Cold Chisel @ the Gong (Wollongong)
One evening early in 2020 - on Saturday 25 January to be precise - I was leaving Wollongong after doing some shopping and heard an unusual noise in the distance. There was obviously a band playing and intermittent sounds of a crowd cheering. So I thought I would go and check it out. I therefore slowly headed out of town through the back streets towards North Beach. As I got closer, the distinctive voice of Jimmy Barnes was heard, fronting the famous Australian rock band Cold Chisel. To my surprise, they appeared to be playing a live, open air concert that evening. So I kept walking towards the sound and a light in the distant sky. It was a dark night, late summer, and as I slowly crested the hill and got closer to the beach, I could see the trees bordering Stuart Park, where I assumed the noise was coming from. All of a sudden there were a lot of people on the street, coming and going, and the ambient energy level noticeably rose. The normally open, grassed area of the park beyond the trees was fenced off, and within it a crowd of some thirteen thousand or so Cold Chisel fans were gathered, as a single, dark mass. Coming to Wollongong that Saturday night from near and far, they were energetically engaged with the band's performance. It was just after 8pm and Cold Chisel had not long been playing. The stage was huge, facing easterly towards the ocean and bordered on both sides by video screens revealing the musicians in full flight, amidst a colourful and smoke tinged light show.
Cold Chisel, Stuart Park, Wollongong, 25 January 2020.
I noted
that the band consisted of the surviving original members - Don Walker (piano), Ian Moss (guitar and vocals), Phil Small (bass) and Jimmy Barnes (vocals). Their
drummer Steve Prestwich had passed away in 2011. He had since been replaced on tour by the American session musician Charley Drayton, formerly with the Divinyls and partner of the late, great Chrissy Amphlette. On stage there were also two back up singers and a horn player, combining to substantially fill out the sound. It was a
big production, and the band was tight as. I didn't have a ticket of course - the show had apparently sold out
months before, with the $200+ tickets beyond my budget at the time - so I thought I would just stand around by the outer
fence and listen to the music for a while, before heading on home.
As I got closer, I noticed that on the eastern side of Stuart
Park and outside the fenced-in area - in between it, a road and the nearby beach - there was a grassy knoll or hilly area on which were seated - or
engaged in dancing - about a thousand people, all listening to the music and
getting a great, though distant, view of the show. They could hear the
band at a level perhaps similar to their lounge room, and see them
clearly as a result of the large television screens on stage. I just sat there on the hill for about 15-20 minutes watching Cold Chisel, observing the crowd and people walking by, and thinking back to when I was 22 and saw them for the first and last time - at an open air concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 18 November 1978, supporting visiting British guitarist Peter Frampton. I had never been a big fan of the post Breakfast at Sweethearts band and solo Jimmy Barnes, but back in the day, around 1977-8 when they first came to prominence, I liked their music a lot. It was energetic hard rock, similar to what I was then experiencing in local pubs and clubs with the likes of Kevin Borich, Chariot and a host of bluesy, heavy rock bands popular with the surf loving punters of Wollongong's northern beaches. Cold Chisel was also refreshingly Australian, with Don Walker songs such as Khe Sanh filling the airwaves of the then new (c.1976) alternate public radio station 2JJ (now 2JJJ), and every now and then appearing, somewhat aggressively and controversially, on TV shows such as Countdown.
Following on the Sydney concert, I remember purchasing their first self-titled album Cold Chisel on 21 November 1978, and EP You're Thirteen, You're Beautiful and You're Mine the following year. The latter was a 5 song, live mini-album, recorded at the Regent Theatre, Sydney. I played it a lot at the time, and it remains one of my favourite albums from the period, capturing the live intensity of the band in classic songs such as Mona and the Preacher and One Long Day. Whenever I put it on - now in CD form - it brings to mind their performance as support band for the Peter Frampton show up at the Sydney Cricket Ground. For that gig, Barnes was dressed in a full body, red leather jump suit. As such, he stood out on the stage in contrast to the all white, baby-faced Frampton of Frampton Comes Alive fame. At that concert Cold Chisel sounded great, reinforcing what I later heard on the aforementioned EP. But apart from that, I cannot recall ever seeing them live in Wollongong, or in its northern suburbs where I lived at the time. I went out to see a lot of bands between 1975-79, but for some reason Cold Chisel was not on my radar, though I now wish they had of been. My mind is somewhat hazy regarding that period - there was a lot of alcohol and marijuana consumed - so I may have seen them, though the encounter was obviously not a truly memorable one, at least in my mind. I regularly attended most of the venues they played at, such as Norths, Mt Pleasant on a Monday night, Collies, the Frat and Dapto Leagues. Others I seemed to have steered away from, such as Wollongong Leagues in the years 1979-81, and by which time I had settled down somewhat and was not going out as much or working.
As I got closer, I noticed that on the eastern side of Stuart
Park and outside the fenced-in area - in between it, a road and the nearby beach - there was a grassy knoll or hilly area on which were seated - or
engaged in dancing - about a thousand people, all listening to the music and
getting a great, though distant, view of the show. They could hear the
band at a level perhaps similar to their lounge room, and see them
clearly as a result of the large television screens on stage. I just sat there on the hill for about 15-20 minutes watching Cold Chisel, observing the crowd and people walking by, and thinking back to when I was 22 and saw them for the first and last time - at an open air concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 18 November 1978, supporting visiting British guitarist Peter Frampton. I had never been a big fan of the post Breakfast at Sweethearts band and solo Jimmy Barnes, but back in the day, around 1977-8 when they first came to prominence, I liked their music a lot. It was energetic hard rock, similar to what I was then experiencing in local pubs and clubs with the likes of Kevin Borich, Chariot and a host of bluesy, heavy rock bands popular with the surf loving punters of Wollongong's northern beaches. Cold Chisel was also refreshingly Australian, with Don Walker songs such as Khe Sanh filling the airwaves of the then new (c.1976) alternate public radio station 2JJ (now 2JJJ), and every now and then appearing, somewhat aggressively and controversially, on TV shows such as Countdown. Following on the Sydney concert, I remember purchasing their first self-titled album Cold Chisel on 21 November 1978, and EP You're Thirteen, You're Beautiful and You're Mine the following year. The latter was a 5 song, live mini-album, recorded at the Regent Theatre, Sydney. I played it a lot at the time, and it remains one of my favourite albums from the period, capturing the live intensity of the band in classic songs such as Mona and the Preacher and One Long Day. Whenever I put it on - now in CD form - it brings to mind their performance as support band for the Peter Frampton show up at the Sydney Cricket Ground. For that gig, Barnes was dressed in a full body, red leather jump suit. As such, he stood out on the stage in contrast to the all white, baby-faced Frampton of Frampton Comes Alive fame. At that concert Cold Chisel sounded great, reinforcing what I later heard on the aforementioned EP. But apart from that, I cannot recall ever seeing them live in Wollongong, or in its northern suburbs where I lived at the time. I went out to see a lot of bands between 1975-79, but for some reason Cold Chisel was not on my radar, though I now wish they had of been. My mind is somewhat hazy regarding that period - there was a lot of alcohol and marijuana consumed - so I may have seen them, though the encounter was obviously not a truly memorable one, at least in my mind. I regularly attended most of the venues they played at, such as Norths, Mt Pleasant on a Monday night, Collies, the Frat and Dapto Leagues. Others I seemed to have steered away from, such as Wollongong Leagues in the years 1979-81, and by which time I had settled down somewhat and was not going out as much or working.
Following on from the 2020 Stuart Park concert, and the memories it engendered at the time, a month or so later I came across a book called Cold Chisel - Wild Colonial Boys by Stephen Lawrence. Published in 2017 in an updated and expanded edition, it listed all the band's gigs from their formation up until the time of publication. It included comments about their live performances and related history, including membership changes, the process of song writing and development, and tours, both national and international. As I was reading through the book, I thought, "Hang on! I might be able to reconstruct a bit of a history of the band's encounters with the Wollongong area!" This thought arose out of a comment made by Jimmy Barnes during the Stuart Park concert, along the lines of: "It's great to be here in Wollongong .... I remember the frequent journeys we made down here during the 70s." And so, with that book in hand, I went through and identified all those listed visits to the region. They are included below - some 32 gigs between 1976-2020. Additional clarification was also gained from the Australian Music Database website, especially where the names of venues overlapped, such as, for example, Western Suburbs Leagues Club which had four different locations in New South Wales alone - the only relevant one being that at Unanderra.
Wollongong area gigs
1976
Saturday 13 March - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale. A four piece performance - Moss, Walker, Small and Prestwich - without Jimmy Barnes who was singing at the time with his brother John Swan in the Adelaide-based band Fraternity, whose former singer was Bon Scott. Norths became a regular gig for the band through to the end of 1977, after which they moved on to bigger venues in the region.
Saturday 4 December - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale. This, and the remaining gigs, all included Jimmy Barnes.
1977
Saturday 2 July - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
Thursday 11 August - Wollongong Town Hall, with Richard Clapton. A concert staged by Radio 2WL and Wollongong City Council.
Saturday 20 August - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
Saturday 1 October - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
Monday 17 October - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie. The band received a payment of $270 for the gig.
Monday 28 November - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
Saturday 17 December - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
1976
Saturday 13 March - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale. A four piece performance - Moss, Walker, Small and Prestwich - without Jimmy Barnes who was singing at the time with his brother John Swan in the Adelaide-based band Fraternity, whose former singer was Bon Scott. Norths became a regular gig for the band through to the end of 1977, after which they moved on to bigger venues in the region.
Saturday 4 December - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale. This, and the remaining gigs, all included Jimmy Barnes.
1977
Saturday 2 July - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
Thursday 11 August - Wollongong Town Hall, with Richard Clapton. A concert staged by Radio 2WL and Wollongong City Council.
Saturday 20 August - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
Saturday 1 October - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
Monday 17 October - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie. The band received a payment of $270 for the gig.
Monday 28 November - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
Saturday 17 December - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale.
1978
Monday 13 February - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
Monday 20 February - University of Wollongong. Free outdoor lunchtime concert on the Union lawn during Orientation Week, 12.30-1.30pm.
Tuesday 21 March - Collegians Rugby Leagues Club, Wollongong.
Monday 22 May - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
Monday 26 June - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
Saturday 26 August - Northern Suburbs Leagues Club, Coledale. The following day, Sunday 27 August, Cold Chisel was filmed playing live at the Sydney ABC Studio 221 in Forbes Street. The full 50 minute video presents some idea of what the band would have sounded like the night before, in a typical club / pub environment.
Cold Chisel, One Long Day, ABC Studio 221, Sydney, 27 August 1978. Source: YouTube.
Monday 28 August - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
1979
Tuesday 27 March - Collegians Club, Wollongong.
Wednesday 2 May - Fraternity Club, Fairy Meadow. Crowd - 836 people.
Monday 28 May - Mount Pleasant Sports & Social Club, Balgownie.
Tuesday 13 November - Wollongong Leagues Club.
1980
Sunday 27 January - Wollongong Leagues Club. Crowd - 990 people.
Sunday 16 March - Wollongong Leagues Club.
Cold Chisel, One Long Day, Manly Vale Hotel, 7 June 1980. Source: YouTube.
Sunday 8 June - Wollongong Leagues Club. A live video was made of the band at the Manly Vale Hotel the previous day, on Saturday 7 June 1980. The complete concert is available on YouTube (see above) and as a double CD as part of The Live Tapes releases.
Wednesday 23 July - Dapto Leagues Club. Crowd - 1150 people.
Saturday 27 December - Wollongong Leagues Club. A local fan, Oscar Madison, obtained autographs from Ian Moss and Don Walker at this gig. Moss refers to the years ahead, and Walker wishes Oscar a "Merry Xmas and a happy New Year" for 1980.
1981
Thursday 21 May - Wollongong Leagues Club.
1982
Saturday 16 January - Vista Theatre, Woonona. Supported by the Divinyls.
Comment by Philip Hariman (Facebook 25 April 2013): I remember going to the Vista Theatre in my home town of Woonona in the
early 80s to see Cold Chisel when this support band came on to play.
The lead singer rose up from behind the amps in a cloud of smoke with a
flourescent mic stand and performed 'Boys in Town'. They were of course
the Divinyls. In minutes they had the entire place bouncing off the
walls. I was hooked. After their set, Chisel came on and after about 3
songs people, including myself, started leaving as they were such a let
down after the performance and raw energy of the Divinyls. A night I
will never forget.
Comment by Kent Broadhead (Facebook 8 October 20202): Perceptions are interesting. I
was at the Vista gig in 82 and recall it as one of the best gigs I’ve
ever seen. A hot night, no aircon, and abundant underage drinking just
gave the whole evening an exciting edge that could have tipped over into
violence but didn’t. I saw the first Last Stand entcent [Sydney Entertainment Centre] gig, and the
Divinyls up close at the Patch also in 83, but neither quite stood up to
the Vista gig.
1983
1983
Wednesday 6 April - Fraternity Bowling and Recreation Club, Fairy Meadow.
Friday 8 April - Fraternity Bowling and Recreation Club, Fairy Meadow. According to an article in The Bulletin magazine on the effects of the recession in Wollongong, the following comment was made by the reporter: At the Italian club, called the Fraternity Club, about 1500 youngsters packed the auditorium one night to hear the rock group Cold Chisel: you could hardly walk across the darkened room for people and beer cans on the floor. There was not much sign of recession there.... (Armstrong 1983)
Friday 8 April - Fraternity Bowling and Recreation Club, Fairy Meadow. According to an article in The Bulletin magazine on the effects of the recession in Wollongong, the following comment was made by the reporter: At the Italian club, called the Fraternity Club, about 1500 youngsters packed the auditorium one night to hear the rock group Cold Chisel: you could hardly walk across the darkened room for people and beer cans on the floor. There was not much sign of recession there.... (Armstrong 1983)
9 December - Thirroul Leagues Club. Part of the Last Stand tour.
[Cold Chisel officially disbanded at the end of 1983 with the Last Stand concerts at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, 12-15 December. They reformed in 1997 and toured nationally the following year. Since then they have reformed and performed intermittently, for individual gigs and national tours.]
1998
17 December - Wollongong Entertainment Centre. The Last Wave of Summer tour.
2010
Thursday, 30 September - Shellharbour Workers Club [Shellys], Shellharbour. This was a warm-up gig for a concert at the Deniliquin Ute Muster two days later. A special poster was printed for the occasion, featuring an image of a surf board rider in a tube within a section of the nearby Port Kembla steel works. It was offered for sale at the gig, along with a t-shirt bearing the same image. The screenprint was designed and printed by James Bellesini of Squirrel Menace, in a limited edition of 300 copies.
A 5.17 minute long audience shot video of them performing Saturday Night is available on YouTube.
2011
13 November - Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. Light the Nitro tour.
2015
Sunday 14 December - WIN Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. One Night Stand tour.
[Cold Chisel officially disbanded at the end of 1983 with the Last Stand concerts at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, 12-15 December. They reformed in 1997 and toured nationally the following year. Since then they have reformed and performed intermittently, for individual gigs and national tours.]
1998
17 December - Wollongong Entertainment Centre. The Last Wave of Summer tour.
2010
Thursday, 30 September - Shellharbour Workers Club [Shellys], Shellharbour. This was a warm-up gig for a concert at the Deniliquin Ute Muster two days later. A special poster was printed for the occasion, featuring an image of a surf board rider in a tube within a section of the nearby Port Kembla steel works. It was offered for sale at the gig, along with a t-shirt bearing the same image. The screenprint was designed and printed by James Bellesini of Squirrel Menace, in a limited edition of 300 copies.
James Bellesini, Cold Chisel - Shellharbour Worker's Club, 2010, poster + t-shirt.
A 5.17 minute long audience shot video of them performing Saturday Night is available on YouTube.
2011
13 November - Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. Light the Nitro tour.
James Bellesini, Cold Chisel - Light the Nitro Tour, 2011, poster.
2015
Sunday 14 December - WIN Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. One Night Stand tour.
Cold Chisel, Wollongong Entertainment Centre, 13 December 2015. Audience video. Duration: 24.14 minutes. There are also additional videos, including Bow River (below).
2020
25 January - Stuart Park, Wollongong. Blood Moon tour.
References
25 January - Stuart Park, Wollongong. Blood Moon tour.
References
AAP, Cold Chisel announce warm up gig in Wollongong on 30 September, news.com.au [webpage], 13 September 2010. Available URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/cold-chisel-announce-warm-up-gig-in-wollongong-on-september-30/news-story/66f1ee4824a44c02b825bda230efe51d.
Armstrong, David, The recession - A steel city sings the blues, The Bulletin, 19 April 1983.
Gig History 1980s, Cold Chisel [website], 2020. Available URL: http://www.coldchisel.com/gig-history-1980s/.
Lawrence, Michael, Cold Chisel - Wild Colonial Boys, Updated edition, Melbourne Books, 2017, 360p.
Tonkin, Shannon, Cold Chisel rocks Wollongong like its 1979, Illawarra Mercury, 26 January 2020. Available URL: https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6598740/cold-chisel-rocks-wollongong-like-its-1979/.
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Last updated: 9 October 2020
Michael Organ, Australia
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Really enjoyed this... thank you. Cold Chisel gig on Sunday 27 January 1980 at Wollongong Leagues Club was a double-header with INXS.
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