IAN MOSS – SOLO & ACOUSTIC
A TRIP FROM ADELAIDE TO SEE IAN MOSS IN SWAN HILL VIA BYRON BAY
There’s a bit of a story on how we got to see Ian Moss perform at Swan Hill, but stick with me and we’ll get there.
Hubby and I got on the midlife crisis Harley for the five day ride from Adelaide to see Mossy play at Bluesfest in Byron Bay. The first ever all Australian line-up and what a line-up up it was!! Some of our faves were Jimmy Barnes, of course Ian Moss, Ross Wilson, The Teskey Brothers, The Angels, Russell Morris, Jon Stevens, Chain, Vika and Linda, Kate Ceberano, and many many more.
We rode hard for four days to be a day ahead of schedule as we had been expecting delays and road closures due to the recent floods, but luckily escaped them. At Ballina, half an hour from Byron Bay, we heard the news that Bluesfest, due to start the following day, had been Covid cancelled. Amid rumoured pending lockdowns for both Queensland and the Byron Bay area, we decided to head south to Sydney out of the Byron Bay Shire.
Heartbroken, my heart broke even more for the promoters, the artists, the roadies, the sound technicians, the lighting guys, the food stall vendors, the business of Byron, in fact for everybody involved in this $10 million, 5 day festival, celebrating our great Aussie music.
Long story short, hubby and I ended up in Sydney like tourists for a few days before the ride home to Adelaide. Planning our return route, we learned that favourite Mossy, was playing in Swan Hill, so we were very pleased to catch at least one of the Bluesfest artists performing after all.
What can you say that hasn’t been said about the amazing Ian Moss, guitar virtuoso from Cold Chisel and platinum selling solo singer-songwriter?
This tour is take two of Ian’s 30th Anniversary of his ‘Matchbook’ Album Tour which was interrupted by Covid. Milestone Australian album ‘Matchbook’ spawned three hit singles and four ARIA Awards, including Album of the Year, spending 14 weeks in the Top 10.
Waiting in the foyer of the Swan Hill Town Hall, with the crowd of locals slowly building, was like watching a huge family reunion – everybody seemed to know everybody and had obviously for years. Although everyone was friendly and welcoming, we almost felt like gate crashers at a country wedding – someone’s cousins twice removed.
Ian took the stage with his usual unassuming manner and a glass of red. Mainly blues-influenced rock, the setlist speaks for itself – full of songs from the Matchbook album and just enough Chisel classics to keep the Cold Chisel faithful happy. Ian played all his songs with his own spin, always interesting, sometimes surprising, all the while highlighting his soulful voice. His skill on the guitar is just as evident on the acoustic as it is when he is up front smashing it out on lead guitar with his band.
Very hard to pick a highlight from a show full of highlights.
‘My Suffering’ which Ian wrote with Cold Chisel drummer Steve Prestwich was a standout. Ian reminded us that Steve has been gone 10 years now, which is hard to believe. RIP Steve.
Being a Cold Chisel girl, it was awesome when Ian had us all singing along to ‘Saturday Night’.
Not afraid to tackle the difficult subjects, ‘Pretty Face’ written by Don Walker and from the album was a performance that literally gave us goose bumps.
‘Tucker’s Daughter’ was another crowd favourite.
After a brilliant encore of Chisel classics ‘Choir Girl’ and ‘Bow River’, all too soon, the show was over and Ian left the stage just as modestly as he’d arrived.
I had the opportunity to request the setlist from the security guard on the stage. He said he’d ask Ian and off he went. Shortly he returned, with Ian who kindly took the time to sign the setlist and have a chat with a group of fans who had stayed behind hoping to get an album signed or a photo. Just a testament to the generosity of the man – after a two hour show he took the time to connect.
Ian’s tour continues and if you are anywhere near a show (you don’t need to travel 5000km like we did!!), get along. You will be glad you did.
Tickets available here https://ianmoss.com.au/tour/
Also, you can support the Bluesfest community by purchasing merchandise here https://www.bluesfest.com.au/merch/ and by purchasing tickets to their next event.
Remember to support live music whenever and wherever you can and I will see you down the front!!
If you’d like to read about the Byron Bluesfest by Bike trip that almost was, pop onto the facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.crabtree7
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