AC/DC Lane is a
laneway in the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
. A short and narrow street running off
Flinders Lane, it runs roughly north–south in between
Exhibition Street
Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880, and was previously known as Stephen Street from 183 ...
and
Russell Street. The lane is named as a tribute to the famous
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
.
History
The street was formerly named Corporation Lane. As a tribute to Australian rock band
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
the lane was officially renamed on 1 October 2004. The renaming was permitted by a unanimous vote of the
City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the Melbourne central business district, central city area of Melbourne. In 2021, the city has an area of and had a populati ...
.
[Boulton, Martin]
"Lane way to the top for AC/DC"
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' 10 September 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
Melbourne's
Lord Mayor
Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...
John So
John Chun Sai So (, ; born 2 October 1946) is a Hong Kong Australian businessman who served as the 102nd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia. He was the first Lord Mayor in the city's history to be directly electe ...
launched AC/DC Lane with the words, "As the song says, there is a highway to hell, but this is a laneway to heaven. Let us rock."
Bagpipers then played "
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album ''T.N.T. (album), T.N.T.'', released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, ...
."
The trademark lightning bolt or slash ("/") used to separate the 'AC' and 'DC' in the band's name contravened the naming policy of the Office of the Registrar of Geographic Names, so the punctuation was omitted on the street sign. One month after the renaming, a lightning bolt was erected above and below the street sign by an artist named Knifeyard.
AC/DC Lane was the former location of the
Cherry Bar, a rock music
bar and
nightclub
A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
.
Toponymy
Corporation Lane (the generic name assigned to otherwise unnamed lanes in Melbourne) was renamed in part because of band AC/DC's ties to Melbourne, their status as cultural ambassadors for Australia, and the lane's position in the city's bar and rock district.
[Donovan, Patrick]
"Mayor thunderstruck with AC/DC"
''The Age'', 8 July 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2007. AC/DC famously filmed their music video for
It's a Long Way to the Top along
Swanston Street
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the wor ...
which runs parallel to AC/DC Lane.
See also
*
*
Leganés
Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...
, Spain, also has a street called ''Calle'' ''AC/DC''. The sign is allegedly painted on as fans of the band often
steal the sign.
References
External links
ACDC Lane on Google Maps
{{AC/DC
AC/DC
Streets in Melbourne City Centre