AC/DC has a long, loud, explosive history of ending their shows with a bang.

For the last 44 years the Aussie hard rock legends have concluded their epic sets with the 21-gun finale of "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" featuring several canons that kaboom on command.

On Saturday (8/1) singer Brian Johnson nearly saw stars when the innards of one of the canons nearly struck him shortly after it was set into position above him.

The replica canon dipped down aiming its barrel straight down towards the 78 year-old singer and then out slid a long piece of its explosive mechanism.

Johnson skipped out of the way, stopped, looked to his left at a stage manager, put his hand on his hip and got his tail to the center front of the stage, far from the suddenly imposing line of Civil War era props.

Brian survived unscathed, although in 2012 he told Fox the canonfire have scarred him, and he has proof.

"I could write another book about standing under the canons for 40 years," the singer said These horrible sparks come out of them. At the end of the show I have burn marks all over my shoulders.

Guitarist Angus Young once said the title of the song was inspired by author Robert Graves, who wrote about the Roman salute, specifically the phrase “Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant” (“Hail, Caesar, those who are about to die salute you”).

But being the upbeat entertainers they are, they flipped the phrase in a positive direction while creating a powerful score matched by few.

When "For Those About to Rock" was released just two years after the impossible-to-follow Back in Black, it gave the appearance that AC/DC was unstoppable.

In six years the Young Brothers plus Bon Scott, and then plus Johnson, knocked out one classic single after another. “T.N.T.” (1976), “Jailbreak” (1976), “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (1976), “Love at First Feel” (1977), “Whole Lotta Rosie” (1977), “Let There Be Rock” (1977), “Problem Child” (1977), “Highway to Hell” (1979), “Girls Got Rhythm” (1979), “Touch Too Much” (1980), “You Shook Me All Night Long” (1980), “Hells Bells” (1980), “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” (1980), “Back in Black” (1980), and “For Those About to Rock” (1982).

Those 15 songs alone would provide the foundation of the material the band would tour with, adding a few songs from whatever new record they had at the time.

But it also gave the group a prop it could bookend to compliment the ominous opening of the "Hells Bell" bell.

For the Power Up Tour, AC/DC opens with their other song with a parenthesis, "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)," but for years they'd start their shows with dimming the lights to blackness and then lowering the Hell's bell while shining a spotlight on it as it rung out.

But whatever the opening song has been, ending the gig with a 21-cannon salute is the exclamation mark hard rock fans live for.

AC/DC only has a dozen shows left in their North American tour. Will this be their last?

Catch them before it's too late as they come to your neck of the woods. Get tix on AC/DC's website.

Power Up 2026 North America

08/05 Levi's Stadium, San Francisco, CA
08/09 Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, AB, Canada
08/13 BC Place, Vancouver, BC, Canada
08/27 Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
08/31 NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
09/04 Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN
09/08 The Dome at America’s Center, St. Louis, MO
09/12 Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, QC, Canada
09/16 Rogers Stadium, Toronto, ON, Canada
09/20 Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
09/25 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
09/29 Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA