Let me preface this review by saying I am not a big fan of motorsports, so it was pretty safe to say that the main draw card for me was the gig after. However, as I stepped off the train at Olympic park I couldn’t help but be excited by the huge amount of noise coming from the V8’s that were racing just metres from the station entrance. We watched the second half of the main race before heading inside for the big show.

MM9 were on first, and having seen them at more intimate venues I was very interested to see how they would perform on such a big stage. Although Daniel Sutherland (lead singer) did his best to get the crowd going, the ridiculously short set they were given worked against them. Had they been able to play more than 3 songs I’m quite sure that more of the crowd would have got into it.

This was not the case for Grinspoon though. With a more generous time slot and songs like Champion, Chemical Heart and Lost Control included in the set list, the crowd were onside from the word go. Phil and the boys were in fine form (as always) and whipped the crowd into a frenzy before finishing with More Than You Are.

The Living End was up next and the crowd grew noticeably larger and noisier as their set approached. Having seen these guys at Come Together 2008, I had high expectations… and they didn’t disappoint! While the loudest sing-a-long was reserved for Prisoner of Society, you could hear most of the crowd singing to every one of their songs. With a good mix of new and old songs and loads of energy, The Living End put on an impeccable performance. Chris Cheney made the comment ‘that it was a great honour to play before Cold Chisel’ and one couldn’t help but assume that the flawless performance we witnessed was partially a result of that.

When the sun set and the lights dimmed a mammoth cheer went out over the crowd, and it was obvious that many people had waited a long time to see these guys. It was worth the wait! With the exception of Jimmy Barnes’ leather pants and some keyboard malfunctions (“it’s fucked!” was Barnes perfect summation of the situation) the gig went off without a hitch. Playing for just over an hour and a half the crowd lapped up every song that the Chisel threw at them. With songs ranging from the rockabilly-esque Shipping Steel to the beautiful Flame Trees it was a well chosen and varied set list, with the band showing they well and truly still have it.

Predictably, the biggest cheer of the night was when the smooth piano intro for Khe Sanh rang out through the stadium, and though I’ve heard that song way too many times it was a special moment hearing it live. This was followed by Bow River and as that’s my favourite Chisel song made for a perfect end to a great day.