They famously declared that It’s a Long Way To The Top.
But fans of rock legends AC/DC have harnessed modern technology to prove that Down Under is no distance at all on the first step towards what it is hoped will be a new tie between Angus and Australia forged on the common bond of singer Bon Scott.
In a video link-up between Kirriemuir and the western Australian port of Freemantle, fan group representatives who have led the projects to create the two global statues of the band’s enigmatic Angus-born frontman said a happy ‘G’day’ to each other and began the conversation which it is hoped will lead to Kirrie twinning with the Oz city.
Community group DD8 Music, organisers of the annual BonFest unveiled the town’s life-sized Bon at last year’s 10th anniversary event, having commissioned renowned Scots artist John McKenna to create the artwork after a successful £55,000 crowdfunding campaign supported by fans from across the globe.
Scott emigrated with his family from Kirrie in the 1950s before becoming part of the group which has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, and Greg James’s statue of the singer strutting on a Marshall amplifier in Fishing Boat Harbour is Freemantle’s most famous public sculpture.
Scott died in London in 1980, aged just 33, leaving an indelible impact on fans around the world and major celebrations are planned for 2018 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Australian statue’s unveiling
DD8 Music and Kirriemuir Community Council are keen on a twinning tie with their Antipodean counterparts and on Friday morning they linked up with Doug Thorncroft, who was instrumental in the creation of the Oz statue, as well as Freemantle councillor Hannah Fitzhardinge, to lay the foundations for what the Australians know as a friendship city arrangement.
DD8 development worker Graham Galloway, said: “Freemantle has a big tourism industry built around Bon Scott, and Kirriemuir is now experiencing the same, even more so since the unveiling of the statue last year.
“BonFest is growing more popular every year and we are once again being supported by Event Scotland as part of the History, Heritage, Archaeology 2017 programme which is a great boost.
“There are at least half a dozen people coming from Australia to Bonfest this year, along with AC/DC fans from 27 other countries around the world.
“And we are now finding that Kirrie is an all-year round destination for them to come to since the statue went up — I know there have been fans here from places such as Poland, Moscow and Peru,” he added.
“We had talked about the idea of a twinning and we’re ecstatic that our friends in Freemantle seem to be as enthusiastic about the idea as we are.”
Kirrie community council chair Jenni Brown, who visited the Bon statue during a stay in Australia a couple of years ago, said: “It’s a great statue and we would love to see the link between Kirriemuir and Freemantle further celebrated.
“I recently wrote to the Mayor, Dr Brad Pettitt and he came back to me almost immediately with support for the idea of taking forward what they call a friendship city, so we are really keen for that to happen.”
Stuart Turner, Head of EventScotland, said: “Kirriemuir is the perfect stage to celebrate the life and work of one of Scotland’s most influential and best-loved musicians and we’re delighted to again be supporting the Bonfest to do this.”
This year’s Bonfest takes place from April 28 to 30, with former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd headlining.
As well as the main BonFest evening concerts, the festival will see three full days of free live gigs in local venues.
