Blood and Thunder: AC/DC Ignite Prague with “If You Want Blood” – 26 June 2025
On 26 June 2025, the grassy expanse of Letňany Airport in Prague transformed into a living shrine to hard-rock history as tens of thousands of fans converged for the opening Czech date of AC/DC’s Power Up Tour. From the moment the venue gates swung wide that afternoon, a collective electricity coursed through the crowd—an invisible charge that only a band of this magnitude can generate.
Veteran followers swapped stories of past stadium conquests while first-timers snapped selfies beneath gargantuan speaker stacks. Merch booths did brisk business in lightning-bolt tees, but the real currency was anticipation: everyone present understood they were about to witness a fresh chapter in a legend stretching back half a century. Prague’s late-June sun dipped behind the stage rigging as the final soundchecks echoed across the tarmac, stoking the atmosphere to a near-boiling point.
When house lights finally cut and the opening video montage spilled across massive LED walls, the roar felt seismic. A heartbeat later, the roar became a detonation: Angus Young sprinted onstage in his schoolboy uniform, accompanied by Stevie Young, Chris Chaney, Matt Laug, and—heralded by a volley of searchlights—Brian Johnson, whose return to full-time front-man duties brought fans dangerously close to tears of relief.
Without so much as a breather, the band slammed into “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”—the very song that once lent its name to their ferocious 1978 live album. Delivered now at muscular 2025 volume, the riff crackled like high-voltage fencing, herding every soul in Prague into a single, pogoing organism. Johnson’s rasp sounded road-worn yet triumphant, proof that modern in-ear technology and his famous bespoke hearing aids have given him back the stage he nearly lost.
For long-time devotees, the song’s presence in the set was poetic: it had opened numerous classic AC/DC gigs in the Bon Scott era, yet here it stood reborn, a bridge between the earlier incarnation and the hard-won resilience of the present lineup. Angus, still the eternal schoolkid at 70, duck-walked across the thrust with the showman’s grin of someone who’s figured out how to outrun time itself.
Meanwhile, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young paid solemn homage to his late uncle Malcolm by anchoring the track’s locomotive chug with almost metronomic steadiness. Behind him, Laug’s booming kick patterns and Chaney’s nimble bass runs created a low-end fortress, allowing Angus the freedom to let each solo phrase dart, bend, and shriek. The interplay felt both familiar and startlingly fresh, like vintage gear re-wired for a future that still needs loud guitars.
Stagecraft has always been AC/DC’s not-so-secret weapon, and Prague was no exception. Towering lighting trusses rained crimson strobes during the chorus, while high-definition screens flashed archival footage of blood-red album covers, stitching yesterday and today into a single, adrenalined tapestry. Every flash of pyrotechnics framed Angus in silhouette, an icon etched in fire and feedback.
Yet the most explosive element wasn’t flame—it was audience unity. Czech fans chanted “Na zdar!” between verses, Johnson volleyed back “Are you ready, Prague?”, and 50,000 voices answered in a thunderous affirmative. The moment recalled Glasgow’s Apollo Theatre in ’78 but scaled to a modern European mega-show, underscoring how AC/DC’s communal spirit has only grown larger with time.
Musically, the 2025 rendition carried a hair more tempo than the studio original, proof positive that road-tested veterans can still crank the adrenaline when the lights hit. Every modulation was razor-tight, the climactic solo stretched just enough to ignite a fresh wave of crowd surfers. As Johnson punched the final “You got it!” the band landed in perfect unison—no small feat after decades on the circuit.
Prague itself added texture to the night. Letňany has hosted everyone from The Rolling Stones to Metallica, but AC/DC’s presence felt uniquely tailored: a stripped-down statement of raw power rather than elaborate theatrics. Locals later remarked that the surrounding neighborhoods hummed for hours after the encore, a kind of communal aftershock pulsing through late-night trams.
Within minutes, clips shot on countless phones flooded social media, each one captioned in awed disbelief: “They opened with Blood!”; “Brian’s back and better than ever!” Rock journalists echoed the sentiment, noting that the band’s ability to fuse old-school brute force with pristine 2025 production set a new benchmark for heritage acts.
Critics also pointed to deeper symbolism. “If You Want Blood” has always been AC/DC’s declaration of uncompromising intent; showcasing it in Prague—once behind the Iron Curtain where Western rock was taboo—felt like a victory lap for the music’s endurance. The song’s lyrical promise of giving everything resonated with generations who never stopped craving that unfiltered honesty.
By the time “For Those About to Rock” cannons boomed in the encore, Letňany’s sky glowed with fireworks and cellphone screens alike. Exhausted yet exhilarated, fans drifted toward Metro Line C platforms humming the riff that had kicked their evening into overdrive hours earlier. Many swore they could still feel bass vibrations in their chest cavities as trains pulled away.
In retrospect, the Prague performance didn’t merely revisit history; it reframed it. It affirmed that AC/DC’s lifeblood is the synergy between audience and amplifier, a feedback loop no amount of time off the road can rupture. With Johnson healthy, Angus indefatigable, and a rhythm corps forged from both legacy and fresh talent, the band sounded nothing less than rewired for another decade of domination.
Fifty-plus years after forming in Sydney pubs, AC/DC continue to write new footnotes for rock’s grand narrative. If Prague 2025 proved anything, it’s that the promise implied by “If You Want Blood” remains gloriously intact. They offer every drop each night—and in return, fans worldwide keep showing up, thirsty for more.
