AC/DC's Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium concert broke permitted noise levels
Rock and Roll IS Noise Pollution
Last updated 1st Oct 2025
Despite the title of AC/DC’s famous 1980 ‘Back in Black’ album track, it turns out that Rock and Roll IS Noise Pollution.
Environmental health officers have deemed that the fireworks that erupted at the end of AC/DC’s triumphant concert at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium on Thursday 21st August 2025 broke permitted noise levels.
According to a BBC report, the City of Edinburgh Council received eight official complaints from local residents about the noise at the closing date of AC/DC’s European tour. The complaints started during soundcheck on the Wednesday before the concert.
Additionally, there were eight noise complaints for the three nights Oasis performed at the stadium over three nights earlier in August.
Oasis vocalist Liam Gallagher previously lambasted Edinburgh City Council as a “bunch of snakes” over a report claiming their fans would be "rowdy" and "intoxicated".
Following the noise complaints, environmental health officers found that the "permitted noise level was exceeded" during the fireworks at the AC/DC concert.
They have recommended that “fireworks are not used at future events" at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium.
Councillors agreed at a meeting on Monday 30th September that the noise report should be passed to the licencing board for consideration.
A spokesperson for the council said: "We understand that fireworks used during concerts at Murrayfield can be disruptive to the local community so officers will recommend that they are not used as part of future events.
"However, we consider licenses for all events based on their own merits and by taking into account any advice from officers."
AC/DC’s sold-out Murrayfield Stadium concert in front of 70,000 adoring fans was the band’s first on Scottish soil in a decade.
The show was also an emotional homecoming for AC/DC's sole constant member Angus Young, who was born in Glasgow 70 years ago.