Cold Chisel, Kasey Chambers, Bad// Dreems @ Adelaide 500, Adelaide 2/3/2018
After a day of racing trackside the attention turned to the Adelaide 500 After Concerts featuring Cold Chisel, Kasey Chambers, Bad//Dreems and With Bands On Track starring locals Donnarumma and Hana & Jessie Lee giving them a well-deserved opportunity to play in front a massive crowd. Bad//Dreems really did rise to the occasion looking right at home in front of this bumper crowd. Their sound was brilliant and no doubt I would think they wouldn’t have a problem packing out whatever venue they play next. It is unfortunate that lead singer Ben Marwe had to call out some appealing crowd behavior down the front and have this punter removed.
Kasey Chambers, continuing the South Australian connection was up next, and even by her own reckoning is an acquired taste and even conceded that she isn’t that bothered that people think she has an annoying whiny voice. Each to their own I guess and with that aside she was appreciated by the crowd even acknowledging the big burley tough guy down the front singing along to the words to Not Pretty Enough which according to Kasey made her night. Wheelbarrow was a cracking opener and what is tough about shows like this is that people want to hear the old stuff, what they know and are familiar with rather than the new stuff drawing a response from Kasey that “people know all the old ones better than the new ones”.
The set list was solid and she is backed by some absolute gun musicians including her old man Bill Chambers who brought plenty of swagger to the show. Highlights from the set include Rattlin’ Bones, Pony and This Flower. There was also an interesting take on a White Stripes classic Seven Nation Army but the biggest response came with career shaping hit The Captain which Kasey said that there was more of her in this song compared to any other. The set finished on a cracking version of Barricades And Brickwalls.
Cold Chisel! Yep! Cold Bloody Chisel keeping the South Australian theme running was the perfect fit for the Adelaide 500 resonating with the petrol heads looking to keep that festive vibe going. Cold Chisel don’t disappoint and like a fine wine they keep getting better and better with age. They sound awesome, look in tip top condition, great sound and production… how could anyone complain with what they were seeing and hearing! Um, well! The Garden Of Unearthly Delights put a complaint in about the noise!
For the next two hours Cold Chisel put on a show taking fans through literally every nook and cranny of their vast back catalogue. Opening with Standing On The Outside, Letter To Alan and Home And Broken Hearted was full throttle. The hits kept coming with Choir Girl, Rising Sun and My Baby. There wasn’t a lot of chat from the great man Jimmy Barnes letting the music do all the talking. Cheap Wine was awesome and so to was car driving song HQ 454 Monroe. Barnes said there was a strange feeling coming to Adelaide, my hometown and whether I am looking out at one of my mates. It almost seemed fitting that the next song was When The War Was Over.
The crowd were excitable relishing the hits and the opportunity to sing-a-long with mates and downing plenty of amber fluids. Shipping Steel was for all the truck drivers and the popularity and power of Nothing I Want, Flame Trees, Khe Sanh and set closer Bow River.
Chisel returned for first of two encores and these songs would have made the diehards smile. Saturday Night, 4 Walls, Conway Twitty cover It’s Only Make Believe topped off with Wild Colonial Boy were brilliantly done. Taipan was an interesting choice in the second encore and Breakfast At Sweethearts followed. The night was brought to an end with The Perfect Crime and the predictable Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye). Hats off to the Adelaide 500 organisers on great job pulling this one together. With the crowds leaving the site descending on the heart of the East End to keep partying well in to the night.
Review by Rob Lyon