Concert Review: Cold Chisel still louder, tighter and more dangerous than their rock peers
AFTER 40 years, the legendary rockers are still playing like they want to blow away every band who has ever graced a mega stage.
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COLD Chisel were always louder, tighter and more dangerous than their rock peers and 32 years to the day they played their final Last Stand gig at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, that remains true.
“Welcome to the last week of the Ent Cent ... we should tear the place down,” Barnes said after a searing intro set which opened with Standing On The Outside.
He was probably only partially joking.
After a long lap of Australia on the One Night Stand tour off the back of new album The Perfect Crime, Chisel are supremely matchfit.
Barnes shreds his throat while Mossy does the same to the guitar as the rhythm section of Phil Small and Charley Drayton keeps it swinging and the eminent piano man and songwriter Don Walker keeps the show on track.
A Chisel crowd is always up for a singalong and Choir Girl gets fans, friends and family joining along without any rev up from Barnes.
Screaming to Cheap Wine, wildly out of tune yet somehow sounding tuneful en masse, the crowd reminded you of every backyard BBQ or house party where you grabbed a mate, slung an arm around their shoulder and sang along to a Chisel classic.
And after a brief intermission, it was a barrage of classics, a run through of songs which have embedded themselves into the Australian songbook.
When The War Is Over, Forever Now, Four Walls, Saturday Night, Bow River and You Got Nothing I Want.
Flame Trees blew the decibel meter for any crowd karaoke moment I have enjoyed at the Ent Cent. It gives me goosebumps even now just thinking about it.
And then there was Khe Sanh. Every band dreams of having a song as perfect as Khe Sahn, a story almost impossible to remember every word to — even in the Google era — but indelibly stamped on your DNA, whether you are a Chisel fan or not.
After 40 years, Cold Chisel are still playing like they want to blow away every band who has ever graced a stage which has hosted almost every major international and local act you care to name.
And by sheer power of will and talent, they do.
They rock, they roll, they groove, they swing and they sweat buckets doing it albeit looking fitter than most bands these days.
Both younger and very much older, their audience didn’t so much worship at the altar of this venerable rock band as they joined in communion with them.
A Chisel gig remains a gathering rather than a band playing to their fans.
They have shared history and every note and lyric sung together with passion and joy seals the bond.
Elton John may not have much a venue left to play in for the Ent Cent’s final gig on Saturday night because with two more Chisel shows to go on Thursday and Friday, these beloved Australian rockers may just bring the house down.
Originally published as Concert Review: Cold Chisel still louder, tighter and more dangerous than their rock peers
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