Rock 'n' roll lifestyle among retirees

AC/DC drummer faces charge that carries prison sentence of seven years

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was the toast of this quiet New Zealand coastal community when he celebrated the launch of his surprise solo album at his marina restaurant, Phil's Place. Even the mayor was there.

Less than three months later, posters promoting the album plaster the windows of his waterfront home, protecting his privacy, after police raided it earlier this month and filed serious charges against him. The fans who came to support him after the raid, singing AC/DC songs into the night, have left, and the 60-year-old has become a virtual prisoner in a town that for years had seemed to accept him and his excesses with a knowing wink.

He's avoided serious consequences from previous brushes with the law, but the stakes are higher this time: He's charged with threatening to kill, which comes with a maximum prison sentence of seven years, as well as possessing methamphetamine and marijuana. An even more serious charge that alleged Rudd tried to hire a man to kill two people was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Questions also remain about Rudd's future with the Australian band he's been part of on-and-off for almost four decades.

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young said he hasn't been in touch with Rudd since his arrest and that his behavior had been erratic when they were recording their new album, Rock or Bust, which is due to be released on Dec 2.

"He's got himself in a pickle," Young said, adding that the band's tour next year will go on with or without him.

Adolescent dreams

Rudd has long tried to live out the male adolescent dreams that form the fabric of the straightforward rock songs of AC/DC.

But surprisingly, he's done in it in a place that has long attracted retirees, drawn by the pleasant weather, nearby beaches and the quiet. Tauranga is home to just 115,000 people, but more young people are coming and it will soon be New Zealand's fifth-biggest city.

Rudd has described how he spent his first big paycheck on a Ferrari, before even buying a house. He's collected many more toys since then. A hangar at the town's airport accommodates his luxury sports cars and helicopter; a motorboat is moored near his restaurant.

Newspapers have detailed his fondness for prostitutes in a country where prostitution is legal. Gina Davies, Tauranga coordinator for the Prostitutes Collective, said her national office has asked her not to talk about Rudd.

Security guards remain posted at all times at Rudd's home, where they often relax in their cars with the seats reclined as elderly residents stroll past along the waterfront.

The person police claimed in documents was the would-be hit man works in an industrial neighborhood.

Colleagues say he's disappeared and is laying low until the publicity blows over. He earlier said that Rudd felt unsafe after disputes with prostitutes over payments.

Rudd's lawyer, Paul Mabey, said the murder-for-hire charge should never have been filed and the damage to his client had been incalculable. He said he was considering possible remedies.

That Rudd's lifestyle was taking a toll on him became apparent when he ventured out of his preferred seclusion in August to promote his solo album, Head Job. His fans were shocked. He seemed to have aged years, his face appearing hollow and sunken.

(China Daily 11/18/2014 page10)