Cold Chisel rock out at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney for fireys
Revered rockers Cold Chisel showed they were still in blistering form as they opened Bankwest Stadium for concerts in Sydney.
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Cold Chisel brought their visceral and unifying superpower of rock’n’roll to Sydney as they opened Bankwest Stadium for concerts on Friday.
The band paid tribute to the selfless volunteers who have courageously fought the summer’s bushfire crisis with huge cheers and Wayne’s World-style bows from the crowd directed at the 3000 RFS fireys who were gifted tickets to the Blood Moon concert.
It was a Friday night, it was Cold Chisel and it was the first ever concert at the newly minted stadium. As almost every punter within earshot said: “It doesn’t get better than this.”
For a tour, which the band and fans suspect may be their last big live national outdoor tour hurrah, they brought the big guns with them to turn the Blood Moon show into a mini festival.
As hundreds lined up outside the stadium to buy special limited edition “fire” T-shirts to raise funds for the RFS, folk rock duo Busby Marou, anthemic charttoppers Birds of Tokyo and legendary rockers Hoodoo Gurus smashed through their hits in the opening sets.
Fans played the “what was your first Chisel gig” game as the buzz swelled in anticipation of the revered rockers belting out their signature opener Standing On The Outside.
Having kicked off this mammoth victory wrap around Australia on New Year’s Eve in Fremantle in the wake of their No. 1 debut of Blood Moon in December, Chisel were in blistering form.
Jimmy Barnes imbued every lyric with visceral passion as his rock brothers-in-arms Ian Moss, Don Walker, Phil Small and Charlie Drayton locked into their unique brand of swing, groove and body-shaking rock.
From the first notes to the last, the sold-out crowd of more than 25,000 adoring fans – from little ones on the shoulders of their dads to their grandparents – did not let up with their crowd karaoke.
Through all the songs which have soundtracked four decades of generations of Australian rock fans – Choir Girl, My Baby, Four Walls, Forever Now, Cheap Wine, Saturday Night, You’ve Got Nothing I Want, Shipping Steel, Khe Sanh, Bow River, The War Is Over, Flame Trees, Letter To Alan – Chisel poured their blood, sweat and tears into each rendition.
They sang and played each song like it was as rare, or at least semi-regular – an occasion as the Blood Moon which provided the title of their ninth studio, and possibly, last record.
“This is the first gig in this stadium,” Barnes declared before they launched into the aptly titled, somewhat ironic, recent single Getting The Band Back Together.
While some in the crowd may have peaked early filling their boots, and were dispatched to the fringes or out the gates, there was a joyous bonhomie among Chisel fans bonded by their shared adoration of a band who have made such an emphatic contribution to Australian culture.
Some proudly sported their vintage band tshirts, torn and weathered after all the wear and tear of decades of fandom, while others threw on the new gear just acquired at the gig.
Cold Chisel perform at Wollongong’s Stuart Park on Saturday.
Originally published as Cold Chisel rock out at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney for fireys
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