{"id":459233,"date":"2025-09-29T01:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T01:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/459233\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T01:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T01:39:15","slug":"devon-rocker-shares-stage-and-sinks-beers-with-ac-dc-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/459233\/","title":{"rendered":"Devon rocker shares stage and sinks beers with AC\/DC legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tiverton-born Gav Bolt, frontman of AC\/DC UK, has shared the stage with former AC\/DC drummer Simon Wright \u2014 a career highlight in his journey from stomping toddler to rock frontman\"Tiverton-bornTiverton-born Gav Bolt, frontman of AC\/DC UK, has shared the stage with former AC\/DC drummer Simon Wright<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

For Tiverton-born Gav Bolt, lead singer of AC\/DC UK, it\u2019s more than just belting out the classics \u2014 it\u2019s about capturing lightning in a bottle night after night, while walking the tightrope between homage and personal flair.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s most iconic catalogues.<\/p>\n

Recently, his journey took a surreal turn when he found himself sharing the stage \u2014 and beers \u2014 with none other than Simon Wright, former drummer of AC\/DC, at one of the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The path to fronting AC\/DC UK started far earlier than you might expect. \u201cIf we go right, right back,\u201d the 34-year-old begins, \u201cI was told by my parents that whenever Marc Bolan came on Top of the Pops, I used to stomp my foot and go nuts \u2014 I must have been about two years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

That early obsession with music morphed into a broad palette of influences, but it was Gav\u2019s father who planted the seeds of attitude and volume. \u201cHe always used to play his records downstairs \u2014 Stray Cats, Sex Pistols \u2014 all the punk stuff. Music that had attitude and sound. That\u2019s what opened up my brainwaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

AC\/DC UK playing at the gig in Germany<\/p>\n

Later came the heavyweights: Guns N\u2019 Roses, Motley Crue, Black Sabbath. \u201cVocally, one of my biggest influences would probably be Sebastian Bach from Skid Row and Axl Rose from Guns N\u2019 Roses, and David Lee Roth from Van Halen. But I\u2019m not so stuck to just hard rock \u2014 I love The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, all the 70s stuff. I\u2019m just grateful my music taste grew to be quite diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

That diversity may help explain why, after nearly eight years fronting AC\/DC UK, Gav\u2019s performance remains fresh, nuanced, and never simply an impersonation.<\/p>\n

Tribute bands walk a fine line. You\u2019re playing to audiences that know every riff, every lyric, every howl \u2014 often better than you do. But if it\u2019s all imitation, it falls flat. So how does Gav strike that delicate balance between reverence and originality?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a tough one,\u201d he admits. \u201cBrian [Johnson] back in the 80s was a great frontman, full stop. He used to jump around like a madman. Now he\u2019s in his 70s, he doesn\u2019t move around like he used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gav\u2019s natural performance style is far more kinetic, shaped by energetic frontmen like Axl Rose. But when it\u2019s showtime and the wig and flat cap go on, something shifts. \u201cIt disciplines my character to stay in character and not go into \u2018Gav mode\u2019. I do put my own spin on things \u2014 in how I get the crowd going or in certain songs \u2014 but we\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u201cmagic\u201d 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 \u2014 with a very special guest joining them onstage.<\/p>\n

AC\/DC UK playing at the gig in Germany<\/p>\n

If you grew up watching the video for \u201cWho Made Who,\u201d 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 \u2014 and a pint \u2014 with the man himself, it was more than just another gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this big convention in Germany \u2014 the AC\/DC International Fan Treffen \u2014 and they got us to headline Friday night. The special guest was Simon Wright,\u201d he says, still sounding slightly in disbelief. \u201cThe first music video I ever saw of AC\/DC was \u2018Who Made Who\u2019, which was Simon\u2019s era. And that\u2019s the song we played with him. So for me, that was a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the highlight wasn\u2019t just the music. \u201cI\u2019ve 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 \u2014 beers, food, music talk all night. It became quite natural. We kind of forgot we were there to play with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd were equally unforgettable. \u201cThey 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\u2019ve ever done. They knew the lyrics, they knew the gear, they knew everything. And I\u2019ve got a guy who was actually in the band sat behind me \u2014 judging me!\u201d<\/p>\n

But the nerves didn\u2019t last long. \u201cFirst thing Simon said when he came on: \u2018Wow, you guys sound fucking great.\u2019 Afterwards he shook my hand and said, \u2018You did a great job. That was amazing.\u2019 Took me a couple of days to come down from it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stage Discipline and Ginger Shots<\/strong><\/p>\n

For a band that tours relentlessly \u2014 big shows, sold-out festivals, international gigs \u2014 keeping the energy up night after night is a tall order. Gav\u2019s philosophy is that \u2018every single night you put on the same show. Doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s 10 people or 10,000. You have your routine. You go out. You do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just grit \u2014 it\u2019s preparation. \u201cWarm-ups are crucial for me. I\u2019ve got vocal routines and exercises I do before every show. You\u2019ve got to keep your mind calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when it comes to protecting that voice? Gav\u2019s got a tongue-in-cheek remedy: \u201cWarm-ups, a lot of ginger, eucalyptus oil\u2026 20 cigarettes and a couple shots of tequila and I\u2019m golden.\u201d It\u2019s clearly a joke \u2014 sort of \u2014 but the point remains. Discipline and routine are what keep the show alive.<\/p>\n

Simon Wright the legendary drummer in ACDC<\/p>\n

Beyond the Spotlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not touring with AC\/DC UK, Gav stays plenty busy. \u201cI\u2019m in the Descendants of Decadence, which is a side thing with Tristan Gaskell \u2014 one of my best mates. He put me forward for this band actually. We\u2019ve always been in bands together and I think we always will be. We work really well dynamically and he\u2019s a great guitar player.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to Gav than music. \u201cSkateboarding, surfing, swimming, cycling \u2014 I\u2019m big into all that.\u201d A far cry from Brian Johnson, who, as Gav points out, \u201cnever surfed or skated \u2014 he\u2019s a big car guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also an artist in his own right. \u201cI run my own custom jacket company called High Boltage Customs. It\u2019s something I do off the road that keeps me really busy. Sometimes I don\u2019t know how I\u2019ve got the time for it, but it\u2019s really nice to have something just for me that I can focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get ready to rock as one of the world’s leading AC\/DC tribute bands heads to Torquay(Image: AC\/DC UK)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next for AC\/DC UK?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re hoping to catch Gav and the band live, you won\u2019t have to wait long. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some new countries coming up,\u201d he teases, \u201cbut we can\u2019t really say too much yet. We\u2019re really busy next year. We just did a massive show in the south of France \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

And maybe, just maybe, that\u2019s the point. In every stomp, shout and sweat-drenched encore, Gav Bolt channels not just AC\/DC\u2019s sound, but its spirit. The stakes are high, the fans are unforgiving, and there\u2019s no room to fake it. But for a kid from Tiverton<\/a> who once stomped to T-Rex in front of the telly, it doesn\u2019t get much more real than this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tiverton-born Gav Bolt, frontman of AC\/DC UK, has shared the stage with former AC\/DC drummer Simon Wright \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,70953,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-459233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-tiverton","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115285037927755233","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}