The Highway to Hell Tour was a concert tour by the Australian rock band AC/DC in support of the group's seventh studio album, Highway to Hell, which was released on 27 July 1979. The tour had 3 legs around Europe and North America lasting 5 months starting on 17 August 1979 at Haffmans Park in Bilzen, Belgium, and concluded on 27 January 1980 at Southampton, England. This was the last tour with Bon Scott, who died due to alcohol poisoning, three weeks after the Southampton show, which therefore cancelled the Japan and Australian legs of the tour.
Background During the band's tour in the United States, the band attracted capacity crowds, with one venue having to turn away over two thousand fans after being sold out minutes after the box office opened. The band were set to tour in Japan and Australia in early 1980, but the legs were cancelled following the death of vocalist Bon Scott as a result of a combination overdose of drugs and alcohol.
Def Leppard was the opening act for part of the European leg after they were approached by Peter Mensch of Leber-Krebs management, who had booked them on a tour of the UK supporting the band. During the shows in Texas in the United States, Riot and Molly Hatchet were the opening acts for the band on their North American leg.
Tour dates + List of 1979 concerts, showing date, city country and venue Date City Country Venue17 August 1979BilzenBelgiumHaffmans Park18 August 1979LondonEnglandWembley Stadium20 August 1979DublinIrelandOlympic Ballroom21 August 197923 August 1979BelfastNorthern IrelandUlster Hall24 August 197927 August 1979Aix-les-BainsFranceVerdure Theatre1 September 1979NurembergWest GermanyZeppelinfeld5 September 1979OaklandUnited StatesOakland Civic Auditorium6 September 1979RenoUNR Gym7 September 1979Santa CruzSanta Cruz Civic Auditorium8 September 1979FresnoWarnors Theatre9 September 1979San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena10 September 1979Long BeachLong Beach Arena13 September 1979AmarilloAmarillo Civic Center14 September 1979LubbockLubbock Municipal Auditorium15 September 1979MidlandChaparral Center16 September 1979El PasoEl Paso County Coliseum18 September 1979McAllenLa Villa Real Convention Center19 September 1979Corpus ChristiMemorial Coliseum20 September 1979HoustonHouston Music Hall21 September 1979DallasDallas Convention Center22 September 1979San AntonioSan Antonio Convention Center24 September 1979BeaumontBeaumont City Auditorium26 September 1979MemphisDixon–Myers Hall27 September 1979NashvilleNashville Municipal Auditorium28 September 1979Johnson CityFreedom Hall Civic Center29 September 1979CharlotteCharlotte Coliseum30 September 1979GreenvilleGreenville Memorial Auditorium2 October 1979KnoxvilleKnoxville Civic Coliseum3 October 1979GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum5 October 1979JacksonvilleJacksonville Coliseum6 October 1979BirminghamBoutwell Memorial Auditorium7 October 1979DothanDothan Civic Center8 October 1979AtlantaFox Theatre10 October 1979ColumbiaCarolina Coliseum12 October 1979NorfolkNorfolk Municipal Auditorium13 October 1979WheelingWheeling Civic Center14 October 1979CharlestonCharleston Civic Center16 October 1979TowsonTowson Center17 October 1979BuffaloShea's Performing Arts Center18 October 1979ClevelandPublic Auditorium19 October 1979ChicagoAragon Ballroom20 October 1979ToledoToledo Sports Arena21 October 1979ColumbusSt. John Arena26 October 1979Newcastle upon TyneEnglandMayfair Ballroom27 October 1979GlasgowScotlandThe Apollo28 October 197929 October 1979ManchesterEnglandManchester Apollo30 October 19791 November 1979LondonHammersmith Odeon2 November 19793 November 19794 November 19795 November 1979LiverpoolLiverpool Empire Theatre6 November 19798 November 1979StaffordBingley Hall9 November 1979LeicesterDe Montfort Hall11 November 1979BrusselsBelgiumForest National12 November 1979AmsterdamNetherlandsJaap Edenhal13 November 1979CologneWest GermanySartory-Saal14 November 1979HanoverEilenriedehalle16 November 1979EssenGrugahalle17 November 1979KürnachKurnachtal-Halle19 November 1979PassauNibelungenhalle20 November 1979OffenbachStadthalle21 November 1979DortmundWestfalenhallen23 November 1979HamburgMessehallen24 November 1979MunichCircus Krone Building25 November 1979BernSwitzerlandFesthalle27 November 1979RegensburgWest GermanyRT Halle28 November 1979Oberschwabenhalle29 November 1979HofFreiheitshalle1 December 1979LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-Halle2 December 1979NeunkirchenHemmerleinhalle3 December 1979West BerlinEissportahalle4 December 1979Offenbach am MainStadthalle Offenbach6 December 1979MetzFranceMetz Expo Hall7 December 1979ReimsPalais Des Sports8 December 1979LilleFoire Commerciale9 December 1979ParisPavillon de Paris10 December 1979GrenobleParc Expo12 December 1979Clermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand Sports Hall13 December 1979MontpellierPalais Des Sports14 December 1979NiceThéâtre de verdure de Nice15 December 197917 December 1979LondonEnglandHammersmith Odeon19 December 1979BrightonBrighton Centre20 December 1979BirminghamBirmingham Odeon21 December 1979
+ List of 1980 concerts, showing date, city country and venue Date City Country Venue16 January 1980PoitiersFrancerowspan="2" 17 January 1980Bordeaux18 January 1980ToulouseGymnase du Lycée Pierre Aragon19 January 1980LyonPalais des Sports de Gerland20 January 1980Rouen21 January 1980NantesStade de la Beaujoire22 January 1980BrestParc de Penfeld23 January 1980Le MansLa Rotonde25 January 1980NewcastleEnglandMayfair Ballroom27 January 1980SouthamptonGaumont Theatre
Cancelled dates + List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and reason for cancellation Date(1979) City Country Venue Reason 22 November Bremen West Germany Stadthalle 4 rowspan="2" 30 December Göppingen Haldenberghalle
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross and referencesDate(1979)CityVenueAttendanceGrossSeptember 5Oakland, United StatesCivic Auditorium5,000$49,150September 7Santa Cruz, United StatesCivic Auditorium1,954$16,694September 8Fresno, United StatesWarnors Theatre2,100$16,800September 18McAllen, United StatesVilla Real2,439$18,950September 20Houston, United StatesMusic Hall3,005$24,389September 26Memphis, United StatesDixon–Myers Hall2,352$16,710September 27Nashville, United StatesMunicipal Auditorium5,093$36,363September 28Johnson City, United StatesFreedom Hall7,710$49,675
Personnel Bon Scott – lead vocals Angus Young – lead guitar Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals Phil Rudd – drums
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