CLEVELAND — On any given day, four out of five visitors to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are from out of town; on Wednesday, that number was much higher as the north coast of Cleveland became home to fans of a band from the east coast of Australia, AC/DC.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hosted a special day for fans ahead of the 2003 inductees' final North American stop of their "Power Up Tour" at Huntington Bank Field. A concert bringing many of them here for the first time to see the rock legends for the first time.
Count Scott McColery and his friends from Omaha, Nebraska, among them.
"We all decided to get together and see one of the greatest rock bands that's ever been around and come and enjoy this beautiful city that you all have here and just live it up for a little while," McColery said.
He got the tickets when the tour was first announced. So did Brian Hendrix of Atlanta and his 12-year-old son Atticus.
"It was actually part of his Christmas present," Hendrix said. "Big AC/DC fans and since they weren't coming to Atlanta or at least at the time they hadn't done any dates for Atlanta, we decided we're going to make a trip of it, come to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and check out the city."
So, how does a 12-year-old come to list "Back in Black" as his favorite album? Thank Dad.
"When I was little, he would listen to it I would be like, 'Oh, what band is this?' He's like, 'AC/DC' and I'd be like, 'Okay, can we listen to more?'" Atticus said.
At least for them, it was a straight flight to Cleveland.
Doug came from Moose Factory, Ontario, in the far north of Canada. He had to take a five-hour train from Moose Factory, Ontario, in far northern Canada, down to Cochin, Ontario. From there, they drove to meet up with friends in Toronto, and then they flew to Cleveland.
"Altogether probably 13, 14 hours I guess," Jeffries said. It's his first AC/DC concert, though he did come close once.
"We passed up a show quite a few years ago. It was between a hockey tournament for our son or a concert, so the hockey tournament won out back then."
This is AC/DC's first Cleveland concert since a stop at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in 2016, and it's their first outdoor concert in Cleveland since the summer of 1979, when they were part of the famed World Series of Rock concert at the old Municipal Stadium.
Being back there on Wednesday night, on that particular piece of real estate, carries special meaning for Browns fans. Back in the 80s, it was the music of AC/DC that served as the motivational soundtrack for the Browns in their run to three AFC Championship games.
"Oh, there was never a game that was played that 'Back in Black' and AC/DC that was not played," recalled former Browns Quarterback Bernie Kosar. "'Hells Bells' by AC/DC, back in the 80s, that was our song and my song that got me motivated."
He remembered specifically playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh in 1986, when the Browns were riding a 16-year losing streak in Three Rivers Stadium, when Hells Bells came over the stadium speakers.
"They made the fatal mistake of playing that song during one of their timeouts to intimidate us," he recalled, adding it only fired them up. "Our motivation got us those couple of first downs and the 'W,'" he said.
Stewart Dean of West Virginia remembers those days at Municipal Stadium. He was sporting a Hells Bells t-shirt Wednesday.
"When I went back to the Browns games in the late 80s, you know Bernie Kosar, Byner and Slaughter and all of them. You know they did play it at the stadium," he said of the AC/DC song, which also got the fans going. "Oh yeah, the place rocked."
As it will again this night. For many, it's a bucket list moment and an opportunity that Doug Jeffries of Moose Factory, Ontario, knows he may not get a shot at again.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, they're on the old side now," Jeffries said.
But as Scott McColery will tell you, if you've followed the band since the early 70s, we all are.
"You never know where a day may take you so enjoy them," McColery said.
