Review: Jimmy Barnes (August 22, 2013)

Thursday 22 August, 2013
The Enmore Theatre
Sydney, NSW, Australia

Jimmy Barnes rolled through Sydney last night in the midst of his first full tour since the last Cold Chisel jaunt back in 2011, and if the Working Class Man has any thoughts about slowing down, he certainly doesn't show it. This was a blistering gig, Barnesy in fine form, belting out all the hits - and just a sprinkling of new songs, which held up well in comparison - that people buy tickets to hear. Of which there are plenty.

The classic Jimmy Barnes look

The band is tight - a special shout-out to lead guitarist Ben Rodgers, who has all the chops in the world - and they roll through a set list chock-full of classic Cold Chisel tracks, alongside Barnes's solo work, with great energy. As well they should now, a number of shows into what has been a successful tour of rural locales across Australia. Make no mistake, in small towns the length and breadth of this country, Barnes is still King.Two of Jimmy's daughters Eliza-Jane sings backing vocals in the band, as does Mahalia, some of the time - when she's not out front, sharing duetting with her father, particularly memorable on the Cold Chisel classic When The War Is Over. And, as if that wasn't enough, she opened the show with her own music.

Father and daughter

Listening to them, you're reminded - well, I was - of just how many great songs Jimmy Barnes had sung over the years, solo stuff and Cold Chisel songs. Lay Down Your Guns, Ride the Night Away, No Second Prize, Flame Trees, Last Frontier, the sprawling music-epic Driving Wheels and the aforementioned Chisel masterpiece When The War Is Over...great songs, and all a part of the fabric of rock and roll in Australia, as is Jimmy himself. He's rock royalty in Australia, and I'd rate him in my Top Five as far as great vocalists that this country has produced over the years, right there with Bon Scott, Michael Hutchence, John Farnham, and Stevie Wright, though in no particular order. The new single Pleasure House has a hugely infectious hook to it, too, and should do good business for Barnesy. (The E.P. is already out!)

The hugely impressive Ben Rodgers on lead guitar

Of course, Jimmy can't leave any venue these days without playing his two signature songs, the Cold Chisel classic Khe Sanh and his just-as-popular solo anthem Working Class Man, two songs that could both lay pretty decent claim to being a kind of unofficial Australian national anthem, and listening to him sing these classic songs with such gusto is incredible. This double shot of classic Aussie rock closed the main set in rip-roaring fashion.

Greeting the faithful

When those first signature notes of Khe Sanh ring out through the Enmore, there was scarcely anyone not standing, belting out the words along with - and, sometimes, over the top of - Barnes, and you can tell he's charged up because of it. And so, the concert becomes a special moment, just like when you're singing along to "You're the Voice" at a John Farnham show, or "Highway to Hell" at an AC/DC gig or "Dancing in the Dark" at a Springsteen concert. The show goes from excellent to epic, and you feel like those two songs are alone worth the price of admission, which was a very reasonable $89 for an evening of great Aussie rock.

From there, the show then proceeded to pretty much blast through the roof of the Enmore with the riotous closer, a searing cover of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke's Resurrection Shuffle (a version of which Jimmy recorded with The Living End on his album on Double Happiness) complete with bass, drum and guitar solos. It was a double punch to end the show, two hours worth of great rock that went far too quickly!

He's going strong, is Barnesy, and long may that continue!