Get shipping steel boys and girls, because the mighty Cold Chisel are heading out on the road playing a massive run of shows that sees them stopping in just about every town on the map in Australia. The ‘Light The Nitro’ tour sees them playing their biggest tour for about 30 years and calls in heavyweight supports from the likes of Dan Sultan, You Am I, Grinspoon and Stonefield. The tour coincides with the release of the band’s whole back catalogue digitally for the first time, as well as 56 rare and previously unreleased tracks – not to mention the obligatory remastering, repackaging and inclusion of DVDs with rare footage.
Despite the death of drummer Steve Prestwich in January, the band have decided that he would have wanted them to continue with the tour which has been two years in planning and will give 20 % of tour profits to his children. Singer Jimmy Barnes says that playing in front of 50,000 fans at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium two years ago was such a buzz that it set in train the plans for the comprehensive reissues and tour. “We got such a buzz from that gig that it made all of us really want to get our act together. We wanted to do things properly though because we know this band means a lot to a lot of people – especially us! So we had to do it right. That meant taking time to find lots of cool unreleased stuff and getting the albums looking and sounding great. It also meant making all the music available everywhere that people might want to get it these days. We agreed that once that was sorted we’d go out and play all those songs right around Australia and New Zealand in a way that we haven’t really done since the early 80s.”
Thursday 13 October – Newcastle Panthers (with Even)
Wednesday 19 October – Townsville Entertainment Centre (with You Am I)
Friday 21 October – Cairns Showgrounds (with You Am I)
Sunday 23 October – Botanic Gardens Amphitheatre, Darwin (with You Am I)
Wednesday 26 October – Mackay Showgrounds (with You Am I)
Thursday 27 October – Rockhampton Showgrounds (with You Am I)
Saturday 29 October – Stockland Park, Sunshine Coast (with Grinspoon)
Sunday 30 October – Gold Coast Convention Centre (with You Am I)
Tuesday 1 November – Brisbane Entertainment Centre (with You Am I)
Friday 4 November – Stadium Drive Hockey Fields, Coffs Harbour (with You Am I)
Saturday 5 November – Robert Oatley Vineyards, Mudgee (with You Am I, Stonefield)
Monday 7 November – Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre (with You Am I)
Thursday 10 November – Acer Arena, Sydney (with You Am I)
Saturday 12 November – Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley (with Dan Sultan, Stonefield)
Sunday 13 November – WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong (with You Am I)
Tuesday 15 November – Sydney Entertainment Centre (with You Am I)
Thursday 17 November – AIS Arena, Canberra (with You Am I)
Friday 18 November – Gateway Lakes, Wodonga (with You Am I)
Saturday 19 November – Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley (with You Am I, Stonefield)
Tuesday 22 November – Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart (with You Am I)
Thursday 24 November – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne (with You Am I)
Saturday 26 November – Sandalford Estate, Margaret River (guest TBA)
Sunday 27 November – Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth (guest TBA)
Tuesday 29 November – Adelaide Entertainment Centre (with You Am I)
Friday 2 December – TSB Arena, Wellington (guest TBA)
Saturday 3 December – Vector Arena, Auckland (guest TBA)
Tickets onsale from 9.00am on Thursday 4th August
