Cold Chisel reunion tour

Reporter: Peter FitzSimons
Producer: Penelope Cross
Date aired: 31/7/2011

Legendary rock band Cold Chisel is back on the road in October for their biggest tour in almost 30 years. Recharged after a reunion concert in 2009, the five best mates agreed they had some unfinished business and it was time to reform Cold Chisel again.

But as guest reporter Peter FitzSimons finds, the tragic death of drummer Steve Prestwich in January almost ended their plans.

Also, Sunday Night's exclusive preview into the studio recording of the group’s first single in 13 years - All For You, plus a special message from Jimmy Barnes about his health.

Light The Nitro Tour details

Iconic rock band, Cold Chisel, will this year undertake their biggest tour in nearly 30 years.

The Light The Nitro Tour will kick off in October and finish on the first weekend of December with 24 concerts unveiled around Australia plus two New Zealand shows.

Tickets for all these gigs will go on sale everywhere at 9.00am on Thursday, 4 August. However, anybody who signs up to the band's mailing list at www.coldchisel.com before August 1 will actually be able to buy tickets from 9.00am on Tuesday, 2 August as part of a special presale.

The Light The Nitro Tour will take this legendary live band from Darwin to Hobart and from Coffs Harbour to the Margaret River. In addition to all capital cities, the tour will hit six key Queensland regional centres plus other hubs such as Mudgee, Wodonga, Tamworth and the Hunter and Yarra Valleys. Cold Chisel will wrap up the Australian leg of their tour in the town where they first formed - Adelaide. Then they'll cross the Tasman for shows in Wellington and Auckland: their first NZ gigs since 1983.

Shows will be staged under specially constructed all-weather Big Top Tents in many towns. There will also be seated arena shows, amphitheatre dates, a club gig in Newcastle and for the first time ever the band will play a handful of very special winery concerts.

Apart from the winery experiences, every ticket will cost only $99.90 (including all booking fees but excluding any credit card charges and ticketing agency transaction charges).

The tour announcement comes at the same time as another long-awaited moment for Cold Chisel fans.

All of the band's recordings have finally been unleashed digitally in a major online launch that includes 56 rare and previously unreleased tracks. Meanwhile retailers were receiving the newly remastered and repackaged CD versions of all the classic Cold Chisel albums which are in store now (each of their studio albums now comes with a bonus DVD containing rare and unreleased footage from that era).

This massive catalogue rollout had already been hailed as the most extensive archival project in the history of Australian rock.

These plans took the better part of two painstaking years to pull together including lengthy archival excavation and remastering activities. However, in January this year everything was suddenly put on hold with the tragic passing of the group's drummer, Steve Prestwich.

For two months nobody in the band even discussed whether to continue what they'd all been planning together. But when they finally sat down to talk about it, they realised they all felt the same way – Steve was really keen on seeing all these things happen and it would have been wrong to walk away from the plans they had started together. The tour will be a celebration of what Steve helped them create.

Renowned drummer Charley Drayton (Keith Richards, B52's, Divinyls) will be behind the kit for the Light The Nitro Tour and one fifth of tour profits will go to Steve’s children.

The tour name refers to the practice of injecting nitrous oxide into the carburettor during a street race, which instantly doubles or triples the horsepower of a conventional engine. Incredible power, explosively unpredictable ... obviously apt for this incendiary live band.

Hardcore fans may be interested to know that "light the nitro" is also a line from one of the songs the band recorded over recent months ... a new Don Walker rocker called HQ454 Monroe about a man and his beloved hotrod.

Cold Chisel have promised to showcase "one or two" new tunes on the Light The Nitro Tour. The setlist will also feature more than 20 of their classic songs. While Cold Chisel are continuing to make progress on new recordings - including some songs written by Steve Prestwich and some featuring his performances - there will be no new album released for this tour. At this stage a release is pencilled for early 2012.

For the rest of 2011 the group will be focusing totally on supporting their massive catalogue re-release with the biggest Australian concert event of the year ... the Light The Nitro Tour.

Dates and venues for the Light The Nitro Tour are below. Presales from 9am on Tuesday, 2 August with General Public Onsale from 9.00am on Thursday, 4 August.

For further information, go to www.coldchisel.com and www.facebook.com/coldchisel

Thursday, 13 October
Newcastle Panthers
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 438 849
Supported by Even
Licensed Show. Admission limited to patrons 18 years and over

Wednesday, 19 October
Townsville Entertainment Centre
Tickets available from TEC Box office and www.tecc.net.au or 07 4771 4000
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Friday, 21 October
Cairns Showgrounds
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Sunday, 23 October
Botanic Gardens Amphitheatre, Darwin
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Wednesday, 26 October
Mackay Showgrounds
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Thursday, 27 October
Rockhampton Showgrounds
Tickets available from www.seeitlive.com.au or 07 4927 4111
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Saturday, 29 October
Stockland Park, Sunshine Coast
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by Grinspoon
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Sunday, 30 October
Gold Coast Convention Centre
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Tuesday, 1 November
Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Friday, 4 November
Stadium Drive Hockey Fields, Coffs Harbour
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Saturday, 5 November,
A DAY ON THE GREEN
Robert Oatley Vineyards, Mudgee
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Supported by You Am I and Stonefield
Licensed All Ages Show: Persons under 18 years old must be accompanied by a
ticket holding parent or legal guardian at all times

Monday, 7 November
Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre
Tickets available from Tourism Tamworth / www.visittamworth.com.au or 02 6767 5300
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Thursday, 10 November
Acer Arena, Sydney
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Saturday, 12 November
A DAY ON THE GREEN
Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Supported by Dan Sultan and Stonefield
Licensed All Ages Show: Persons under 18 years old must be accompanied
by a ticket holding parent or legal guardian at all times

Sunday, 13 November
WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Tuesday, 15 November
Sydney Entertainment Centre
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Thursday, 17 November
AIS Arena, Canberra
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Friday, 18 November
Gateway Lakes, Wodonga
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show: Persons under 18 years old must be accompanied
by a ticket holding parent or legal guardian at all times

Saturday, 19 November
A DAY ON THE GREEN
Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Supported by You Am I and Stonefield
Licensed All Ages Show: Persons under 18 years old must be accompanied
by a ticket holding parent or legal guardian at all times

Tuesday, 22 November
Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Thursday, 24 November
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Saturday, 26 November
Sandalford Estate, Margaret River
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Special guests to be announced
Licensed All Ages Show: Persons under 18 years old must be accompanied
by a ticket holding parent or legal guardian at all times

Sunday, 27 November
Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Special guests to be announced
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Tuesday, 29 November
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Supported by You Am I
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Friday, 2 December
TSB Arena, Wellington
Tickets available from www.ticketek.co.nz or 0800 842 538
Special guests to be announced
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under

Saturday, 3 December
Vector Arena, Auckland
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.co.nz or 0800 111 999
Special guests to be announced
Licensed All Ages Show. Parental discretion and accompaniment
is strongly advised for children 15 years and under