I went to the concert on Friday night in Rocky. It was the worst concert I have ever gone to, I have been following Barnesy since early 80 and Cold Chisel before that. I have seen him at many venues. Friday night the music was out of time,out of tune and I came to see him sing not his family. The support act was a country artist(I hate country music) but his guitarist was in tune and in time and you could hear him clearly. Barnesy has such great songs why he had to sing other songs I don't know. I paid $110.00 to hear him and it was so bad that my husband left and sat outside. We had planned the night out for ages and left very disappointed and flat.

that's a shame. i guess everybody has an off gig once in a while, even Barnesy!

did he not do a normal set list then? what did he play?

I am surprised! The 3500 people that were there seemed to be loving the show! It was by no means a flat show for the band or Dad.....he played for 2 hours or more, 20 songs in the set, plus 2 encores...in no specific order, songs were as follows:

DRIVING WHEELS
GOODTIMES
I'D DIE TO BE WITH YOU TONIGHT
WHEELS IN MOTION
TWO HEARTS COLLIDE - duet with Elly - May
PROUD MARY - With Me
NO SECOND PRIZE
RESURRECTION SHUFFLE
MERRY GO ROUND
CHEAP WINE
CHOIR GIRL
KHE SANH
FLAME TREES
YOU GOT NOTHING I WANT
WORKING CLASS MAN
THE WEIGHT - with Adam Brand, Davey and Me taking a verse each.
STILL ON YOUR SIDE
LOSING YOU
OUT IN THE BLUE
LOVE AND HATE
LAY DOWN YOUR GUNS
RISING SUN
GOODBYE

I thought it was a pretty rocking set! It is hard to please everyone, but I think he does a good job of mixing the set up but keeping the hits in....it's hard with so many songs and hits. Everyone likes different ones and a lot of people come regularly to shows (clearly you don't come that often) and like to see the set change a little.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm sorry you walked away so disappointed, but I don't really see how you can complain that you came to see him sing and not his family, when he did 20 songs on his own and shared 3, (2 of which are songs he recorded as duets) and only 2 with family....and so you know, if they weren't done with us, it would have been with whoever else was doing backing vocals, as has always been the case in his shows. I've been in his band for over 10 years, and have seen many concerts before joining, and don;t remember a show where there was no duets...he loves singing duets and has recorded many!... dating back to chisel days with mossy!

As far as the band being out of time or out of tune, I beg to differ, the band is playing great at the moment - Jackie on Drums, Mark Punch and Davey Lane on guitar, Ben Rodgers on bass, Tony Featherstone on keys.

Perhaps if there was sound/timing issues, it was the room or where you were standing? We were in a dusty bull ring with a tin roof, crammed in with 3500 people....again, sorry if you were disappointed, not sure what you wanted though!

Bring that Setlist to Perth Jimmy!!
Awesome list of songs, saw the first two and thought of the best live album of all time!!

Well said Mahilia ,you were awsome the band was awsome and your Dad is the greatest

Well said Mahilia you were awsome,the band was awsome and your Dad is the Greatest

Unfortunatly, we didn't get to go and see Jimmy in Rocky or Mackay, but our
friends did and they had an awesome time!!
So like you Mahalia, and many others on here, I was very surprised to read
that some people weren't happy with the show.
I have seen Jimmy play quite a few times over the years, and one thing I
have never done, and that is walk away from one of his concerts dissapointed.
After being a fan of his for 18 years, I finally got to meet him in Brisbane
before his Cold Chisel Ringside show, and he was the most down to earth guy
you could meet..the performance that night was second to none!! Appearing in
the postcards section on the dvd is still a major highlight in my life.
He is a true rock legend, and gives his all to his fans at every show.
I will always proudly play his music in my house and in the car.
Thanks for reading...
Lainie (o:

hey there,
I was just wondering if when barnesy comes to Perth on 1st August what songs he will be playing or what album. I have brought tickets for myself, my fiance and my 4year old son who absolutely loves Barnesy and i want to download so he can meke sure he is up to scratch with the words.
xx

hello,

I came away from the concert feeling like it was the best concert i've seen of jimmy. i've seen about 5 now in the last few years. i felt the song list was great. all the hits with a few different ones thrown in. i think he was singing as good as i've ever heard as well.

i enjoyed the show very much.

kind regards, shane

Adam Brand is good, yes he is country but all the posters and adds
I saw for this show did advertised him as support, also Tickets
were only $60.
Jackie, Elly-May, Mahalia and EJ have been in and out of his band
for years, how could you not know this ?

Well , look out Bren, to express a negative opinion on here, some lambasting goes on , It is great Mahalia has decided to jumped in early , before the list of ridicules happen ..

If the band was happy its a fair indication what you heard is not their fault.
They have, believe or not, admitted if something was not quite right on the night.. Without knowing all the gigs youve seen, and the expectations you have circa 2009 , the types of shows are different, but Jimmy certainly doesnt hold back in effort and sweat. So many songs, are done so many different ways, over the years .. Otherwise its boring ..

It might help to define your thoughts, if you could nominate the last gigs you saw, and if you have got all the recent albums. When you say why does Jimmy have to sing others songs , which ones are you referring , and Id be curious, what were the songs you dont like. We have all debated over the years, the songs we d like in or out of , set lists.. to get a greater handle on this , what is typically your ideal list
Also have you seen the current band line up before .

Maybe next time, go see Jimmy at a smaller sized gig

Cheers 4 now

How great is it to hear 3500 people were there !!!!!
Proof Jimmy will never retire ..(Who said the R word)

and 4600 are coming to see him at Burswood Theatre soon (or is that 2300 coming twice perhaps..) because he is so damn GOOD at what he does!

Jimmy's still got plenty of fire in him!

So 3498 enjoyed the Great Western show and two didn't...that's pretty good!

Hi There,
I went to the Rockhampton Gig. and I was NOT disapointed. Jimmy was awesome and his band was awesome. Everyone around me in front enjoyed the night.

Adam Brand was also excellent. First time I have been to a gig of Adams and he was awesome.
Specially when Adam and Jimmy sung The Weight.

So I really don't know where the guys were seated.

Everyone I talked to enjoyed the night.

I will post pictures as soon as I get them on my computer.

Michelle

You are a brave girl.
If JB plays that brilliant set at Thebby next month, I will be extremely happy - what more could you want?
You sound about the same vintage as I am but you've forgotten that you get so much more from a JB concert than sound and songs.
You get to go back in time.
Back to the days before husbands (gorgeous as he is), mortgages, children (gorgeous as they are) and businesses and wrinkles.
With every song you get to revisit the time when all we had to concern ourselves with was sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
Just for a night I get to forget that I'm a 44 year old, respectible wife and mother of five and I'm a teenager again, at the Bridgeway Hotel, completely out of it and having the time of my life.
Ticket to a JB concert $60 - Feeling you get at a JB concert PRICELESS!!
Regards Cheryl from Adelaide
PS Now I must go and prepare tea for hubby, BPay the mortgage and BAS, change the baby's nappy and investigate the possibility of Botox!
PPS Not that we would ever want to go back to those times (thank God we survived!) - but it sure is nice to visit!!

Jimmy and his family always do a great show. Jimmy always puts in 110%. He is the best. Love seeing his family perform, they are good.

Pfft!! What the hell are you talking about? Is more to the point?
The band is the show, without it there is none!

this did need a right of reply Mahalia, well said!

Great reply Cheryl, lol!! (kiss & handshake from JB priceless;-) !!!)

Michelle looks like you enjoyed yourself!! catch up with you abt the future tour in qld.

cheers Marg

I thought I might weigh in and have a word or two to say about this issue.

Firstly I am just as biased as most others around here - I just don't believe that Jim could do a bad gig.

Having been to what would be litterly hundreds of JB and Chisel shows over the years I reckon I can safely say that much.

In terms of what Bren wrote here's a few observations:

1. Every now and again in a Jimmy crowd you get people that just want to hear Khe Sanh or Working Class Man. The radio hits in other words.
I always call them the "Best of" crowd as the various Chisel and JB best of albums are probably all they've got in their collections. If, by some chance Jim plays an album track these people are miffed because "that's not on the greatest hits CD so it must be crap". I can tell you when I stand at JB gigs and hear that sort of rubbish I get very frustrated and just wish the people would go away.

2. Having said that I remember Jim's gig last November in the Spiegeltent at the Sydney Opera House. Me and the better half Sarah flew up from Melbourne for the show. It featured Jim, Mahalia and David Campbell and was put together so that Jim could perform a heap of his favourite songs (cover versions) in an intimate setting with Mahalia and David. This was one of the most enjoyable shows I have been to in a long time.
Sitting next to me and Sarah were this middle aged American couple who didn't have a clue who Jimmy Barnes was. Whilst on holiday in Australia they had simply wanted to go to a show at the world famous Spiegeltent and just bought tickets by chance to see some bloke called Jimmy Barnes.
No prizes for guessing what happened... When the band finished their last song for the night and walked off these two Amercians who had no idea about JB and his musical history were so knocked out by his performance and the great fun and banter of the night that they leapt to their feet and immediately called for more.
It was a great little moment to observe people who didn't have a clue about Jim's music legacy being so knocked out by his performance - with his family!!!

3. We all work for a living. We all have daily jobs. Some jobs are better than others. Sometimes - in fact for some people many times - in a working life we change jobs. Sometimes that happens because we are not suited to what we do. Sometimes it simply happens because we are bored and want to move on to challenge ourselves more or get greater enjoyment out of our job. Sometimes we even stay in our current job and just try and vary how we do it with new and interesting or innovative ideas to keep us motivated to keep coming back day in and day out.
With that in mind tell me where it should be any different for Jim?
He has effectively been doing the same job since 1973!!!
Doesn't he have the right in his job, as we do in our own respective jobs, to try and vary and keep interesting the role he plays on a daily basis? Imagine how many times he must have sung Khe Sanh and Working Class Man and Driving Wheels and Rising Sun etc etc etc
Surely we can all understand how he may want to either vary the set list around or play with some other people to not only keep him interested but also keep the audience interested.
I reckon it's been great over the last decade or so watching Mahalia develop on stage into one of the most dynamic performers in Australia in her own right. She seems to have grown up in front of us all - and much of this has happened with the experience she has got from her performances at her dad's shows. As the elder stateman of Australian music JB should be encouraging young talent and if he can do that onstage with his own very taleneted family then I'm all for it.

4. As for doing the odd cover version and not his own songs... Gees - that's always been the case hasn't it? Jim has always thrown in one or two cover versions to every gig.
I take it Bren that you remember from what you've said that Chisel used to do it too. Wild Thing, Don't Let Go and Long As I Can See The Light just to name a few.
I take it that you'll even remember he did a whole album of covers on Soul Deep and Soul Deeper? Double Happiness had some on there too.
Soul Deep in fact is his highest selling album. To that extent he is probably likely to play at any gig a song or two off his highest selling album - isn't he?

Anyway good on you Bren for having your opinion and being brave enough to express it on this website.

I think you're wrong but I would also encourage you strongly to come back and see the great man next time he plays near you and see if he can't change your mind.

Keep on Chiselling everyone,
Regards as always,
David Leydon

I to have been following JB for a long long time and I wasn't at the great western this year although I was very tempted to (just relocated back to brissy) but have seen him play there 3 times. i think it is a really great atmosphere there but you are correct it is not the greatest acoustic venue.In the years I have been following Jimmy I would be lying if I said there weren't any gigs that were not as good as others. I remember one at fishermans warf at gold coast in the 90s and it wasn't the best I have seen Jimmy sing but in saying that it still was not a bad performance it was just not JB at his best certainly wasn't enough to stop me driving all over queensland to see him every chance I could after then. As for the family I say bring it on the more the better if you have a family that talented who would not be overwelmed by them and want to see them 2 hours lets get swanny,DC, Mark and everyone in and go for 8 hours I'll be there for every bit of it.
and luvin it.
Cheers
Craig W

I also had a bad experience at a Jimmy gig a couple of years ago. I'd been living overseas for many years and couldn't wait to see him perform at Coroglen in NZ. The sound setup was so shoddy that you couldn't hear his voice at all, totally drowned out by the band. That was the general feeling of everyone I spoke to that went to that gig, didn't matter where you were in the venue.
Have seen him play a couple of times since then, both in NZ, and have to say that the sound quality was very good and the energy and set lists are just improving with time. If there was a problem at the Great Western Concert it was probably to do with venue acoustics. But I feel that JB is an awesome performer, I would argue the greatest live rock act in the world, anyone who disagrees just watch the Enmore DVD. Sure, he does the odd cover and duet, but these are all good as well, Jimmy has always done this and made these songs his own. As for the family playing, they are all talented performers and add to the show without taking it over.
The only complaint now is Chisel's snub of NZ both times they re-formed, which is very surprising given the short travel distance and the big fan base here. Am hoping that JB and Ian Moss team up to do some gigs around NZ after they support at the Mission Estate gig next year.