Monday, September 19, 2011

AC/DC Scotland’s Family Jewels exhibit opens

A new AC/DC exhibit has opened in Glasgow.

The BBC reports “AC/DC Scotland's Family Jewels” opened this past weekend at Kelvingrove Museum.

It's the first time this band-approved exhibition has left Australia and Scotland seemed like the obvious place to bring it.

"There's so many connections with Glasgow and Scotland, and when I was putting the exhibition together in Australia, I kept finding material about it," says curator Tim Fisher. "One of my bits of research was to go see AC/DC at Hampden Park a couple of years ago, and when I was here, I came to see the people at Kelvingrove and that's how it all came about."

Founding band members Angus and Malcolm Young were born in Glasgow before the family moved to Australia in 1963; their immigration papers feature in the first section of the exhibition which charts their childhood and life before AC/DC. An early photograph shows the brothers posing at the Christmas display at a department store in Glasgow.

The other Scottish connection, of course, lies in former frontman Bon Scott, who was from Kirriemuir. He died in 1980 and a whole room at the exhibition is dedicated to his legacy, with much of the material coming from his mother, Isa Scott, who passed away earlier this month.

A leather jacket worn by Scott, handwritten lyrics to “Highway To Hell,” a prototype version of Angus Young's signature schoolboy outfit, one of his custom-made guitars, and over two hours of songs and interviews feature among the 450 items that make up this exhibition.

There's even an interactive section where fans can swap their air-guitars for the real thing and have a go playing “Highway To Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.”

“AC/DC Scotland's Family Jewels” is now open and runs until February 2012.

AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
Glasgow Apollo – Glasgow, Scotland – April 30, 1978


See also:

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AC/DC – Bon Scott’s Mom dies at 94
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AC/DC Monopoly now available
AC/DC: Bon Scott film receives funding in Australia
AC/DC: Bon Scott play opens in Melbourne
AC/DC featured in Telus Mobility campaign
AC/DC Monopoly game due in August
AC/DC: Brian Johnson remembers Bon Scott
Rare AC/DC memorabilia exhibit to mark Bon Scott’s 65th birthday
AC/DC singer talks to Howard Stern about writing You Shook Me All Night Long
AC/DC: Bon Scott play to open this summer in Australia
AC/DC: Live At River Plate DVD debuts at #1 in 17 countries
AC/DC singer announces book-signing tour
AC/DC: No fans of reality TV music programs