Could management or promoters have expected this? Cold Chisel’s Light The Nitro tour has gone gangbusters and sold 155,000 tickets within three hours of going on sale yesterday. Within an hour the Aussie legends’ Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle, Gold Coast, Canberra and Wollongong dates had sold out with second ones immediately announced. These dates didn’t last long either, with management and the promoters scrambling to secure further dates at venues.
The band issued a statement that reads “Cold Chisel agreed this morning to try to extend the tour for a few days beyond what was originally planned. The band has asked Melbourne fans to stay calm and stay tuned. The band will definitely add an additional date in Melbourne in early December. A confirmed date will hopefully be announced in the next 48 hours as the group’s managers scramble to confirm venue availabilities. The band has also been besieged by Perth fans who are screaming for more and we are looking at all options.”
The tour going on sale followed the re-release of the band’s remastered back catalogue which stormed in to the charts and saw perennial commercial radio favourite and bogan singalong ‘Khe Sanh’ enter the single charts for the first time ever. The band’s winery shows at the Bimbadgen Estate, Hunter Valley; the Robert Oatley Vineyard, Mudgee and the Rochford Winery, Yarra Valley all sold out by 10am as well.
The band have pleaded with fans not to buy tickets at inflated prices and assure them that they’re doing everything possible to schedule more dates. Just to put the number of ticket sales in to perspective, the figures so far have outpaced Powderfinger’s farewell tour and the band’s own infamous Last Stand tour in the 1980s.
