Lars Ulrich Reacts to Seeing AC/DC's First Show in Seven Years

Metallica and AC/DC were two of the six acts that performed at the inaugural Power Trip festival in Indio, California earlier this month. It was especially significant for AC/DC, though, as it was their first performance in seven years, and Lars Ulrich has shared his reaction to witnessing the rockers' comeback.

AC/DC haven't played for a live audience since their 2016 Rock or Bust World Tour, which saw Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose take over on vocal duties for the last round of shows after Brian Johnson was "advised by doctors to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss." They released their 17th album Power Up about four years later, in November of 2020, but the Power Trip festival marked their official return to the stage.

The rockers played the second night (Oct. 7) with Judas Priest, who were recruited in place of Ozzy Osbourne. Metallica closed out the event on Sunday night after Tool, but the members of Metallica were photographed checking out some of the other performances throughout the weekend. Ulrich, in particular, had some sentimental thoughts about AC/DC's set, which he shared during a special Power Trip episode of Eddie Trunk's Trunk Nation.

"It was — the word 'triumph' is kind of the one that came to mind," Ulrich said [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]. The drummer noted all of the times he's seen AC/DC live, including when they were the opening act for Black Sabbath in Denmark in the mid-'70s. The last time he'd seen them, though, was in 2015 at Coachella and in San Francisco.

"As a lifelong fan, I actually got a little misty-eyed a couple of times when Angus [Young] was kind of going out and you could hear the… When he walked out and played his solos on the ramp and stuff, it felt like people were sort of holding him up and really just loving him, appreciating him. And there was a unity," Ulrich described of their Power Trip performance.

"It was just such a triumph. And Brian who looked like — I didn't feel like there was anybody anywhere in Southern California that was having a better time than Brian… That shit-eating grin he had on his face. It was so great. What a wonderful moment."

Power Trip was Metallica's last performance for a few weeks. They'll head back out on the road in early November for two shows in St. Louis, and two in Detroit. Then, they won't be back on tour until they cross the pond in May for a European run starting in Germany. See all of the upcoming dates on their website.