‘It was a blast.’ 21 Gun Salute rocks Algonquin with an AC/DC tribute

Canadian band 21 Gun Salute rocked the Algonquin Commons Theatre on Sept. 26, delivering an explosive AC/DC Tribute that took fans back to the early ’80s.

The crowd was mostly filled with elderly people in rock-style clothes, singing word for word to every song performed by the band. The crowd was went wild when Thunderstruck played.

In an interview with the Algonquin Times before the concert, the band said their only purpose was making the fans feel like they were back in their younger years.

“Tonight it seems like an older AC/DC crowd so we’re going to take it back,” said Mimmo Oli, the lead singer of 21 Guns Salute. “We have to play all the hits. If we don’t play Thunderstruck, we’ll get crucified on the papers and all over the internet.”

The band played the best of AC/DC’s music such as Highway to Hell, Back in Black, For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), Thunderstruck and more classics. The bass was heard all over E-building as the cannons on the stage started to fire smoke.

Audience member Kat Westlie loved every minute of the night. She took her son to the concert but said it was more a night for herself.

“That (concert) was so much fun, they killed it,” said Westlie. “It was a blast. I think I lost my voice from yelling all the lyrics but I feel like I’m in my teen years again.”

Audience member Leo Raguseo drove from Montreal to see the concert. He said it was worth the drive.

“I spoke with a few other people around the venue and we all loved the show,” said Raguseo. “It felt more like an actual AC/DC concert than just a tribute concert.”

The band was founded by Angus Yan, the lead guitarist and the person who also performs the role of Angus Young, the legendary guitarist from AC/DC, known for his famous dance, the duckwalk.

“I was playing in another AC/DC tribute band for eight years. Things started to get really weird between the two brothers who ran the band,” said Yan. “Me, the bass player and my good friend Bob decided to leave and start own our own band.”

Soon after, the band found Oli through an audition and decided to hire him as the lead vocalist. Eventually, Oli would choose the name of the band.

“It’s in a song called For Those About To Rock and at the end of the last verse it says, ‘Pick up your balls and roll up your cannons for 21 gun salute’ and it doesn’t get better than that,” said Oli.

As the band prepares for their next show in Liverpool, N.S. on Nov. 7, fans have one question: How do they do it?

“It’s the sound, man. If you don’t do it right then it’s not authentic,” said Oli. “It’s easier to dress up and act like a goof and act like AC/DC but it doesn’t work like that. You need to know how to play and we’re in our 60s to late 50s, so we come from that era.”

For a crowd reliving their youth and a band still performing AC/DC’s music decades later, it was the perfect night.