COLD CHISEL LIVE REVIEW PERTH AUSTRALIA 2015

with THE LIVING END

Perth Arena, Perth November 14 2015

MUSIC REVIEW ARCHIVES

MUSIC REVIEWS 2015 
-----------
MUSIC REVIEWS 2014 
-----------
MUSIC REVIEWS 2013 
-----------
MUSIC REVIEWS 2012 
-----------
MUSIC REVIEWS 2011 
-----------
MUSIC REVIEWS 2010 
-----------
BOOKS & DVD'S 2009-2014 
-----------

“I think that every Australian should have to own at least one Chisel album, and they should put a question on Barnsey in the citizenship test, aye?” it’s certainly an interesting proposition put to me by a seven foot bearded, Chisel-shirted, Ugg-booted patron and his significant other at Perth’s Arena. The world would be a much simpler place for sure, and any country that injects a bit of Rock into its citizenship requirements would certainly get my vote.

It’s great to see Chisel back in the new millennium, though tonight there’s a very real feeling that the audience would have been there back in the day too, they pretty much all look like they were there back in the day as distinct from say a Rolling Stones audience that had a good cross-section of ages scattered throughout the crowd. Cold Chisel of course has always been an Australian thing – the greatest Australian Rock band maybe never to have been embraced by the rest of the world?

Tonight’s support comes from The Living End, who let’s face it are always great to see, whether it’s for their early Rockabilly passion, or there more recent straight-ahead timeless rock and roll, I’d recommend these guys to anyone.

Chisel of course lift the roof, just by taking the stage. There’s such a connection between the band and the audience it’s hard to explain, it’s up there with an AC/DC crowd, and I have to say it’s a completely Australian phenomena, a mixture of pride, memories and the freedom only loud music can bring.

Opening with ‘Standing on the Outside’ and ‘Shipping Steel’ the Arena erupts and the singing starts and rarely stops, aside for the new tracks from latest album ‘The Perfect Crime’ which may take a while to sink in to the degree that the classics have. Mossy makes an early cameo on vocals too for ‘My Baby’ before the pub anthems ‘Cheap Wine’; ‘Flame Trees’ ad ‘Khe Sanh’ threatened to bring the house down.

Ian Moss then brought the euphoria to a gentle plateau with ‘Bow River’ to close the set proper, before Chisel returned for encores of ‘When The War Is Over’ and ‘Forever Now’. It was at that point the gods of fate and electricity stepped in and the sound went dead, but neither the band nor the audience cared and both just played and sang on until it came back, before ‘Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)’ seemingly had the final word.

The crowd of course didn’t stop screaming and after a short break Mossy appeared again this time on his own to belt out the timeless ‘Georgia On My Mind’. It would have been a great way to close a great night which actually ended rather unexpectedly, and for some rather oddly, with the band reaching into their two comeback albums for closers ‘No Plans’ (from the 2012 album of the same name, their first album in 14 years after the first split) and ‘The Last Wave Of Summer’ (from the 1998 album of the same name, again their first in 14 years).

  
An amazing night in Perth of real Aussie rock, proving that there’s still plenty more miles in the Chisel tank yet.

by Jimmy Bay Photos by Mark Rockpit