AC/DC Concert In Doubt Over Birds

Aussie rockers AC/DC could have to cancel a sold-out concert because their big sound poses a danger to rare birds. Animal rights campaigners are threatening legal action if the veteran band goes ahead with a gig planned for Wels airport in Austria in May. Hans Uhl of BirdLife said birds nesting in the area at the time would be threatened by anthems such as Highway To Hell and You Shook Me All Night Long. "The second biggest colony of curlews in Upper Austria and various other ground-nesting birds must not become endangered," Mr Uhl said. Tickets for the event - which sees the group return after playing to a sold-out crowd at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium last May - sold out after going on sale earlier this month.The event's 80,000 tickets were sold out within hours. In Australia, the band's Melbourne concerts at Etihad Stadium in February had been in doubt after AFL objections earlier this year. The AFL said the dates would clash with a possible pre-season NAB Cup match. But the signing of a new contract between the league and the stadium has allowed AC/DC to go ahead with the three Melbourne shows on February 11, 13 and 15. The band sold 180,000 tickets for those shows.