Ground-Shaking Performance: AC/DC Melbourne Concert Registers On Seismographs

AC/DC‘s first Australian show in a decade was so powerful that it was officially registered as seismic activity by local scientists. The band’s performance on Wednesday, November 12, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) generated vibrations strong enough to be detected by the Seismology Research Centre.

Adam Pascale, the chief scientist at the research center, explained to Australia’s ABC that the phenomenon was caused by a combination of the massive sound system and the synchronized energy of the 80,000-strong crowd.

“The sound waves that people were experiencing nearby and feeling something through their bodies, that’s the equivalent to what our seismographs feel,” Pascale stated. “We’re picking up the ground motion, we’re not picking up the sound from the air. So you’ve got speakers on the ground pumping out vibrations and that gets transmitted through the ground, but also the crowd jumping up and down is feeding energy into the ground.”

Pascale noted that a unified crowd creates a much stronger signal than chaotic movement.

“If everyone’s sort of bouncing in unison, it tends to amplify the signal so we can pick it up a little bit better,” he added. “Whereas if it’s sort of just general crowd motion, like even at the grand final at the MCG [Melbourne Cricket Ground], we can still pick that up.”

The sheer power of the concert, part of the Power Up tour, was evident across the city, with one resident reporting they could hear the show clearly from six miles away. According to Billboard, the tour’s production is a massive undertaking, requiring 300 tons of steel, 28 tons of PA equipment, and a 155-person crew at each stop.

While AC/DC‘s return made a measurable impact, Pascale confirmed that the largest seismic event the centre has ever recorded from the MCG remains Taylor Swift‘s three-night run in 2024.

AC/DC‘s Australian tour continues through December before heading to South and North America in 2026.

Australian Tour Dates 2025

• November 16 – Melbourne, VIC – Melbourne Cricket Ground
• November 21 – Sydney, NSW – Accor Stadium
• November 25 – Sydney, NSW – Accor Stadium
• November 30 – Adelaide, SA – Adelaide Grand Final
• December 4 – Perth, WA – Optus Stadium
• December 14 – Brisbane, QLD – Suncorp Stadium
• December 18 – Brisbane, QLD – Suncorp Stadium

South American Tour Dates 2026

• February 24 – São Paulo, BR – Estádio do Morumbi
• March 11 – Santiago, CL – Parque Estadio Nacional
• March 23 – Buenos Aires, AR – Estadio River Plate
• April 7 – Mexico City, MX – Estadio GNP Seguros

North American Tour Dates 2026

• July 11 – Charlotte, NC – Bank of America Stadium
• July 15 – Columbus, OH – Ohio Stadium
• July 19 – Madison, WI – Camp Randall Stadium
• July 24 – San Antonio, TX – Alamodome
• July 28 – Denver, CO – Empower Field at Mile High
• August 1 – Las Vegas, NV – Allegiant Stadium
• August 5 – San Francisco, CA – Levi’s Stadium
• August 9 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
• August 13 – Vancouver, BC – BC Place
• August 27 – Atlanta, GA – Mercedes-Benz Stadium
• August 31 – Houston, TX – NRG Stadium
• September 4 – South Bend, IN – Notre Dame Stadium
• September 8 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center
• September 12 – Montreal, QC – Parc Jean-Drapeau
• September 16 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
• September 25 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
• September 29 – Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field