For those about to rock, NZ/DC salute you

BACK IN BLACK: AC/DC tribute band NZ/DC get into character to bring the Australian act’s hard rock sound to Smash Palace next week. Pictures by Laura Cosgrove

AC/DC are an Australian band but tribute act NZ/DC have made them one of us.

Australia might well need a comforting slice of pav to help get over the shock of appropriation but Hamilton man Dan Cosgrove bonded with the AC/DC sound at an early age.

“It was some of the first stuff I learned on guitar. I started with country, and still play with country bands on the side, but I teach guitar at school and was teaching the song Thunderstruck and thought I could play this with the boys behind me.”

Some of NZ/DC’s musicians also play in other bands but have always been into hard rock as well, says Cosgrove.

“You have to switch your brain a bit to get into character. We try to make it authentic.”

Cosgrove plays schoolboy-uniformed, duck-walking guitarist Angus Young.

“I know some of the moves from back in the day from playing with covers bands.

“AC/DC have said they have one brand of rock and do a bloody good job of it. To a true fan, every song is different. AC/DC’s early stuff is different from their later stuff.”

The new wave of British heavy metal bands who emerged in the late 1970s, such as Saxon and Iron Maiden, were influenced by AC/DC, writes Paul Elliott in Mojo.

NZ/DC plays songs from across the Australian band’s whole oeuvre.

The music appeals to all ages, says Cosgrove.

“It’s one of those genres that’s not too heavy and not too light. Where AC/DC sit is a good place.”

AC/DC’s former drummer Phil Rudd owns a restaurant in Tauranga called Phil’s Place. Have NZ/DC ever considered dropping in and rocking out with, say, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap?

“We don’t want to be stalkers,” says Cosgrove.

NZ/DC, with Gisborne support act Harbinger, rock Smash Palace, on Saturday, August 10 at 8.30pm. $25+bf.