4.14 UK tons and is tuned to G sharp. Traffic noise and pigeons spoiled the takes, so the record uses the new Taylor bell instead.
A war memorial bell tower in Queen’s Park, free to walk up to.
Freehold Street, Loughborough
The bell at the start of Hells Bells was cast and tuned at the Taylor foundry, ordered seven weeks before the session. The foundry’s Bellmaster, Mike Milsom, struck it for the record himself.
It is a standard bronze Taylor bell, 48 inches across, tuned to E, and weighs about one UK ton. Tony Platt recorded it at the foundry with 16 microphones and the Ronnie Lane mobile studio.
A working foundry with a museum: open 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Friday from April to October and Wednesday to Friday from November to March, plus the first Saturday of each month.
Freehold Street, Loughborough · Classic: adults £20 · concession £17.50 · 9–16 £15 · Casting: adults £25
A guided introduction to bellfounding at the foundry where the Hells Bells bell was cast and struck. The Casting Tour adds a live bell or iron casting.
Book a tourBon Scott · 1952 to 2016
Bon Scott was born in Scotland in 1946. His family came to Australia when he was six, landed in Melbourne and soon moved on to Perth.
Bellies Brae, Kirriemuir, Angus · 56.7° N
Bon Scott was born in Forfar and lived in Kirriemuir until he was six, when his family left for Australia. Fans in 32 countries raised £45,000 for a statue by John McKenna: Bon in a sleeveless denim jacket, one arm raised, the other holding bagpipes. It was unveiled in 2016.
It stands about 2.4 metres tall at Bellies Brae. The town already had a street named after him, a plaque and an AC/DC corner in the local museum.
Free and open, in a small memorial garden at Bellies Brae.
Mews Park, Fishing Boat Harbour, Fremantle · 32.1° S
Greg James’s bronze of Bon Scott has stood in Mews Park at Fishing Boat Harbour since 2008, strutting on a Marshall amplifier. In 2020 it moved a few metres to a wooden stage, to stand out and make room for photographs.
Free and open, on a wooden stage in Mews Park at the harbour.
Garden of Remembrance, Fremantle Cemetery, Carrington Street, Palmyra · 4 km from the harbour
Bon Scott joined AC/DC as lead singer in 1974 and died in London in February 1980. His family held a private service at Fremantle Cemetery, and his ashes were laid there under a plaque in the Garden of Remembrance.
The memorial, the plaque, a bench seat and his remains, was classified by the National Trust on 12 September 2005. The Heritage Council calls it a focal point for a community who may never meet each other.
Stop 1 on the cemetery’s Heritage Walk Trail One; pick up a map at the administration office by the main entrance.
Fremantle Cemetery, Palmyra
A self-guided walk of about an hour and a half that starts at Bon Scott’s memorial, stop 1. Download the map or pick one up at the administration office by the main entrance.
Get the mapNúñez, Buenos Aires · three nights, twice
December 2009: three nights, and cameras.
December 2009 · Núñez, Buenos Aires
AC/DC played three nights at the Estadio de River Plate in 2009. David Mallet filmed the concerts, released as Live at River Plate.
River Plate’s working stadium. Go in for a match or a concert, or on a club museum and stadium tour.
The song they opened with in 2026 is the title of the live album that ends in Glasgow.
1978 · 126 Renfield Street, Glasgow
If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It), AC/DC’s first live album, ends with a track recorded at the Glasgow Apollo in 1978.
The building opened in 1927 as Green’s Playhouse and became the Apollo after its cinema closed in 1973. The Apollo closed on 16 June 1985. Demolition began in September 1987.
A city-centre street. The Apollo has gone; stand on Renfield Street.
17 August 1991 · Castle Donington, Leicestershire
On 17 August 1991 AC/DC headlined Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington for the third time. The whole concert was later released as Live at Donington.
A racing circuit and festival site. Go in for an event; Download Festival is next on 9 to 13 June 2027.
Buenos Aires
Live marketplace results for tours of the Monumental and the club museum in Buenos Aires.
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Compare tours11 places you can visit. The Young family house in Burwood was a private home and has been knocked down, so it is not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public street and square in the middle of the city, by Flinders Street Station.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Tours run daily, with varied hours on event days: adults $38, concession $26, children 5 to 15 $17, a family of four $91.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public lane off Flinders Lane, in the middle of the city. Walk in at any hour.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Free and open, on a wooden stage in Mews Park at the harbour.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Stop 1 on the cemetery’s Heritage Walk Trail One; pick up a map at the administration office by the main entrance.
Swanston Street at Flinders Street, Melbourne
On Monday 23 February 1976 the ABC’s Countdown filmed AC/DC playing It’s a Long Way to the Top on the back of one of its own flatbed trucks, travelling south down Swanston Street with ordinary traffic. At one point a tram overtook them.
A public street and square in the middle of the city, by Flinders Street Station.
Brunton Avenue, Melbourne
On the same day as the pipers, AC/DC were booked at the MCG, a short walk from Federation Square: their first Australian show in a decade.
Tours run daily, with varied hours on event days: adults $38, concession $26, children 5 to 15 $17, a family of four $91.
Off Flinders Lane, Melbourne
In 2004 Melbourne City Council looked at renaming Corporation Lane, a narrow downtown alley, after the band, as an alternative to giving them the keys to the city.
A public lane off Flinders Lane, in the middle of the city. Walk in at any hour.
Mews Park, Fishing Boat Harbour, Fremantle
Greg James’s bronze of Bon Scott has stood in Mews Park at Fishing Boat Harbour since 2008, strutting on a Marshall amplifier.
Free and open, on a wooden stage in Mews Park at the harbour.
Garden of Remembrance, Fremantle Cemetery, Carrington Street, Palmyra
Bon Scott joined AC/DC as lead singer in 1974 and died in London in February 1980. His family held a private service at Fremantle Cemetery, and his ashes were laid there under a plaque in the Garden of Remembrance.
Stop 1 on the cemetery’s Heritage Walk Trail One; pick up a map at the administration office by the main entrance.
Stay
The Bonfest campsite is a short walk from the arena, in the town with the statue.
Kirriemuir, Angus · 30 April to 2 May 2027
The festival campsite is a two-minute walk from the main arena in Kirriemuir, with free parking and a free shuttle into town from noon to 6.30pm each day. Bon Scott’s statue stands at Bellies Brae in the same town.
See the listingGo there
The bellfoundry tour in Loughborough, the MCG tour in Melbourne, Fremantle Cemetery’s heritage trail, and marketplace tours in Melbourne and Buenos Aires.
Freehold Street, Loughborough · Classic: adults £20 · concession £17.50 · 9–16 £15 · Casting: adults £25
A guided introduction to bellfounding at the foundry where the Hells Bells bell was cast and struck. The Casting Tour adds a live bell or iron casting.
Book a tourMelbourne · Adults $38 · concession $26 · 5–15 $17 · family of four $91
Daily tours of the ground where AC/DC played their first Australian show in a decade, on 12 November 2025. Hours vary on event days.
See pricesFremantle Cemetery, Palmyra
A self-guided walk of about an hour and a half that starts at Bon Scott’s memorial, stop 1. Download the map or pick one up at the administration office by the main entrance.
Get the mapMelbourne
Live marketplace results for Melbourne laneway and rock-music walking tours. Check each itinerary for AC/DC Lane.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursBuenos Aires
Live marketplace results for tours of the Monumental and the club museum in Buenos Aires.
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Compare toursWhat’s on
AC/DC list no tour dates. Bonfest is in Kirriemuir in spring 2027; Download returns to Donington in June.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Brian Johnson’s memoir, a Bon Scott biography, and three Albert Productions LPs: the first album, the truck song and the bell.
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson tells his own story.
Find the bookClinton Walker
Clinton Walker’s biography of Bon Scott.
Find the bookAC/DC · LP, Albert Productions APLP-009, 1975
The first album, released in Australia on Albert Productions.
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Find a copyAC/DC · LP, Albert Productions, 1975
The Australian album with It’s a Long Way to the Top, the song from the Swanston Street truck.
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Find a copyAC/DC · LP, Albert Productions APLP-046, 1980
Opens with the Taylor bell from Loughborough, slowed to half speed.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 16 of 16 Moments
Burleigh Street, Burwood, Sydney
The Youngs arrive from Scotland, and settle in Burleigh Street two years later.
Swanston Street at Flinders Street, Melbourne
Countdown films the band and three pipers on a flatbed truck heading south down Swanston Street.
A world-record crowd of pipers plays the song at Federation Square.
Brunton Avenue, Melbourne
The first Australian show in ten years, at the MCG.
Off Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Corporation Lane becomes ACDC Lane, minus the slash.
Knifey fits the official bolt: AC/DC Lane at last.
Mews Park, Fishing Boat Harbour, Fremantle
Greg James’s statue goes up at Fishing Boat Harbour.
Garden of Remembrance, Fremantle Cemetery, Carrington Street, Palmyra
Bon Scott’s ashes are laid at Fremantle Cemetery after a private family service.
Bellies Brae, Kirriemuir, Angus
Bon Scott’s family leaves Kirriemuir for Australia.
Kirriemuir unveils its statue of Bon, holding his bagpipes.
126 Renfield Street, Glasgow
The closing track of If You Want Blood is recorded at the Glasgow Apollo.
Freehold Street, Loughborough
The Taylor bell is cast, tuned, struck and recorded at the foundry.
Queen’s Park, Loughborough
The first attempt to record a bell for Hells Bells, at the Carillon, is spoiled.
Castle Donington, Leicestershire
AC/DC headline Monsters of Rock for the third time; the show becomes Live at Donington.
Núñez, Buenos Aires
Three nights at River Plate, filmed by David Mallet.
Back at the Monumental for three nights, opening with If You Want Blood.
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