AC/DC keeps the voltage on high

Brian Johnson (left) and Angus Young spent an hour and 40 minutes at TD Banknorth Garden last night showing their fans that AC/DC still has it. (Globe Staff Photo / Justine Hunt)

While change is being cheered in some corners of the world right now, the members of AC/DC know that there is also some value in sticking to your guns. Or, in their case, cannons.

Last night at the TD Banknorth Garden, "Hells Bells" rang out, the walls were shaking, the big guns blazed in salute to those who had rocked, and for 1 hour and 40 minutes nobody worried about their 401(k). For a hard-rock concert, you could scarcely ask for a more satisfying escape. But AC/DC offered it, in the form of lead guitarist Angus Young's vivid, joyous solos and lead singer Brian Johnson's just-gargled-with-Rustoleum howl.

The pair led the band and the devil's horn-throwing - and wearing - sold-out crowd of 15,000 through a night of old songs, and new songs that sound like old songs.

There were a few frills - aside from those cannons, a locomotive chugged onstage to announce opener "Rock 'n' Roll Train" - and plenty of thrills delivered with heat and heart. There was no milking of "TNT" or adding new stretches of road to "Highway to Hell." This was lean, clean riffage and four-on-the-floor whomp at its most pure. As Johnson said during "Shoot to Thrill," "It's rock 'n' roll boogie; just let it creep right on through you."

Perhaps most impressive was the shockwave the group sent through songs so ubiquitous they've become almost inaudible over the years. Johnson's mischievous grin and laddish gusto and Young's white-hot precision managed to sear the residue off songs like "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Thunderstruck" caked on by overuse and abuse by cover bands and classic rock radio, and at ball games and strip clubs. And the lascivious bump-and-grind of "The Jack" remains a guilty pleasure as Young continues his silly striptease tradition, though now he only gets down to his AC/DC-branded boxers from his schoolboy uniform.

He may still embrace his inner adolescent, but Young's guitar playing is that of a man his age (53) with plenty of experience in the woodshed. His fretwork was the picture of economy throughout the night, but he got his guitar hero on for a fiery solo during "Whole Lotta Rosie" - complete with a blow-up representation of the titular gal - and let loose with an epic ripper on "Let There Be Rock." He careered from speedy runs to piercing sustains while duckwalking and flailing about the stage with abandon.

At 35 years deep and with 70 million records sold, the boys in AC/DC know exactly what their fans like, and the recently released "Black Ice," their first album in eight years, reflects that. Not surprisingly, it sounds like most of the ones that came before it, so the tunes from it - including the swinging title track - fit in just fine last night.

Irish rockers, and clear AC/DC devotees, the Answer opened the show with a complementary sound and attitude.

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com