You’ve probably heard of AC/DC, the ’70s era rock band. You may have even heard one of their many tribute bands like Thunderstruck, Hell’s Belles or the AC/DC Experience. But you probably haven’t heard AC/DC songs quite like this.
It’s 10 p.m. on a Friday night. On the Rebel Lounge stage, a drum kit is flanked by rainbow pride flags and black banners depicting a pink feather boa draped over an orange lightning bolt. The crowd is antsy.
Finally, the headliner comes out and starts playing their first song: “Live Wire” by AC/DC.
Chris Freeman is GayC/DC’s frontman.
“GayC/DC is sort of a weird — I don’t even know what to call it,” Freeman said. “Because it’s not really a tribute band, although we get lumped in with tribute bands. We’re not really a cover band, but we get lumped in with them. I would say we’re more of a refresh.
“We wanted to bring more opportunities for gay people to listen to something that’s different than boom tch boom tch boom tch boom. I just get tired of that. And I grew up on rock, so.”
Most GayC/DC songs have been, as Freeman said, refreshed in some way.
“Almost every one of them that we do maybe has a pronoun changed or something. Or, ‘knocking me out with those hairy ass thighs’ instead of ‘knocking you out with those American thighs,’” he said.
“Girls Got Rhythm” becomes “Dads Got Rhythm.” “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” becomes “Dirty Dudes Done Dirt Cheap,” “Bad Boy Boogie” becomes “Gay Boy Boogie.”
Four other men perform alongside Freeman. On stage, one guitarist is wearing a black sequin dress, the other dons a fake mohawk and a tiny leather mini skirt. The drummer is wearing a matching pink cap and leather jacket. When the bassist flips up his sparkly pink bass, it reads, “Tell your dad to call me.”
“So when people come to see us, I think they can expect chaos. Controlled chaos,” Freeman said. “While the music is spot-on, the performance is improvised. There’s props, there’s costume changes, there’s boas.”
Freeman starts the night in a shiny silver suit, but every few songs he saunters off stage and returns in something completely different. He pulls off a trench coat to reveal a striped dress and fishnets, he wears a robe with dollar bills printed all over it, a long black judges robe, a pig nose.
Freeman has been playing music for pretty much his entire life. He started out with piano lessons and high school choir. That all changed when he saw KISS on the Midnight Special in 1975.
“And I was like, mesmerized. And I’d been a big teenie bopper fan … but then KISS came along … and seemed a little bit more dangerous… And I thought that’s what I want to do. So I pulled an old broken guitar out of the closet and started playing. And then eventually, to join a band, I went away from guitar and turned to bass cause there were already way more guitar players that were way better than me,” Freeman said.
In 1991, Freeman helped form the San Francisco queercore rock band Pansy Division. He still plays bass with them. A decade after Pansy Division’s formation, Freeman started playing in a GoGos tribute band called the GayGays.
“That sort of fell apart at one point, like after 14 years. And some of us said, well, what else would we do? And then somebody in the band said, oh, here’s one, GayC/DC, and we’re all going ha! Wait a minute, that’s got some legs!”
Soon, the throwaway joke was a full-blown band. And, yes, AC/DC is already slang for bisexual. But AC/DC’s name has nothing to do with that. They were looking for a name to represent their electrifying energy, and saw the abbreviation “AC/DC” on a sewing machine. It stands for alternating current, direct current.
“A lot of people think we’re trashing the band and that… could not be further from the truth,” Freeman said, “because we’ve all grown up with AC/DC and love it so much, but you know, changing the lyrics a little bit, putting it in a different context, helps us enjoy it more as well.”
For some, GayC/DC is a chance to hear their favorite AC/DC songs in a new light. For others, it’s an opportunity to support queer musicians. But for at least one person in the crowd, “This is my church!”
GayC/DC is their church.
