One look at frontman Jimmy Barnes will tell you this is 2011 and not 1982 and 'The Last Stand', but if you closed your eyes at the Sandalford Estate, Margaret River tonight, that voice didn’t sound much different to the one you’ll still hear on pub jukeboxes every Friday night across Australia.
Before the show began however it became apparent that among thousands of die hard supporters there were many on hand that hadn’t previously been Cold Chisel fans.
So why were they there? The answer became extremely obvious well before the two-hour gig ended. As with the sound grabs played before Chisel came on stage - just about every song played here, is woven into our collective memories. Seeing Chisel at least once in your life, like visiting the War Memorial or Uluru, seems obligatory.
But what made this show much more than something to cross off your bucket list was that no one on stage was just going through the motions. As Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes worked up a sweat merely breathing, it seemed for the first hour each song ran straight into the next one with no breaks and no idle chat (not that Don Walker and Phil Small ever did chat, idle or otherwise).
Over two hours, they played songs from every part of their career, from one of the confident openers Standing on the Outside to the deliriously received triple shot of Flame Trees, Khe Sanh and Bow River. There was new material too: HQ 454 Monroe is a thumping, 50s inspired rocker that fits right in like it's always been there.
Everyone played unbelievably well but the standout was the guitarist who transforms from quiet and sleepy off stage to compelling star on: Moss's playing was liquid and elegant, and then fiery and hard charging. His piece de resistance, Bow River, had to be one of the best moments of the entire set, bringing the house down with a blistering rendition of the song. Watching the man play guitar is certainly a sight to behold, too; oozing a proficiency in his playing that can only come with decades of experience, maneuvering his way through each of his plentiful guitar solos as if he had never played it before.
Each song tonight was performed with a great energy, but the audience made no secrets of which songs were their favourites. The second Choirgirl started, you could barely hear the band for all of the en-mass singing along, which subsequently continued into a slower, groovier take on Cheap Wine. All it took was a single note of recognition – the slow drum rise into Flame Trees, the slick blues riff of My Baby, the barroom piano of Khe Sanh – and the venue was on its collective feet.
If you can name a Chisel hit off the top of your head, there’s a very strong chance it was played.
What an unbelievably fantastic concert it was! Probably one of the greatest ever at Sandalford. |
