Shake the foundations

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U2, pictured, takes the stage at the stadium -- the best place to showcase giant rock ’n’ roll spectacles like tonight's AC/DC concert. (FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

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David Bowie, Sept. 14, 1983 (FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

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Paul McCartney, May 20, 1993. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

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The Rolling Stones, Aug. 23, 1994 and Sept. 30, 1997 (FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

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U2, June 12, 1997 ( PHIL HOSSACK / FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

Over the past 30 years, the home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has been the site of concerts by some of the most iconic names in music, from Paul McCartney to Pink Floyd.

The last big stadium show -- not including multi-band festivals like Edgefest, Summersault and Rock on the Range -- was 12 years ago when the Rolling Stones brought its global Bridges to Babylon tour to the city on a chilly September evening in 1997.

The return of the large-scale stadium extravaganza happens tonight when Australian rock legends AC/DC bring their high-voltage Black Ice tour to the Canad Inns Stadium. The show is undoubtedly the concert event of the summer -- the first 40,000 tickets for the show sold out in 10 minutes and an additional 2,300 tickets that went on sale earlier this week were snapped up in even less time.

True North Sports and Entertainment vice-president Kevin Donnelly, who helped bring in almost every other artist with the exception of David Bowie, to the stadium as a promoter for various companies over the years, believes there is something special about seeing a show at the stadium that you can't get indoors, whether it's being outside on a warm summer night (fingers crossed), sharing an experience with tens of thousands of other people, or the simple spectacle of the show itself. Usually stadium gigs have the eye candy to match the venue's size.

"The smart ones, and I would put AC/DC in that category, they recognize the whole stadium experience has to blow up and become supersize, not just the P.A. It's the whole spectacle of it. You have to find a way to connect with the 90th row, and not just the 30th row," says Donnelly, who helped land AC/DC and is working the show for True North in collaboration with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and global concert promoter Live Nation.

"It's a bit more of a freer environment. The open air offers that sense of a bit more of a unique setting -- under the stars, should we be so lucky -- and having AC/DC blast off their cannons; that's a pretty remarkable setting. That's a pretty unique experience."

Of course there are downsides to stadium shows, too: They are outside, so the weather is a factor; some people don't like massive crowds; the size of the stadium can make you feel disconnected with the artist; and area residents always complain about the noise, no matter who's playing.

Complaints are useless, by the way, because the police can't do anything about it. No member of the Winnipeg Police Service will ask Angus Young to turn it down, so here's a heads-up: AC/DC takes the stage at 8:45 p.m., following a 7:30 p.m. set from Northern Ireland rock band the Answer, and will end about two hours later with For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), featuring numerous cannon blasts. Follow the show through live blogging on our website.

"One night in 3,650 days, once in a decade, hopefully the neighbourhood will allow the 40,000 people in the stadium to see the show at the volume and presentation style the band wants to present it," Donnelly says. "It's loud and ends with a bang."

As for his favourite stadium show of all time, the veteran promoter doesn't hesitate when asked: the Rolling Stones.

"Whether you're the popcorn seller or the promoter, being at a Rolling Stones stadium concert is a thrill," he says. "History has put the Stones in a separate category, and I do as well, without slighting anyone. And Paul McCartney, too. The Beatles are the Beatles and the Stones are the Stones, and every other artist followed."

So bring on AC/DC and let there be rock.

Here's a look back at the most memorable stadium spectaculars and what the Winnipeg Free Press reviewer of the time said about it:

David Bowie

Sept. 14, 1983

Attendance: 35,000

"The concept of rock as spectacle will thrive as long as there are artists like David Bowie. The spectacular aspect of Bowie's show existed not so much because it was held in a football stadium and conducted from a colossal and elaborately-adorned stage, but because it was the thin man himself singing songs that have come to represent change in rock as much as they do themes and ideas." -- Frain Cory

Paul McCartney

May 21, 1993

Attendance: 40,000

"(His voice) was still vigorous and accurate enough to withstand the demands of the show-closing classic Hey Jude. McCartney had the crowd singing along while a hydraulic platform swung the confetti-spewing band out above them. McCartney clearly loves to play. He smiled constantly and seemed to be having a whale of a time." -- Stephen Ostick

Pink Floyd

July 1, 1994

Attendance: 43,500

"The visual spectacle (which included everything from a giant mirror ball rising from centre field, to huge wart hogs [sic] leaping from the speaker columns), was so overwhelming that the stickmen and women onstage became little more than bit players. Can a greying, quarter-century-old group overcome the march of time and a catalogue whose best songs were written more than a decade ago? This one did." -- Stephen Ostick

The Rolling Stones

Aug. 23, 1994

Attendance: 50,815

"This was the English legends as they've always been, incessant on the beat, full of thick guitars and led by the irresistible (Mick) Jagger. Rock's most lethal hit catalogue didn't hurt, either." -- Stephen Ostick

U2

June 12, 1997

Attendance: 45,000

"The band may not have started the show spectacularly, but it began its encore in more than spectacular fashion. The lemon transformed into a shimmering disco ball before the band emerged from it and took up positions on the finger of the stage extending into the crowd." -- John Lyons

The Rolling Stones

Sept. 30, 1997

Attendance: 44,000

"All the razzle-dazzle of the band's lighting and pyrotechnics aside, the Stones remain near the top of rock 'n' roll. The stage, with its golden speaker stacks, was fun to look at. So were the closing fireworks. But the heart of the matter is the music, and last night the Stones delivered. They may be getting older, but they showed they aren't too old to rock. Here's hoping these boys never grow up." -- John Lyons

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 22, 2009 C1