MUSIC
Cold Chisel ★★★★
The Showring at Moore Park, October 11
It was easy to take for granted, amid all the hype which helped fill to the brim this circus tent plonked in the Entertainment Quarter, that Cold Chisel’s 50th-anniversary tour is a remarkable moment.
No other major Australian band has endured this long - only the bar lines outside felt longer. Chisel themselves could have been stopped at 49 when Jimmy Barnes had open-heart surgery last December, but then their singer is also easily taken for granted. If you’d closed your eyes when he ripped into opener Wild Colonial Boy, it might have been 1982.
Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel performs at The Entertainment Quarter on Friday night.Credit: Getty
Just as remarkable as Chisel’s 50 years was that the average age of the punters here was probably about the same. That’s testament to songs that have long been FM radio staples, but are complex enough to keep breaking through to new fans, especially when they are played as well as they were here.
Ian Moss remained an endlessly inventive guitarist, sustaining interest despite having a solo on virtually everything, from the coruscating rock of Rising Sun to the classic blues of One Long Day and the wistful melodicism of All For You.
The engine room of Phil Small on bass, Charley Drayton on drums and the zen-like Don Walker on keyboards was as tight as ever, and it was a joy to see Walker add an exuberant solo to his immortal Khe Sanh. Three female backing singers, including Jimmy’s daughter Mahalia, added richness to the harmonies on Choirgirl and Saturday Night, although the crowd was boosting every familiar chorus too.
Don Walker and Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel perform at The Entertainment Quarter on Friday night.Credit: Getty
The elder Barnes, meanwhile, had lost none of his ferocity or emotional commitment, even if he was bellowing more than singing at times. Inevitably some of the high notes had disappeared from the 68-year-old’s kitbag – the thrilling one on “everything within its place” from Flame Trees was notably flattened out.
Although you could forgive Jim anything after he introduced Chisel’s biggest ballad by recounting a dream. He’s driving the band to the first gig of this 50th anniversary tour (“Can’t believe they let me do that,” he quipped), when a cover version of Flame Trees comes on the radio that he doesn’t like. He reaches to turn it off, only for a hand to grab his wrist – he looks over to the passenger seat, and there sits its co-composer Steve Prestwich, Chisel’s late drummer.
But who needs that sentimental bullshit, anyway? Chisel were soon back rocking hard with a storming Bow River to finish the set proper. Then it was a pounding Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye) inspiring one last middle-aged mosh at the end of the encores, Barnes still screaming like a man possessed after 2½ hours.
The hoarse fans filing out of this tent would not have ruled out a diamond jubilee for Cold Chisel.
Cold Chisel play a second show at The Showring on October 12.
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