Tiverton-born Gav Bolt, frontman of AC/DC UK, has shared the stage with former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright — a career highlight in his journey from stomping toddler to rock frontman
Tiverton-born Gav Bolt, frontman of AC/DC UK, has shared the stage with former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright
When you’re the frontman of one of the most respected AC/DC tribute bands in the world, the stakes are high every time the lights go down and the first power chord hits.
For Tiverton-born Gav Bolt, lead singer of AC/DC UK, it’s more than just belting out the classics — it’s about capturing lightning in a bottle night after night, while walking the tightrope between homage and personal flair.
With a voice forged in the fires of punk, glam, and 80s rock, and a stage presence that blends discipline with raw energy, Gav has spent nearly a decade doing justice to one of rock’s most iconic catalogues.
Recently, his journey took a surreal turn when he found himself sharing the stage — and beers — with none other than Simon Wright, former drummer of AC/DC, at one of the world’s most revered fan gatherings in Germany. It was a moment that encapsulated the strange, powerful space that tribute acts inhabit: not quite the original, but often just as passionate.
The path to fronting AC/DC UK started far earlier than you might expect. “If we go right, right back,” the 34-year-old begins, “I was told by my parents that whenever Marc Bolan came on Top of the Pops, I used to stomp my foot and go nuts — I must have been about two years old.”
That early obsession with music morphed into a broad palette of influences, but it was Gav’s father who planted the seeds of attitude and volume. “He always used to play his records downstairs — Stray Cats, Sex Pistols — all the punk stuff. Music that had attitude and sound. That’s what opened up my brainwaves.”
AC/DC UK playing at the gig in Germany
Later came the heavyweights: Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue, Black Sabbath. “Vocally, one of my biggest influences would probably be Sebastian Bach from Skid Row and Axl Rose from Guns N’ Roses, and David Lee Roth from Van Halen. But I’m not so stuck to just hard rock — I love The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, all the 70s stuff. I’m just grateful my music taste grew to be quite diverse.”
That diversity may help explain why, after nearly eight years fronting AC/DC UK, Gav’s performance remains fresh, nuanced, and never simply an impersonation.
Tribute bands walk a fine line. You’re playing to audiences that know every riff, every lyric, every howl — often better than you do. But if it’s all imitation, it falls flat. So how does Gav strike that delicate balance between reverence and originality?
“That’s a tough one,” he admits. “Brian [Johnson] back in the 80s was a great frontman, full stop. He used to jump around like a madman. Now he’s in his 70s, he doesn’t move around like he used to.”
Gav’s natural performance style is far more kinetic, shaped by energetic frontmen like Axl Rose. But when it’s showtime and the wig and flat cap go on, something shifts. “It disciplines my character to stay in character and not go into ‘Gav mode’. I do put my own spin on things — in how I get the crowd going or in certain songs — but we’re not AC/DC. We still want to give people a good show, and we want it to be as organic as it possibly can be without losing the magic of the band.”
That “magic” took on a whole new level of intensity at the Internationales AC/DC Fantreffen in Geiselwind, Germany, where the band was asked to headline the Friday night — with a very special guest joining them onstage.
AC/DC UK playing at the gig in Germany
If you grew up watching the video for “Who Made Who,” as Gav did, the name Simon Wright carries serious weight. Drummer for AC/DC from 1981 to 1989, Wright played on five studio albums and became a key figure in the band’s evolving sound. So when Gav found himself sharing a stage — and a pint — with the man himself, it was more than just another gig.
“There’s this big convention in Germany — the AC/DC International Fan Treffen — and they got us to headline Friday night. The special guest was Simon Wright,” he says, still sounding slightly in disbelief. “The first music video I ever saw of AC/DC was ‘Who Made Who’, which was Simon’s era. And that’s the song we played with him. So for me, that was a big thing.”
But the highlight wasn’t just the music. “I’ve never met a man who is so humble and welcoming. It was just like a bunch of lads. No ego. Just playing music. We went out the night before — beers, food, music talk all night. It became quite natural. We kind of forgot we were there to play with him.”
The crowd were equally unforgettable. “They went nuts. Absolutely nuts. Every single person in that crowd was a die-hard AC/DC fan. That made it probably the most pressured gig we’ve ever done. They knew the lyrics, they knew the gear, they knew everything. And I’ve got a guy who was actually in the band sat behind me — judging me!”
But the nerves didn’t last long. “First thing Simon said when he came on: ‘Wow, you guys sound fucking great.’ Afterwards he shook my hand and said, ‘You did a great job. That was amazing.’ Took me a couple of days to come down from it all.”
Stage Discipline and Ginger Shots
For a band that tours relentlessly — big shows, sold-out festivals, international gigs — keeping the energy up night after night is a tall order. Gav’s philosophy is that ‘every single night you put on the same show. Doesn’t matter if it’s 10 people or 10,000. You have your routine. You go out. You do the same thing.”
It’s not just grit — it’s preparation. “Warm-ups are crucial for me. I’ve got vocal routines and exercises I do before every show. You’ve got to keep your mind calm.”
And when it comes to protecting that voice? Gav’s got a tongue-in-cheek remedy: “Warm-ups, a lot of ginger, eucalyptus oil… 20 cigarettes and a couple shots of tequila and I’m golden.” It’s clearly a joke — sort of — but the point remains. Discipline and routine are what keep the show alive.
Simon Wright the legendary drummer in ACDC
Beyond the Spotlight
When he’s not touring with AC/DC UK, Gav stays plenty busy. “I’m in the Descendants of Decadence, which is a side thing with Tristan Gaskell — one of my best mates. He put me forward for this band actually. We’ve always been in bands together and I think we always will be. We work really well dynamically and he’s a great guitar player.”
There’s more to Gav than music. “Skateboarding, surfing, swimming, cycling — I’m big into all that.” A far cry from Brian Johnson, who, as Gav points out, “never surfed or skated — he’s a big car guy.”
He’s also an artist in his own right. “I run my own custom jacket company called High Boltage Customs. It’s something I do off the road that keeps me really busy. Sometimes I don’t know how I’ve got the time for it, but it’s really nice to have something just for me that I can focus on.”
Get ready to rock as one of the world’s leading AC/DC tribute bands heads to Torquay(Image: AC/DC UK)
What’s Next for AC/DC UK?
If you’re hoping to catch Gav and the band live, you won’t have to wait long. “We’ve got some new countries coming up,” he teases, “but we can’t really say too much yet. We’re really busy next year. We just did a massive show in the south of France — it was like an old-school amphitheatre arena. For me, that was a real eye-opener. It actually felt like I was in the real band.”
And maybe, just maybe, that’s the point. In every stomp, shout and sweat-drenched encore, Gav Bolt channels not just AC/DC’s sound, but its spirit. The stakes are high, the fans are unforgiving, and there’s no room to fake it. But for a kid from Tiverton who once stomped to T-Rex in front of the telly, it doesn’t get much more real than this.