To say it’s been a strange and unfortunate time in the world of AC/DC is the musical understatement of the year. Co-founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young is not taking part in the band’s latest album and tour due to health issues, later confirmed to be dementia so severe that he is under full-time care in a nursing home. Then last week saw drummer Phil Rudd arrested on the batshit sounding charges — which since have been dropped — that he tried to “procure a murder” of two men.
That’s why it’s good to see something positive come down the line: specifically, the video for “Play Ball,” the first single from the band’s 15th release, Rock or Bust, out December 2.
AC/DC vids have never been high-concept affairs, and this one unsurprisingly takes the title literally, interspersing a live performance of the Aussie-based outfit with footage of various balls being played with by the Lingerie Football League, chicks laying leisurely on pool tables as balls are shot around them, scantily-clad girls sliding through the mud playing soccer, and, err, black and white footage of nuns kicking a ball around.
“Play Ball” was directed by longtime band collaborator David Mallet, who’s directed more than a dozen videos for the group over the years. Guitarist Angus Young and frontman Brian Johnson are most prominently featured, with longtime bassist Cliff Williams and Malcolm Young’s replacement, nephew Stevie Young in the background.
Hardly seen at all — at least up close — is drummer Bob Richards, ex-Shogun, who at the time of the shoot was said to be sitting in for Rudd temporarily. Whether Richards will takeover the kit for Rudd, who is still facing drug charges and a potential seven year sentence for “making threats to kill,” is unclear at this point.
In the meantime, let’s “Play Ball”…