02.05.2010 

Last night, AC/DC finished up their New Zealand dates and are taking a week off before getting back to action in Australia next Thursday. To mark the band's return home, this week we launched the AC/DC Australia/New Zealand store, which features a bunch of Black Ice gear, including a commemorative "Back in Australia" tee. If you haven't picked out a shirt for the shows, now's the perfect time. Head over to the store and check it out.  

A few months back we announced that AC/DC was up for a few Grammy Awards and on Sunday night, after years of nominations, the boys took home their first ever Grammy Award for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for Black Ice's "War Machine." Among their past nominations was a 1989 nomination for Blow Up Your Video (which came out in the U.S. twenty-two years ago this past week) and a 1994 nomination for "Highway to Hell."  You can read more about it all here.

By the time the band touches down in Melbourne next week fans will have transformed the city's "AC/DC Lane" into a shrine for the band, with album covers, photos and more covering the street's walls. According the Herald Sun, as part of the shrine, Melbourne's Cherry Bar (where many fans will be congregating before the show) will be displaying "letters penned by the band's original front man Bon Scott to his wife Irene." James Young, the owner of the bar (but not a long lost Young brother), says that the AC/DC Lane shrine plans "to bring AC/DC to life through AC/DC-inspired art and music." He also declares Melbourne "the rock capital of the world." Phil Rudd might agree, but we're sure there are a few people around the world who might take Mr. Young to task on that claim.  

The shrine on AC/DC Lane isn't the only Melbourne tribute currently going on. For the past few months, Melbourne's Arts Centre has been running their "AC/DC Australia's Family Jewels" exhibit, featuring all sorts of Acca Dacca rarities, including Bon Scott's leather jacket and a couple of Angus's old costumes. It's the first band-approved exhibition, so it's definitely worth checking out if you're in Melbourne and it's only there until the 28th, so time's running out.  

New Zealand! One out of forty of you went to the shows, so how were they? We want to know so head over to the forums and let us know!  

...and that's it for this week. On to Melbourne!