Legendary AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd made a powerful return to the spotlight on July 26, 2025, performing live at Spark Arena in Auckland. He joined the lineup of the ambitious “Full Metal Orchestra” project — a dynamic concert that fused heavy rock energy with the elegance of classical music, featuring the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Sarah-Grace Williams.
The event, produced by Duco Touring and Liberty Stage, delivered on its promise of a genre-defying spectacle. Marketed as a blend of “Metallica meets Mahler” and “AC/DC with a symphonic twist,” the show reimagined iconic rock and metal songs with the power of a 29-piece orchestra. Orchestral textures supported blistering guitar riffs and soaring vocals, as tracks by Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC were brought to life with epic visual effects and refined musical arrangements. Award-winning producer Jol Mulholland oversaw the ambitious production.
David Higgins, founder of Duco Touring, expressed particular excitement over Rudd’s involvement, noting: “Phil Rudd was always in my mind as the dream ‘get’ as one of the world’s best known rock stars, living right here in New Zealand.”
Now 71, Rudd had shared his anticipation for the show months earlier, stating to Stuff: “It’s going to be massive, fueled, we’ll take off the roof…you wait. It’s going to be thumping, boom boom, bang. It’s exciting, like nothing else I’ve ever done, putting the best raw banging rock songs with a classical orchestra.”
This concert marked Rudd’s first major public appearance since a smaller performance in November 2024, when he joined a local act to play AC/DC’s “T.N.T.” He had previously shared with Stuff that he couldn’t participate in AC/DC’s Power Trip festival appearance in California in 2023 but remained hopeful about reuniting with the band.
In Rudd’s absence, Matt Laug stepped in as AC/DC’s touring drummer. The 57-year-old American musician, known for his work with Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper, Slash’s Snakepit, and Vasco Rossi, handled drumming duties during AC/DC’s 2023 Power Trip show and their tours in 2024 and 2025. Laug had previously toured with AC/DC in 2001 when Slash’s Snakepit opened for them on the “Stiff Upper Lip” tour. When the band officially named him as their drummer in late 2023, no statement was issued regarding Rudd’s status.
Rudd’s history with AC/DC includes both creative highs and personal challenges. In 2015, he was removed from the band following legal issues that resulted in an eight-month home detention sentence in New Zealand. He was replaced on the Rock Or Bust tour by Chris Slade, who had earlier played with the band during the early ’90s and recorded The Razor’s Edge.
Rudd, who played on all but three of AC/DC’s previous studio albums, released his solo debut Head Job in 2014. That album’s promotion became the source of a legal dispute after he allegedly made threats tied to frustrations with a personal assistant. These incidents ultimately led to his arrest.
A turning point came in 2017 during the funeral of Malcolm Young, AC/DC’s co-founder and rhythm guitarist. There, Rudd reconnected with Angus Young, Brian Johnson, and Cliff Williams — all of whom were not active members at the time. In a 2020 appearance on the “Let There Be Talk” podcast hosted by Dean Delray, Rudd recalled: “Angus and I had a good chat at Mal‘s funeral and caught up. [After I played on the Rock Or Bust record] there was crazy s**t going on, but since then, I’d got my s**t together and put a little band together, I went to Europe and was doing a bit of playing and stuff and did [a solo] album. The guys knew I was still playing, so when I caught up with Angus at the funeral, we were sort of chatting away and somehow, he just sort of [asked me] if I was up for [doing a new AC/DC] album. And he started writing the next day. He went in the studio and started writing straight away.”
Angus Young later confirmed to Rolling Stone that the reunion was sparked by that encounter: “[Phil] was there and in good shape. He was keeping himself well together. He was getting therapy and sorting himself out. It was really good.”
Brian Johnson echoed this support: “I speak for all the boys with Phil. We defend Phil to the hilt. What happened up there, that’s not the Phil we know. That was just something else. He’s really looking brilliant now and doing everything great.”
Rudd would go on to play drums on AC/DC’s comeback album Power Up, released in late 2020. His recent participation in the Full Metal Orchestra concert not only marked a new chapter in his career but also reaffirmed his deep connection to the music that made him a rock icon.
