Review: Cold Chisel, Villa Maria Winery

Concertgoers were lifted out of their seats by the sheer force of Jimmy Barnes' scream at Villa Maria Winery. Photo / Leah Victoria Photography

Aussies’ classy performance gets Auckland summer off to a great start

Who would've thought? Premier Aussie pub rockers Cold Chisel putting on one heck of a fine show at Villa Maria Winery. They might have a song called Cheap Wine, but it was one classy performance and a wildly good way to kick off the summer.

Support act The Bads made a hopping start to the evening with some delightful pedal steel and guitar as well as the occasional hoe down and beautiful harmonies.

Then New Zealand's ultimate Energizer Bunny entertainers, Supergroove, snatched the crowd's attention with a mariachi trumpet, bass clarinet, harmonica, and hand percussion, before adding a little dirty guitar and drums, harking back to their early days as the Low Down Dirty Blues Band.

Of course, their set was also filled with plenty of the funk soul rap rock hits that have made them live favourites for more than 20 years.

Scorpio Girls' crazy mix of hilarity and heavy rock and You Got To Know with Che Fu's son Loxman adding an extra saxophone were particular highlights, along with a special performance of Che Fu and DLT's hit song Chains and perennial favourites Can't Get Enough and Sitting Inside My Head.

When Jimmy Barnes and his merry men came on, anyone who wasn't already standing was lifted out of their seats by the sheer force of Barnesy's scream as the band opened with Standing on the Outside.

Choirgirl soon raised audience voices in unison for a sad sweet ballad, and they swung out a little rockabilly on Rising Sun.

My Baby saw guitarist Ian Moss really shine (almost literally - he was wearing a T-shirt covered in shooting stars) along with their Kiwi saxophonist Andrew Bickers, who turned in a brilliant solo.

It was when they did chant-along hit Saturday Night, though, that it really started to feel like the West Auckland bonfire and BBQ night.

Special mention should go to the wonderfully sassy three backing singers (which included Barnes' daughter Mahalia), who added a layer of soul to some of Cold Chisel's surprisingly tender songs like Lost, Flame Trees and When the War is Over. Bow River, on which Moss took the lead, was also a melodic highlight.

The gutsy rockers managed to punch through more than 20 songs in two hours, and even got Neil Finn out on stage for a whole-hearted Forever Now before rounding the encore off with Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye).

The crowd may have been drunken and debauched but Cold Chisel were total pros.