Update: Due to “unprecedented” demand for tickets, Cold Chisel have added six new shows to their 50th anniversary tour.
It’s the biggest Australian tour news of the year: legendary rockers Cold Chisel have announced a special 50th anniversary tour.
Announced today, Cold Chisel will celebrate 50 years together across Australia later this year, performing in Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne, Brisbane, and beyond between October and November (see full dates below).
The tour has been meticulously planned, with the first show taking place in Armidale, where the band based themselves in 1974-1975 while Don Walker completed his university studies, and ending in Adelaide, where the band formed all those years ago.
The Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne shows will be staged under a specially constructed 10,000 capacity Big Top tent, a nod to the band’s iconic ‘An Evening with the Circus Animals’ shows in 1982 which closed with Jimmy Barnes singing while riding pillion on a motorbike flying up a trapeze wire.
‘The Big Five-0’ Tour will be a tour like no other, with the band simply touring “because we all love playing gigs together.” Expect to hear timeless classics including “Khe Sanh”, “Cheap Wine”, “All for You”, “Last Wave of Summer”, and “Saturday Night”.
Walker can’t wait to get started. “We’ll be going all out to celebrate a milestone birthday like this. Bookending the tour in the two places where we first welded the band together, building these circus tent shows in 3 cities, bringing along some great guests and doing a set which reaches back across our whole song catalogue should all make ‘The Big Five-0’ a tour to remember,” he says.
Ian Moss adds, “We wanted to celebrate our 50th birthday by revisiting all of our best work from across the years. As we prepare the setlist, there are a minimum of 15 songs that our audience demands to hear. This time we’ll be playing all of them plus we’ll be throwing in lots of musical surprises as well.”
The tour announcement follows Jimmy Barnes‘s well-documented recent health battles, which makes the upcoming shows extra meaningful for the legendary rocker. While in recovery from emergency open heart surgery last year, getting back onstage with Cold Chisel was always in his mind.
“Cold Chisel are never apart. We’re as close as brothers. Some of the best moments of my life have been spent on stage with those boys, and I hope we keep going ‘til the day we drop,” he shares.
“There have been plenty of times where I never thought I’d live to see this day so I’m going to make the most of it. I can’t wait to celebrate with my mates and with all the fans who have been such a big part of our story. We’re gonna smash it!”
As for bassist Phil Small, there are certain cities he can’t wait to play. “Gold is obviously associated with 50th anniversaries, so we thought it would be fun to pull the tour into Ballarat – Australia’s gold mining capital. We’re looking forward to playing the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong and Hobart too because each of those cities have been important to us in various ways over the last 50 years,” he says.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, June 4th at 12pm local time. Limited tickets will also go on sale to members of Cold Chisel’s mailing list on Friday, May 31st at 12pm local time (sign up here). Cold Chisel will be joined by special guests including The Cruel Sea and Karen Lee Andrews at select shows.
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Cold Chisel 50th Anniversary Tour
Ticket information available via coldchisel.com
Saturday, October 5th (SOLD OUT)
Petersons Winery, Mount View, Armidale, NSW
Special guests: The Cruel Sea, Birds of Tokyo, The Superjesus & Karen Lee Andrews
Tuesday, October 8th (SOLD OUT)
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Broadbeach, QLD
Special guest: Karen Lee Andrews
Friday, October 11th (SOLD OUT)
The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, October 12th (SOLD OUT)
The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW
Special guests: The Cruel Seas & Karen Lee Andrews
Tuesday, October 15th (SOLD OUT)
WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW
Special guests: Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, October 19th (SOLD OUT)
Sandalford Wines, Caversham, WA
Special guests: Birds of Tokyo, The Cruel Sea, The Superjesus & Karen Lee Andrews
Sunday, October 20th (SOLD OUT)
Sandalford Wines, Caversham, WA
Special guests: Birds of Tokyo, The Cruel Sea, The Superjesus & Karen Lee Andrews
Friday, October 25th (SOLD OUT)
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, VIC
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, October 26th (SOLD OUT)
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, VIC
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Wednesday, October 30th (NEW SHOW)
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLD
Special guest: Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, November 2nd (SOLD OUT)
Victoria Park, Brisbane, QLD
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Sunday, November 3rd (SOLD OUT)
Victoria Park, Brisbane, QLD
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Wednesday, November 6th (SOLD OUT)
Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Broadmeadow, QLD
Special guest: Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, November 9th (SOLD OUT)
Victoria Park, Ballarat, VIC
Special guests: The Cruel Sea, Birds of Tokyo, The Superjesus & Karen Lee Andrews
Sunday, November 10th (SOLD OUT)
Mornington Racecourse, VIC
Special guests: The Cruel Sea, Birds of Tokyo, The Superjesus & Karen Lee Andrews
Wednesday, November 13th (SOLD OUT)
MyState Bank Arena, Glenorchy, TAS
Special guest: Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, November 16th (SOLD OUT)
QUDOS Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW
Special guest: The Cruel Sea
Sunday, November 17th
VAILO Adelaide 500, Post Race Concert, Adelaide, SA
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & The Superjesus
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Friday, November 22nd (NEW SHOW)
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, VIC
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, November 23rd (NEW SHOW)
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, VIC
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Thursday, November 28th (NEW SHOW)
Patrick White Lawns, Canberra, ACT
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
Saturday, November 30th (NEW SHOW)
Roche Estate, Hunter Valley, NSW
Special guests: The Cruel Sea, Birds of Tokyo, The Superjesus & Karen Lee Andrews
Wednesday, December 4th (NEW SHOW)
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW
Special guests: The Cruel Sea & Karen Lee Andrews
