Cold Chisel might not exactly be the first band that comes to mind when you think Bluesfest, the iconic festival that hosted the likes of BB King and Bob Dylan last year. But that hasn’t stopped organisers from booking the band to not only perform but headline the event.
The legendary Australian band’s exclusive festival appearance will be to close the main stage on Thursday 5th of April 2012 and will be the first time that an Australian artist has ever headlined the festival.
“Most of us have played Bluesfest solo over the years, but it feels great to be playing there for the first time as Cold Chisel and also be the first Australian band to ever headline the whole Festival,” said frontman Jimmy Barnes. “We’ve all had an amazing 2011 and this should be a great way to kick off an even bigger 2012.”
Cold Chisel will be joining an eclectic group of artists including Roger Daltrey from The Who, Earth Wind & Fire, and The Pogues. Bluesfest will also be the first time fans will get to hear a batch of new songs from Cold Chisel’s forthcoming album as they will be previewing them to the lucky audience.
The news of their booking comes just as the band’s ‘Light The Nitro’ tour is drawing to a close after playing to nearly 300,000 fans across Australia. But the tour has not been able to avoid from some controversy.
At the Townsville concert a punter was ejected from the venue for dancing in the stalls, and Tim Rogers from support band You Am I was forced to defend his band after the local newspaper reviewer said that the band were so bad that “I seriously had to wonder if JB [Jimmy Barnes] was back on the vodka again”.
Byron Bay Bluesfest 2012
5th – 9th April 2012
