COLD CHISEL – 50th ANNIVERSARY TOUR – FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE – MELBOURNE

COLD CHISEL – 50th ANNIVERSARY TOUR – FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE – MELBOURNE – 24.10.2024
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: Jason Rosewarne.

I put on some Cold Chisel, poured myself a glass of red and sat down to write this review and then laughed out loud. Cheap Wine was playing in the background and here I was drinking cheap wine, sporting a three day growth.

Cold Chisel are an institution in Australia, having had a pivotal influence on many of us Aussies growing up in the 70s and 80s. They’re absolute rock legends and have been a big part of my life for the past 50 years. Chisel formed back in October 1973 and helped shape Australian music to what it is today.

Back in the mid to late 70s, the enjoyment my sister Jodie and I had watching them on Molly Meldrum’s ‘Countdown’ as kids got us hooked right from the beginning. We had Chisel posters on our bedroom walls and had their albums and cassettes. Mum would always say ‘Who’s that screaming?’ It was Barnsey of course! Over the years with us playing Chisel so much, Mum eventually came around and became a fan too. I still have the whole Chisel collection on vinyl to this day and cherish these albums. There is nothing quite like playing Chisel on vinyl. Hearing the richness, warmth and depth of their music, checking out the album artwork, reading and singing along with Barnsey and Mossy to the song lyrics listed on the inside sleave.

The first time my mates and I went and saw Cold Chisel was back in 1982 at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. We’ve been fortunate enough to see Chisel a multitude of times over the years and they still remain one of our favourite bands.

Today Cold Chisel are:

Jimmy Barnes (lead vocals)
Ian Moss (Lead guitar / vocals)
Don Walker (Keyboard)
Phil Small (Bass guitar)
Charley Drayton (Drums) – replaced Steve Prestwich in 2011.

Here I am 45 years later with Jodie seeing Cold Chisel’s 50th Anniversary Tour at Flemington Racecourse under the big tent celebrating 50 years as a band. It doesn’t get much better than this! Certainly an incredible achievement and one to be extremely proud of.

The atmosphere and hype under the giant tent was electric and everyone was buzzing with excitement waiting to be part of this historic 2-hour show. To give you some perspective of just how enormous this tent actually is, it held 10,000 punters of all ages.

We got there early allowing enough time to grab some merch and see Karen Lee Andrews deliver some beautiful soul music. Next up was The Cruel Sea with Tex Perkins. They played a great set including fan favourites – The Honeymoon Is Over, Better Get A Lawyer, Anybody But You, Black Stick, This Is Not The Way Home, Straight into the Sun. Another iconic Aussie band from Sydney originally forming in 1987, they are rock legends in their own right and a perfect choice for tonight’s main opening act.

Cold Chisel burst out and launched straight into the high energy song STANDING ON THE OUTSIDE from East (1980), getting the crowd out of their seats, where they stayed for the rest of the evening. Barnesy then highlighted that his voice remains as strong today as it has ever been, singing LETTER TO ALAN from Circus Animals (1982).

Next up, Don on keys played the intro to CHOIR GIRL (East) and the whole crowd erupted with applause. It’s the largest pub choir I’ve ever been part of hearing 10,000 people singing along with gusto and adoration. Goosebumps! It would have made any gospel choir stand up, take note and join in. Barnesy went off for a short break while Mossy sang MY BABY (East).

BREAKFAST AT SWEETHEARTS from the 1979 album of the same name was next and had the pub choir singing along, which they did for the majority of the evening. These anthem-like songs have formed the soundtrack to our lives. They remind us of a time, a place, a person, a gig, a loved one and have so much meaning.

FOREVER NOW (Circus Animals) written by Steve Prestwich is another of these classic beautiful sing along anthems. “Taking her seat at the bar, she don’t talk to anyone, plane leavin’ soon for afar, where she don’t know anyone.”

Sadly, we lost Steve Prestwich back in January 2011, aged 56 years young. Steve was a founding member and drummer and wrote some of my favourite Chisel songs – When the War Is Over, Flame Trees and Forever Now.

RISING SUN (East) the rockabilly song had the crowd shuffling away. ONE LONG DAY from their 1978 debut album Cold Chisel is a bluesy song highlighting the wonderful vocals of Ian Moss and the mastery of Don Walker on keys.

Barnsey came back out on stage to sing CHEAP WINE (East) and had the crowd singing without much encouragement. “I’m sittin’ on a beach drinkin’ rocket fuels, Oh yeah”, I spent the whole night breaking all the rules, Oh Yeah.”

They performed a few songs from the 2012 No Plans album – the melodic ALL FOR YOU and rockin’ HQ454 MONROE.

YOU GOT NOTHING I WANT (Circus Animals) was written by Jimmy Barnes and was a response to the band’s treatment by a record company executive during a US Tour. A high energy song and an absolute belter.

Ian Moss and Don Walker were the only two that remained on stage and delivered an incredible version of the ballad, PLAZA (1979). Mossy’s vocals shined during this song and Walker on keys was an incredibly special part of tonight’s show. It still gives me chills thinking about it. Absolutely beautiful!

The band came back out and continued with a few more songs from the 1979 self-titled album absolutely smashing it with SHIPPING STEEL and MERRY GO ROUND. Everybody stood their ground and didn’t want to miss one second of this epic show.

Barnesy then talked to the crowd about a vivid dream he had recently. He was driving the band somewhere and Flame Trees came on the radio and was being sung by some other band. He reached over to turn it off and an arm reached out and stopped him. He looked across to see Steve Prestwich sitting in the passenger seat and Steve said: “Leave it on, I like this song!” This led into FLAME TREES (1984) and the 10,000 deep pub choir reached a new height which nearly blew the tent roof off. I’ve truly never heard or been part of anything like it and it was a moment of pure euphoria. Backed with the richness of 3 female singers including Mahalia Barnes, this euphoric emotion continued when they sang our unofficial Australian National Anthem KHE SANH with a wonderful harmonica solo. Ian Moss then sang another crowd favourite, BOW RIVER. Unbelievable!

The first encore had SATURDAY NIGHT with a great saxophone solo and PAINTED DOLL from Twentieth Century (1984). They also played their new song YOU’VE GOT TO MOVE (2019) from 50 Years – The Best of Cold Chisel.

The second encore included WHEN THE WAR IS OVER (1982), which is one of my absolute favourite songs of all time. An incredible song and really highlights the talent of this magnificent band. The vocals are chilling, the music is timeless and there’s so much to love about this song.

In true Chisel tradition, the last song of the night was the energetic rocker GOODBYE (ASTRID GOODBYE), which saw 10,000 people completely go wild, jumping about and screaming at the top of their lungs.

How would one sum up and praise a remarkable band like Cold Chisel, their stellar 50 years as a band, their amazing catalogue of music and the night we just experienced? Absolute Aussie Rock legends. A huge thank you from all of us fans. Your legacy will live on for many generations to come.

SETLIST:
Standing On The Outside
Letter To Alan
Choirgirl
My Baby
Breakfast At Sweethearts
Forever Now
Rising Sun
One Long Day
Cheap Wine
All For You
You Got Nothing I Want
HQ454 Monroe
Plaza
Shipping Steel
Merry Go Round
Flame Trees
Khe Sanh
Bow River