Newcastle Foreshore
Saturday November 25, 2017 :
What a massive weekend Newcastle experienced when the Supercars rolled into town. For myself, I managed to score some media access to shoot the cars, then topped it off with catching Shihad Friday night, and a pit shoot of Chisel Saturday. Three days of fast cars, loud music, beers and burgers never sounded so good.
Saturday was a late start, as was Sunday to be honest. My partner and I spent the early afternoon back at 48 Watt St, having burgers and beers, waiting to make our way to the concert stage in the middle of the track. After negotiating some last minute accreditation to get me into the pit, it was all sorted before The Owls hit the stage. The crowd was already large as many had found their spots early in preparation for Chisel. The Owls looked comfortable in front of what was the largest crowd they had played to. A short, sharp set that was well deserved for these locals.
Following a quick gear change, Spiderbait arrived to an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. I found myself the only photographer in a rather crowded pit – the pit was deep but was filled with stage gear and security, plus the stage was extremely high making it difficult to get clean images. ‘Calypso’, ‘Buy Me A Pony’ with Janet on drums, and ‘Fuckin’ Awesome’ were all…. fuckin’ awesome. The obligatory ‘Black Betty’ as the closer set the crowd up perfectly for Chisel.
As we approached 8pm and the arrival of Cold Chisel, I found myself discussing with my partner what we were going to do with this media lanyard. You see, this lanyard now gets me into the pit in order to photograph, and my partner just happens to have the same media lanyard. For Spiderbait, we were both able to stay in the pit for the entire set. For Chisel, would it be the same deal? On entering the pit, I quickly get told it is the usual “three songs, no flash” rule, so no luck with shooting the entire set. What I did manage to do was set my partner up in the pit right under Jimmy with the instructions to “just stay here and keep an eye out for security and photographer.” She had an amazing experience, and for me that was enough reward from this big weekend.
As for the show itself, it was big, it was long, and it focused quite squarely on Breakfast at Sweethearts, East and Circus Animals. Cold Chisel, the Supercars and Newcastle is the perfect cocktail, and I am sure if it was not 4am while I am writing these words, I could come up with a witty name for said cocktail. ‘Letter To Alan’ began the set before moving onto the driving ‘Standing On The Outside’. With ‘Choirgirl’, ‘Rising Sun’ and ‘My Baby’ to follow, we have received a third of East as the opening salvo.
More recent tracks, songs from No Plans, The Perfect Crime and The Last Wave of Summer, appeared clumped together in the middle of the main set, and did unfortunately quieten the crowd a touch. You could definitely feel the rise and fall from the punters as ‘Cheap Wine’ and ‘Pretty Little Thing’ were delivered, and again with ‘Shipping Steel’ and ‘The Perfect Crime’. To be honest, I feel sorry for these tracks as the legacy of the early ’80s Chisel hangs heavy over the later releases.
On stage, and this was one seriously big stage, the band looked and felt comfortable with smiles exchanged between Barnes and Moss throughout the night. The main set concluded on a wave of ‘Merry-Go-Round’, ‘Flame Trees’, Khe Sanh’, and what I consider the band’s finest moment, ‘Bow River’, sending the crowd into a chant for more. Two encores followed with a quiet, introspective tone – ‘Saturday Night’, ‘Four Walls’ and ‘Breakfast at Sweethearts’ held back the reins, controlling the pace, only to let the beast loose with ‘Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)’ and the night’s closer, a deep cut from East, ‘Tomorrow’. It was a wonderful couple of hours that the 20,000 crowd lapped up with the only opportunity that I feel the band missed was not including ‘Star Hotel’ into the mix. The Star Hotel and the riot surrounding it is etched into Newcastle folklore, and if this song had appeared at a significant point in the night, it would have sent the crown into a frenzy.
Photographer & Reviewer : Kevin Bull
COLD CHISEL
[nggallery id = 777]
SPIDERBAIT
[nggallery id = 778]
THE OWLS
[nggallery id = 779]