Audiences can expect to hear all of AC/DC’s banging tunes in a full-on explosive show when tribute band NZ/DC take the stage at Smash Palace this week.

“It’s the sort of show I need to warm up for,” says lead guitarist Dan Cosgrove.

This will be the fourth time NZ/DC has played in Gisborne since the band formed six years ago and he said they were amped to be heading back down here from the Waikato where they are based.

“Our Gisborne shows have been some of our best in terms of big turn-outs and great energy,” Cosgrove says.

Cosgrove was drawn to the music of AC/DC since hearing Thunderstruck as a kid and he’s loved it every since.

He will be channelling his best Angus Young in a new suit/schoolboy uniform - think school cap, shorts and tie with his famous stage stomp, Young’s version of Chuck Berry’s duckwalk. The band has added some new tracks in the latest show along with classics like Thunderstruck, Back in Black, Hells Bells and Highway to Hell.

Other band members are Dan Gordon on bass, Isaac Pethybridge, rhythm guitar, Bruci Jordan, lead vocals and Jeremy Badgeron on drums. Their show pays tribute to the original pioneers of heavy metal AC/DC

When Cosgrove is not emulating Australian Angus Young, one of the top-ranked guitarists of all time, he is a full-time guitar teacher at a Hamilton primary school. His fellow bandmates include a mix of musicians and teachers, a civil engineer and an accountant.

One thing’s for sure they will be leaving their day jobs behind when they bring AC\DC’s infectious hard rock energy to Gisborne this weekend.

THE DETAILS

WHAT: NZ/DC, AC/DC tribute band

WHERE: Smash Palace Gisborne

WHEN: October 19, 9pm to 11.30pm