Review: Cold Chisel perform at Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Legendary Australian band Cold Chisel kicked off the Queensland leg of their massive Big 5-0 Anniversary Tour in Brisbane last night, and a stadium full of fans got everything they wanted. | SET LIST

Cold Chisel at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall on Wednesday night. Photo: Steve Pohlner

For many Australians, Cold Chisel isn’t just a band – the group’s music is a soundtrack that has accompanied them through life.

Watching Cold Chisel perform live it was easy to see why, with the sounds of hit after hit filling the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night.

Frontman Jimmy Barnes has as much energy as ever and his voice was pitch perfect and powerful, despite a recent run of bad health that has seen him in and out of hospital, including for open heart surgery.

Along with Barnes, Ian Moss was on guitar and vocals, Don Walker played the keyboards, Phil Small supplied bass and Charley Drayton was on the drums.

Cold Chisel preforming at Boondall Entertainment Centre, Brisbane – on Wednesday 30th of October 2024 – Photo Steve Pohlner

On the big screens that showed Barnes and Moss up close, I could only marvel at the sweat pouring off them and how much effort they put into each and every song.

In front of almost 10,000 people at the Brisbane venue, the band came together to celebrate 50 years of making music together.

Opening with Mr Crown Prosecutor, the crowd was up out of their seats and dancing from the opening bars.

But it was when Cold Chisel launched into their third song of the night, Cheap Wine, that the packed arena really came to life.

The crowd almost drowned out the band singing the iconic lyrics – and wasn’t the last time that happened, with the renditions of Bow River, Flame Trees and Khe Sahn also sung heartily around the centre.

The band began its journey after forming in Adelaide in 1973.

The group changed its name several times before settling on Cold Chisel in 1974 after Walker’s song of that title.

The band broke up in 1983, but has since reformed several times.

Frontman Jimmy Barnes with Don Walker and Charlie Drayton. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Addressing the crowd, Barnes said he’d wanted to do a tour to celebrate the band’s milestone, but it wasn’t until late last year that he found out the other members felt the same way.

“We never thought we’d be actually be touring 50 years after we started,” he told the crowd.

“Nothing happens easily with Cold Chisel.

“We’re like brothers. Sometimes we get in a room and everything goes smooth.

“Sometimes we get in a room and we fight. You know, none of us win really.

“But coming to the 50th birthday it was very tense.

“We were wondering what we were going to do, should we do a big gig, play in a little pub somewhere or, we thought let’s be civilised, let’s be f — king civilised about this.

“Go to a nice restaurant, sit and drink nice red wine and talk about the old days.

“So I said ‘yeah alright, we’ll do that’.

“So that was in October last year. And in the back of my head the whole time, I’m thinking to myself ‘when I get there … I’ll see if I can talk the guys into doing the tour’.

Cold Chisel preforming at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“I don’t think I was the only one who had that idea because I got to the dinner, everybody had a few wines, loosened up, and I sort of mentioned it and they went ‘yeah sure, we’ll do that, it’ll be good’.

“So it was a huge leap, everybody wanted to tour, so here we are.”

The group’s original drummer and writer of some of the groups most iconic songs, including Forever Now and When the War is Over, Steven Prestwich, died in 2011 following surgery to remove a brain tumour.

Before performing Flame Trees, which Prestwich co-wrote with Walker, Barnes shared a moving story about his former bandmate.

Barnes said after they made the decision to tour for the 50 year celebrations, it was a huge weight off his shoulders and he fell into a deep sleep.

He dreamed he was driving a car with the band to the first gig of the tour.

“Why the f — k would they let me drive for a start,” he said.

He said the band was in the back and everyone was happy, when suddenly Flame Trees came on the radio.

Jimmy Barnes and Don Walker. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“But some of you might know, I play Flame Trees in my band, and it was my band’s version, and it’s a bit slower, a bit more dramatic and I thought ‘oh s — t the boys aren’t going to like this’.”

Barnes said in the dream he went to turn the song down, but he felt a hand on his hand.

He turned and Prestwich was in the passenger seat next to him.

“He said ‘leave it on, it sounds great’,” Barnes said.

He said he woke up about 4am and he got up and made a cup of coffee, not wanting to go back to sleep.

“I just wanted to sit and feel the presence of my brother next to me, I didn’t want it to go away,” he said.

After performing 18 of their songs, the band treated those gathered to two encores, including Choirgirl and All for You, fittingly finishing with Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye).

BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE SETLIST

Mr Crown Prosecutor

Standing on the Outside

Cheap Wine

Rising Sun

My Baby

Painted Doll

When the War is Over

Forever Now

Saturday Night

Four Walls

Wild Colonial Boy

Plaza

Shipping Steel

You Got Nothing I Want

Merry-Go-Round

Flame Trees

Khe Sanh

Bow River

Encore 1

All for you

Choir Girl

Taipan

Letter to Alan

Encore 2

Breakfast at Sweethearts

Goodby (Astrid Goodbye)

Originally published as Review: Cold Chisel perform at Brisbane Entertainment Centre