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On a recent Wednesday afternoon, an incredible assembly of 374 pipers came together in the heart of Melbourne to play AC/DC's classic anthem "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll)", setting a global milestone close to the famous location where Bon Scott and the band famously played the song on a flatbed truck decades earlier.

That particular song is the one major hit that AC/DC no longer plays live, honoring the late Bon Scott since his death in 1980. Yet its absence is barely felt when the band's live performances are overflowing with beloved classics: an electric excitement swept through the 80,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as AC/DC opened with "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" and immediately launched into "Back in Black". What other band would dare to deliver such a massive hit so early in the show? But AC/DC does, treating the audience to what essentially is a lengthy best-of compilation.

The lead singer calls Melbourne the band's 'spiritual home'.

Let's address the obvious questions: indeed, Brian Johnson is 78 years old and, no, his vocal range can't reach the former peaks or sustain as long compared to the eighties. He may not screech like he used to on songs such as "High Voltage" or "Highway to Hell", but he certainly gives it his all with a smile on his face. Johnson was previously forced to leave AC/DC's global tour in 2016 due to significant hearing issues (a substitute vocalist stepped in), but a remedy was found and it's clear he's overjoyed to be on stage, cackling like a gremlin during breaks. (The band avoids stage banter, and no one minds.)

Similarly, the lead guitarist – who continues to wear his signature schoolboy shorts at seventy – is noticeably slower on certain older songs, such as the frenetic opening to "Thunderstruck". But it remains "Thunderstruck", and who cares when a whole stadium is singing that loudly, that joyfully, as a single entity?

With his shock of white hair and skinny legs emerging from his shorts, Young simultaneously looks like an ancient wizard and confusingly youthful; when he returns to the group at the end of a number, he looks like a lost little boy running for his parents – right up until he begins a frenzied solo, his fingers moving almost too fast to see. He can even now perform his signature walk the length of a huge stage, wild-eyed and juddering around as though he's been electrocuted.

'The rest of the band fades away as Young struts.'

He gradually loses clothes throughout the performance, going so far as to employing his necktie as a bow to play his instrument. By the finale, when his top is largely open, he's the main attraction of the entire event.

On "Let There Be Rock", Young embarks on a extended, indulgent and hugely entertaining instrumental break that seems like a challenge to those who doubted AC/DC couldn't deliver. The rest of the band recede as Young struts, pausing only to savor the cheers before throwing himself on the floor and rolling around like a man possessed. "Where did that come from?" Johnson queries afterwards; it's a mystery?

Johnson and Young are the ringleaders, but they have solid backing from guitar player Stevie Young, who joined permanently in 2014 following his relative's health decline; as well as low-end specialist Chris Chaney and drummer Matt Laug, who performs with the determination of a person aiming to shake the foundations. Your eardrums won't be the same again.

Although the concert series is named for the 17th album "Power Up", they only play a single track from it. Rather, the audience is given the best of the rest: "Shoot to Thrill", "High Voltage", "Highway to Hell", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "TNT" and "Whole Lotta Rosie". There's even room for a unexpected addition with "Jailbreak", a track they have not played live since 1991, which is welcomed with huge enthusiasm.

This marks AC/DC's initial performance in the country in 10 years, and Melbourne is their opening venue – after all, it is the group's roots, as Johnson declares, being "the home of Mr Scott". It's hard not to suspect that this could be the band's last world tour, and maybe even their last trip to the native land – but what a exhilarating show it is for anyone lucky enough to get a ticket. They deliver and we salute them.

• The band will perform at the MCG again on November 16, then Sydney's Accor Stadium on November 21 and 25, the Adelaide show on 30 November, Perth on 4 and 8 December, and the Brisbane dates on 14 and 18 December.