Cold Chisel are heading to Hope Estate as part of their Blood Moon Tour 2020.
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They will be joined in the Hunter Valley on January 18 by Birds of Tokyo and Busby Marou.
Since their legendary Last Stand way back in 1983, Cold Chisel has reformed for just four national tours, but they almost always played indoors and those gigs didn't happen over the holidays.
Now, for the first time ever, the band will be playing 14 outdoor shows in Australia and New Zealand during summer. Between New Year's Eve and the second weekend of February, they'll do gigs on the beach, gigs by the river and gigs in the bush.
It's called the Blood Moon Tour 2020 - named after a rare lunar eclipse where the sun, earth and moon all briefly align before returning to their own orbits.
"You might get to see a blood moon once in your life," explained the band's main songwriter and piano player, Don Walker.
"Apparently there's going to be one just before dawn when we're in Melbourne on this tour but we didn't actually know that when we chose the name. Maybe it's a sign."
Fittingly, the tour will boast a series of line-ups that are as rare and memorable as a Blood Moon. In Sydney, Cold Chisel will be joined by the Hoodoo Gurus. Paul Kelly will be welcomed on four shows including Tamworth where he will be joined by country music icons Kasey Chambers and Troy Cassar-Daley. Both WA shows will feature a "Best Of The West" line-up that includes hometown heroes like Birds Of Tokyo, Jebediah and Gyroscope while other guests to appear on at least one show include The Teskey Brothers, Busby Marou and The Detonators. Kiwi band The Mutton Birds will reform just for the New Zealand gig while Birds of Tokyo will feature on seven different gigs and Magic Dirt on six. Every line-up is unique.
"We've only done four tours since the early 80's so we need to make each of them count," said the band's frontman Jimmy Barnes.
"We knew that if we were going to get the band back together for another full tour it would have to be something really special. We wanted great line-ups and unusual places so that people would remember these gigs for a long, long time."
Catch Cold Chisel at Hope Estate on Saturday, January 18 with Birds of Tokyo and Busby Marou. Pre-sale tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, October 16, at 2pm (local time) with general public on sale from Monday, October 21, at 11am (local time) via coldchisel.com/tour-2/ and ticketek.com.au.
Meanwhile, Hope Estate will host the second annual FKA Festival on Saturday, October 19.
The millennial-targeted music and arts festival made a promising debut last year, with its fresh lineup of Australian indie talent including the Jungle Giants, British India, Tired Lion, Kingswood and Luca Brasi.
Another impressive lineup awaits at this year's festival, with The Rubens, Safia, Allday, Lime Cordiale, The Chats, Eves Karydas, Elk Road, Rayn, Kilter, Yahtzel, Lo '99, Sippy, Tory Levett, Lex Deluxe and Keyes to take to the Harvest stage.
Hope Estate has even launched its own special FKA Passionfruit Cider in honour of the festival.
The cider was previewed at the Hunter Valley Beer and BBQ Festival in August, and Hope Estate owner Michael Hope said it had a great response from the punters.
"It's pretty exciting to put it out there...It's going to be a cracker at FKA Festival," Hope said.
This summer will also see the return of the Grapevine Gathering and Wine Machine festivals at Roche Estate, which have both been a hit with younger audiences in the Hunter Valley in recent years.
Grapevine Gathering (November 30) will feature Two Door Cinema Club, Flight Facilities, Crooked Colours, Mallrat, Jack River and more; while the lineup for Wine Machine (March 14) will be announced soon.
HUNTER VALLEY CONCERT SEASON 2019/20
- Saturday, October 19: FKA Festival at Hope Estate
- Saturday, November 16: Rob Thomas at Bimbadgen Estate
- Saturday, November 30: Grapevine Gathering at Roche Estate
- Saturday, December 7: Jazz in the Vineyards at Hope Estate
- Saturday, January 11 and Sunday, January 12: Elton John at Hope Estate
- Saturday, January 18: Cold Chisel at Hope Estate
- Saturday, February 15: Red Hot Summer Tour at Roche Estate (featuring Hunters and Collectors, James Reyne, The Living End and more).
- Saturday, February 29: A-Ha, Rick Astley and Pseudo Echo at Bimbadgen Estate
- Saturday, March 14: Wine Machine at Roche Estate