Jimmy Barnes, Icehouse, Ian Moss, Kate Ceberano, John Rooney @ Peter Lehmann Wines, Tanunda 31/1/2026
The For the Working Class Man 40th Anniversary Tour rolled into South Australia – Jimmy Barnes’ spiritual home state. Jimmy Barnes didn’t just bring his legendary voice to the Barossa Valley; he brought a literal “who’s who” of Australian rock royalty for support. It certainly doesn’t seem like forty years since I purchased this highly anticipated album. The Peter Lehmann Winery was a great choice of venue, and people arrived early to secure the best vantage points in the G.A. area and check out the support acts.
John Rooney opened the proceedings, with the band dressed in the quintessential “rock and roll black.” In a world of sliding doors, John’s 1980s band, The Lonely Hearts, supported Cold Chisel on the night Jimmy and Jane got married. Fate would intervene much later in life, as John Rooney is also an orthopaedic surgeon and recently operated on Jimmy.
Jimmy repaid the favor by singing on John’s latest single, Trouble Always Finds Me. While Jimmy didn’t perform it with John this afternoon, the version was still excellent. John’s set consisted of songs from his two solo albums, as well as tracks from his upcoming album and a breath taking cover of The Letter. With a few witty quips about songs dedicated to “his dog” and “the ladies,” Rooney closed his set with a high-energy rendition of If I Were You.
Kate Ceberano is an Australian icon, and her powerful voice has stayed with her to this day. Her set was a curated journey through Australian classics, interspersed with “some of her own” hits. True to her word, Kate opened with The Models’ Out of Mind, Out of Sight. During the next forty-five minutes, we heard Straight Lines (Silverchair), If You Leave Me Now (Mental as Anything), I See Red (Split Enz), and her own hits, including Bedroom Eyes. However, it was a bit frustrating that she would start a song like INXS’s Burn For You magnificently, only to perform a verse and chorus before transitioning to another song. Again, Chisel’s You Got Nothing I Want (performed “with permission from Jimmy”) sounded great with an accompaniment of only two acoustic guitars, before morphing into Eagle Rock. “This is South Australia, so I have to do this song,” Kate announced, playing Sia’s Chandelier, but that too pivoting into Wolfmother’s, The Joker and the Thief. It was as if she was trying to pack as many songs as possible into her time rather than playing them in full. However, as usual, Kate gave us a good time and had everyone smiling.
With a boogie intro track and the words Ian Moss emblazoned on the screen, Ian and his band walked on stage, Ian giving the crowd a hand salute. The band launched into Such a Beautiful Thing from the 1989 Matchbook album, following it up with Out of the Fire from the same album. Moss proved he hasn’t lost a step. Telling the audience, “I’m not a spring chicken, but looking out and around, I’m not the only one,” one senses he knew his audience and what they wanted. This was proven with the Cold Chisel songs My Baby and a magnificent Choirgirl being rolled out back-to-back. Ian teased the audience with the intro of The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up before playing the “really old” song Telephone Booth. Ian didn’t leave out his latest album, though; a spectacular Nullarbor Plain was played after a history lesson on how it got its name. “It’s Latin for treeless,” we were told. Then, for “something completely different,” we got Georgia (On My Mind), a song Chisel often played, though the original goes back to 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra. (That’s my history lesson today). A very electric Bow River closed out the set. Ian may be well known for his guitar work, but his vocals are smooth and often soulful. Everyone, Ian and the audience alike, was happy at the end.
Icehouse seemed like a unique choice for a support band. They are, after all, as iconic as Jimmy Barnes and can headline their own shows, but I guess they are all friends and decided to come along for the ride. With no fanfare or announcement, Icehouse just appeared on stage and Electric Blue flowed from the speakers, featuring Hugo Lee’s soaring saxophone work. Dedicated to “Jimmy’s daughter,” Hey Little Girl followed. Each song had its own dedicated video clip on the screen behind the band. “This song is old. There used to be a band called Flowers,” Iva told us before Fatman exploded forth. No Promises and Crazy followed, then Michael Paynter, who was playing with Jimmy, came on stage for Touch the Fire. A long, beautiful sax solo flowed over the audience before a haunting, unbelievably good, Don’t Believe Anymore kicked in, shadowed by a brief drum solo. Guitarist Paul Gildea told everyone to stand for the next song, which naturally was Great Southern Land, Australia’s unofficial national anthem. We Can Get Together closed out a “greatest hits” set. Iva and the band gave the people what they wanted, a masterclass of their catalogue and the crowd lapped it up.
Finally, it was time for the “Elizabeth Boy” Jimmy Barnes to take his throne. Following a montage of career highlights, Jimmy Barnes hit the stage with a clear mission: to play the For the Working Class Man album in its entirety.
The sound engineers seemingly turned the volume to eleven as I’d Die to Be with You Tonight shook the winery. Jimmy was a whirlwind of energy, stalking the stage during Ride the Night Away and American Heartbeat. “Welcome to 1985,” he shouted. “It was a big year for me and changed my life forever. Thick Skinned and Daylight came quickly, with Jimmy continuing to stalk the stage, often pointing to individuals in the audience. He made everyone feel as if he were playing just for them.
Bagpipes appeared on stage for Vision. “That’s Dougie,” we were told, and Jane Barnes joined Doug on the pipes as well. Without Your Love was the first song I wrote for Jane,” Jimmy told us. Then, footage filmed from the front of a train signalled only one song: No Second Prize. The song was originally demoed by Cold Chisel in the early ’80s but never used; thankfully, Jimmy resurrected it for his solo debut.
Working Class Man closed out the main set, bringing down the house. There was no break except for a short keyboard solo before the band returned for Last Frontier from the Freight Train Heart album. Mahalia Barnes joined her dad for a stirring version of Too Much Ain’t Enough Love, then Ian Moss returned to the stage for a rousing Merry-Go-Round. “I’m so happy to be playing in my hometown with Ian,” Jimmy said, as Ian Moss wore a huge smile. Beyond the River Bend, from Jimmy’s album DEFIANT brought out the bagpipes again. Lay Down Your Guns and Flame Trees were played before his recent single, Defiant, closed the set.
Driving Wheels opened the encore and Shutting Down Our Town displayed how passionate Jimmy is about his home suburb, Elizabeth. Khe Sanh had the crowd on its feet, singing along loudly, and Mahalia Barnes returned for the Easybeats cover, Good Times. With a simple “See you next time,” Jimmy left the stage while the band brought the song to a close.
It was a great day of Australian live music, with all artists in fine form. The venue was packed to the back, which was good to see. One wonders if the twenty-somethings of today will be watching their current favorite bands playing in forty years’ time, in a venue like this. But then again, forty years ago, did we think we would be here?
Live Review by Geoff Jenke