21 June 2025 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Nino Lo Giudice
It’s a Saturday night in the Valley, and right before I walked into the doors of the Fortitude Music Hall, it dawned on me, I was about to tick off a concert bucket list item. It’s no secret how connected Jimmy Barnes, and Cold Chisel are to the Australian music zeitgeist. They’re two of Australia’s biggest acts of all time. I even remember begging my parents to buy me Barnes’ Hits Anthology, Jimmy’s 1996 greatest hits release. The first album I truly ever owned. And I flogged that CD to hell and back. So my connection to Jimmy has been one, 20+ years in the making, as this would be the first time I would have the chance to see him live. He’s currently on tour, celebrating the release of his 21st studio album, Defiant.
Dead on at 8pm, Victorian singer songwriter Taylor Sheridan walked onto stage to a small applause, as he immediately kicked into his set opening track, ‘August Moon’. The song seemed to be the perfect way to open the show, as a lot of those that might not know who he is (myself included), were immediately enthralled with the storytelling aspects of his song writing. Sheridan did a little introduction, about how he’s from Kyneton, Victoria. A town where everyone knows everyone, and how as kids, they wanted to stay there forever, and carry on the legacy of their parents’ houses. Then as teenagers, they all wanted to leave. And now that he’s an adult, nothing feels like going back home. He talked about how one day, he wants to buy the Weatherboard house he grew up in, before launching into ‘Hometown Love’.
Taylor Sheridan – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
After another quick story about becoming a dad, he sung the song he wrote about telling his parents his baby was going to have a baby, with ‘Somebody’s Dad’. Obviously, the show skewed a little older than the crowds I’m used to seeing at rock and metal shows. But you could tell the song really hit a lot of the older grandparents in the crowd. Such a beautiful song. Sheridan then spoke about launching his debut independent record, Troubadour. He played the title track, which was another great song, before he did a cover of ‘SOS’ by ABBA, which stripped down to an acoustic guitar and drum box, actually sounds pretty sick. The set closed out with Sheridan’s latest song, ‘Stories’, which is the song he wrote right before the tour, about how one day, these cool moments in time, will just be, stories. An amazing first impression of this guy, and can’t wait to see what is in his future.
As it ticked onto 9pm, the lights at the Fort went down, as ‘I Want to Be Loved’ by Muddy Waters played over the speakers. Jimmy’s backing band all walked onto stage, to a massive ovation, as the man himself, Jimmy Barnes, appeared, to open the show with the song ‘Flesh and Blood’. He followed up with classics, ‘I’d Die to Be With You Tonight’, and ‘Choirgirl’, before talking about Saturday nights being a wild night in the Valley. He mentioned his son, drummer Jackie, said Brissy gets wild on Saturdays. Jimmy then told us, the next bunch of songs would all be tracks from his latest release, Defiant, which hit number one in Australia on the charts.
Jimmy Barnes – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
This part of the set kicked off with the track ‘New Day’, which is one of my favourites from the record, ‘The Long Road’ was next, before we got ‘Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t’, which featured an awesome guitar solo trade off between the two electric guitarists on stage. I think I only caught one of their names, Billy Rogers. But both guitarists were incredible. More guitar solos ripped through the next track, ‘That’s What You Do For Love’. Jimmy simply said, “here is a song about my home town”, as ‘Dig Deep’ played, before we got an introduction and a big round of applause for Jimmy’s wife, Jane. He mentioned how he wanted to play most of Defiant in the set, to which Jane asked if he was crazy. Jimmy then did a little crowd work, saying “of course I do. I want to play it in Brisbane, the home of punk fucking rock”.
Jimmy Barnes – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
The next two songs were a great moment, considering right before he was talking about how much he loves his wife. First up was ‘Sea of Love’, then ‘Beyond the River Bend’, which featured Jane coming out and playing bagpipes on stage alongside her husband. The last song of the Defiant section of the setlist, was the title track. Jimmy noted the album and song is called ‘Defiant’, because that’s who he is as a person. Drummer Jackie went off during this song, which had some of the best drumming of the night. As soon as the song finished, it bled into the intro of ‘Flame Trees’, which the crowd exploded for, and sang as loud as they could, while seemingly, the band played as quietly as they could. The energy exchange during this track was awesome.
Jimmy Barnes – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
From here on out, the energy was cranked to 11, with Jimmy talking about the next song being written by his first, Troy Cassar Daley, about the town of Elizabeth, South Australia. The town Jimmy grew up in. He mentioned the Holden factories, and how everyone worked at them, including himself, but only for three days. ‘Shutting Down Out Town’ then played, as Jane returned to the stage once again with bagpipes. We then got four bangers back to back, with ‘Lay Down Your Guns’, ‘No Second Prize’, ‘Ride the Night Away’, and set closer, ‘Working Class Man’. The crowd chanted for more, and we got ‘Love is Enough’ as the encore, before the intro to ‘Khe Sanh’ played, which sent The Fort into a version of pub choir. This track is so iconic within Australian culture, it was so cool to see Jimmy step back before the final chorus, as he let the guitarists and piano player all put their own spin on the track, before sending the crowd home incredibly satisfied with the final chorus.
