Cold Chisel Concert Review – Petersons Winery, Armidale, 5th October 2024
Well, being able to see Cold Chisel on our doorstep was certainly an amazing surprise!
Cold Chisel kicking off their “Big Five-0 Anniversary Tour” in Armidale likely raised a few eyebrows but considering the history of the band, it was a terrific little nod to their past. Cold Chisel spent a year up in Armidale in the early ’70s as Don Walker was studying at the University of New England. so it made complete sense for tour commemorating the career of the band reaching 50 years to begin in the town where some of the earliest hits were written. Sentiment aside, the announcement back in March that one of the biggest and best Australian bands of all time would be playing in a city that very seldom attracts artists of their calibre immediately sent shockwaves and excitement around the entire New England region. Tickets were swept up in a matter of hours and the community braced for a much-needed influx of tourism and economic benefit.
What a massive boost for the town. Photo by Ben Lewis.
We set out nice and early to guarantee a good spot but even by our standards we might have slightly overdone it – getting there so early that the security team at the gates thought we were staff to help set up! There was a little confusion around bringing in camping chairs – all information leading up to the show indicated that we’d be able to bring in our chairs to sit on, but it turned out there was a big area down the front that was standing room only; people with chairs had to sit outside it. While a good idea in hindsight, there was no communication anywhere to be found online indicating that this would be the case and patrons would have been better informed with this knowledge ahead of time.
First in line and already pumped! Photo by Tania Court.
The organisers, promoters, and Petersons Winery staff deserve an immense amount of credit as the layout of the venue was spectacular. The bar area was right up the back, flanked either side by merchandise trucks (Juliet and Daskarzine) with the bathrooms tucked away in the far corner so the audience were spared any unpleasant odours. The multitude of diverse (and local!) food trucks sat in a neat row on the left hand side of the venue; leaving a huge area in the middle for the audience. The area of the winery that had been set up had a natural and very welcome slope; it was very easy to see over the people in front of you given the stage was at the bottom of a hill. The planning that went into the concert definitely paid off – Petersons should be receiving sizeable praise for their setup and the logistics of the day; it was very, very well organised. There were some reported issues with the public transport leaving the venue at the end of the night, however I can’t comment as we drove to and from Petersons; I didn’t see what happened regarding the buses getting people home.
Some fans made sure to stand out amongst the crowd..! Photo by Tania Court.
As the Armidale show was part of the Red Hot Summer Tour in addition to the Big Five-0 Anniversary Tour, Cold Chisel were joined by no less than four supporting acts, namely Karen Lee Andrews, The Superjesus, Birds of Tokyo, and The Cruel Sea. A huge benefit of bringing along five different acts was that gates opened at 1:00 (originally 1:30) and the first artist hit the stage at 2:30. This let the audience get in earlier than most concerts and set themselves up and get their merch purchased rather than waiting outside for the whole day. The crowd enjoyed all four of the warm up artists, and I want to give a special shoutout to Birds of Tokyo, who were the clear standout of the non-Chisel bands. If you have the chance to get to one of their shows, I would highly recommend you do – they sounded incredible, their stage presence was terrific, and they made the absolute most of the hour that they were given.
Birds of Tokyo frontman Ian Kenny certainly won over more than a few new fans! Photo by Ben Lewis.
Finally, after multiple visits to the merch and food trucks and over twelve hours of waiting, the clock ticked over to 7:30 and Cold Chisel hit the stage, greeted by a sizeable roar from the crowd. For a regional venue, Petersons certainly packed in a big number; I would estimate anywhere between six and eight thousand people got to watch the tour get underway (no, the Barking Spiders secret gig in Wollongong doesn’t count!) and the sea of chairs and excited faces was a really pleasant sight given Armidale’s size. Given that the show was the biggest live music event to take place in Armidale in quite some time, the residents of the city and surrounding towns made sure to show their appreciation by turning out in droves. Take a bow, New England!
What a day, and what a crowd! Photo by Ben Lewis.
If you’ve never had the privilege of seeing Cold Chisel live, it’s hard to describe exactly how good they are – Jimmy Barnes showed no ill-effects from his battle with life-threatening bacteria last year and his legendary and easily-recognised voice was as strong as ever. Phil Small didn’t miss a note on the bass and Ian Moss was genuinely jaw-dropping on the guitar; some of his solos seemed like they shouldn’t have been possible. Mossy’s vocal ability allowed him to take the lead on songs and give Jimmy a break; these tracks cleverly placed at strategic points throughout the set.
Photo by Ben Lewis.
Charley Drayton has had massive shoes to fill ever since joining the band in 2011 following the tragic death of founding drummer Steve Prestwich, but he’s well and truly earned his stripes, and didn’t sound remotely out of place. There’s so much raw talent and skill in each member that it might be more apt to describe Cold Chisel as a supergroup rather than a band. They hadn’t toured since their Blood Moon tour more than four years ago, but it was like they’d been playing together non-stop; they just clicked instantly.
UNE alumnus and Honorary Doctor, Don Walker. Photo by Ben Lewis.
Along with their musical talents, they had the crowd enraptured from the very first song – singing and dancing with fervour and hanging on to every joke and anecdote Jimmy threw out in between songs. They seemed to appreciate being back in Armidale as well; at times it seemed as though they were quite taken aback with the reception they were getting and the sensation of playing together at a show back where it essentially started, 50 years ago. There was an electric energy in the air and based on the looks the band were giving each other in delight, they felt it just as much as the crowd did. There was not a single moment where the legendary Aussie rockers sounded less than perfect; they didn’t dip once in the whole two hours they were on stage. The only time they looked even close to being unsettled was when somebody needed to be medically evacuated from the show – TuneFM sends her our best wishes.
Photo by Ben Lewis.
The final point I want to touch on is the setlist itself – Cold Chisel did a cracking job of giving us a look back at their career by putting together a well-curated setlist that included all their hits as well as some lesser-known and not often played songs that got big reactions from the ecstatic crowd. As expected, East, Circus Animals, and Breakfast at Sweethearts were the most represented albums, but they made sure to play songs from all areas of their history – the new track “You’ve Got to Move” off their 50 Years – The Best Of greatest hits album got a play, as did the smash hit “Khe Sanh” and lesser known “One Long Day” from their very first album back in 1978. I don’t think there would be many people at all who would have left disappointed by the setlist; it was a marvellous collection of songs that do a great job of representing Cold Chisel as a band.
Photo by Ben Lewis.
Overall, the concert was brilliant – but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody familiar with Cold Chisel. The 50-year band proved once again that while they might look a little older, they still sound as good as they ever did. May this show be the catalyst for Armidale attracting more bands and events of this size and magnitude. For one tour at least, our little city sits at the same level as Newcastle, Ballarat, Gold Coast, and even the capitals – we got the full production of a massive Australian tour, and it was awesome.
Thank you for coming back to Armidale, boys – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
One of the best concerts in Armidale that I can remember. Photo by Tania Court.
