Perth fans flocked to Sandalford’s winery over two amazing days, as Cold Chisel flew in to celebrate their 50th anniversary in style, bringing with them a host of top artists to make sure it was one hell of a party. It was a day of two completely different vibes weatherwise, with Saturday’s crowd bathed in WA spring sunshine, while Sunday’s audience needed umbrellas and gumboots, not that they were complaining.
With 13,000 attending the picturesque Swan Valley location, the afternoon started with the beautiful vocal tones of multi-instrumentalist Karen Lee Andrews. Warming the crowd with her acoustic vibes and powerful vocals, Andrews is no stranger to working with Jimmy Barnes, having appeared on a few of his solo tours in the past, including his They’re Shutting Down Your Town Tour in 2019 and his Soul Deep 30 Tour in 2022.
The first of the bands to kick the rock vibe in were The Superjesus. With new music already released over the past 18-months, this is a band with renewed vigour as original members Sarah McLeod & Stu Rudd have drafted in fresh faces in the shape of Cam Blokland and Danny Leo. This power quartet smashed their way through an up-tempo set that soon had rock lovers flocking to the front of stage. The charismatic McLeod, dressed in white jeans and white Rockpit tee shirt, really does have that girl-next-door attitude and it immediately rubs off on fans old & new.
We were informed that she had arrived from Brisbane that morning, only to find out that sadly her guitars hadn’t – step in superhero Blokland to lend one of his, only for her to faceplant his beloved instrument into the speaker as she ran on! The set reflected on past & present, with newer tracks like ‘Money (We’re Only In It For Love)’, the super-catchy ‘Something Good’ and Billy Idol cover ‘Dancing With Myself’ rejuvenating the band as they near the release of the brand new album in early 2025.
But the older material sounds just as fresh, with The Superjesus certainly firing on all cylinders as they trawled back through albums like ‘Jet Age’, ‘Rock Music’ and ‘Sumo’ to pull out hits like ‘Gravity’, ‘Stick Together’ and ‘Ashes’. I’m extremely excited for 2025 and the new album…surely a nationwide tour is locked in and ready to announce? See you there!
A change of vibe gave everyone time to grab their drinks and take a breath as The Cruel Sea entered the fray. Bringing their brand of indie rock to the natural amphitheatre, The Cruel Sea entered the stage to kick things off with the instrumental ‘4’ before the emergence of frontman Tex Perkins to fall into ‘It’s Alright’. Perkins remains on of this country’s more entertaining frontmen and his ability to swagger across the stage, engaging with the crowd is mesmerising at times. Bluesy and cruisy at times, The Cruel Sea added a different and welcomed music angle for the day with songs like the Shadow’s influenced ‘The Drift’ cutting through the afternoon air. Tracks like ‘Better Get a Lawyer’ from their 1995 album ‘Three Legged Dog’ still receive rapturous applause and the band eased their way through an 11-song set closing with ‘This Is Not The Way Home’, from their platinum selling album of the same name.
Birds of Tokyo are fast becoming one of my favourite festival/arena bands that WA (and Australia) have produced. Sharp, energetic and with a ton of anthemic bangers to boot, Birds of Tokyo had the bonus of the sunset slot today, and boy did they relish in it. This was an hours set crammed with hits, with the soul intention of revving up the home crowd in anticipation for headliners Cold Chisel and by god did they do a fine job. Hits like ‘Plans’, ‘Good Lord’, ‘Unbreakable’, ‘Two of Us’ are mind-blowingly good live and the crowd revelled in it. Ian Kenny showed genuine love for the Perth crowd, referencing his pride in playing at ‘home’. Latest single ‘Heartbreakers Bar’ has a sea-shanty vibe but is another that makes it hard to still to. As dusk descended it was time to get our phones out and light them up as 13,000 shone brightly on the hill as ‘Lanterns’ threating to have the planes landing at Perth airport to have to be diverted! Surely if a band is close to the fabled Pre-AFL Grand Final entertainment slot it must be Birds of Tokyo.
The Perth night sky sparkled with stars as the stage lit up to the sight of Cold Chisel charging on to take their places. For a band hitting their 50th anniversary it was immediately evident that this was no money-grabbing last hurrah – tonight, these Aussie rock legends were here to perform, and perform they did. With a twenty-four song set list, Cold Chisel rolled back the years as they blazed into ‘Standing on the Outside’, Jimmy Barnes showing no signs of the hospital visit that threatened to upend the tour a few months ago. Ian Moss with finger-nails painted metallic silver was unstoppable as the lights reflected off his dizzying fingers as they danced upon the fret board. It was a set that all die-hard Chisel fans would have wanted – the huge timeless hits with some rare cuts littered through the night. ‘Four Walls’ was exceptional, ‘Choir Girl’ sublime and the mid-section of ‘Cheap Wine’, ‘Rising Sun’, ‘My Baby’, ‘All For You’ and ‘You’ve Got Nothing I Want’ was fabulous.
Leading the rhythmic engine was faultless Charley Drayton and Phil Small, thundering along relentlessly, keeping it all glued together perfectly. Don Walker majestically danced his fingers across the keys as the party didn’t stop there, as we hit fever pitch with another triple blitz of hits with ‘Flame Trees’, ‘Khe-Sanh’ and ‘Bow River’. We waited and held our breath. More was the cry and more we got as the band re-entered the cauldron for the first of two encores; ‘Saturday Night’, ‘Breakfast at Sweethearts’, ‘Forever Now’ and ‘Painted Doll’ had the crowd wild, almost rabid. Surely we were done? A second encore drew more cheers as ‘When The War Is Over’ led us to the last of the night.
This wasn’t just a celebration of 50 years of Cold Chisel. It was a testament to what Australian rock is all about. Judging by the musicianship tonight there are plenty more years in this band yet…if they want there to be.
With thanks to Ferris Davis PRM & Face to Face Touring for the access.
