Original AC/DC Frontman Dave Evans Brings Classic Tracks Back to Life in France

Dave Evans, the original frontman of AC/DC is still out there keeping the band’s earliest days alive.

On March 22, Evans hit the stage at Horizon-Pyrénées in Muret, France, performing a run of AC/DC classics including the track that started it all ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’. Fan-filmed footage shows the 70-year-old belting through the set with the same bristling energy he brought to the band way back in 1973.

Evans was the band’s founding frontman, recording two singles ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’ and ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’. He was later replaced by Bon Scott less than a year in. While most of the spotlight falls on what came after, Evans hasn’t let the origin story fade.

In a recent Podpokas Podcast interview, Evans set the record straight on how the band got its name. According to him, it wasn’t a sewing machine or vacuum cleaner that inspired AC/DC it was Malcolm Young’s sister-in-law who suggested it. “I thought, easy to remember, and free advertising,” Evans said. “It was printed on every appliance. And it meant power.”

He also revisited why he walked. “We were doing the biggest shows in Australia Sydney Opera House, Hordern Pavilion, Festival Hall. But no one was getting paid except the manager,” he said. “I had a car, rent, bills. Malcolm and Angus still lived with their parents. I didn’t have that option.”

Evans may have been pushed aside early, but he’s never stopped. And decades later, fans still turn up to hear him belt the songs that helped launch one of the biggest rock bands of all time.

So while AC/DC’s story didn’t end with Dave Evans, it started there. While Evans might not be touring stadiums with the iconic rock band, he’s still keeping the memory of it all alive. One packed venue at a time.