AUSSIE ROCK EXTRAVAGANZA
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Jimmy Barnes, Baby Animals, Ian Moss, Dragon and Chocolate Starfish.
Sunday, January 6.
Harry Sawkins Park, Nowra.
Tickets: 136100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au
Even after 40 years in rock'n'roll Jimmy Barnes gets excited about going on tour.
"Oh yeah, and I get nervous before every show," he says.
"It's a healthy sort of nerves where you just want it to be great, you want to go out and do the best show that you can do."
This summer Barnes is headlining the Aussie Rock Extravaganza tour in which he will play a string of concerts at outdoor venues across country NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
The other artists on the tour are Baby Animals, Ian Moss, Dragon and Chocolate Starfish.
"It's a good time of year to get out and visit country folk, play some outdoor shows and have some fun," Barnes says of the tour.
"I love getting out and doing regional areas because they are a great audience, they really appreciate the effort to get out there and they have a great time.
"You also get a load of people out there who are on holidays, so you get a mix of city folk who are relaxed on holiday and country folk who are pumped up for a good time. A good combination."
Barnes says his tours aren't as frenetic as they used to be in the 1970s and '80s.
"It's not quite as intense as it used to be - we used to do eight shows a week in the old days," he says.
"Nowadays I like to do four or five shows a week and get to savour it and enjoy the places I'm playing a bit more."
With that in mind, Barnes says he's looking forward to his upcoming Nowra show.
"It's a good part of the country. We'll go down there and do a bit of fishing, hit the beach and have a good time," he says.
With an extensive back catalogue to choose from, both from his solo career and his days in Cold Chisel, Barnes says choosing a set list for the shows is a hard task.
"I find my sets getting longer and longer because there are less songs I want to leave out.
"There's a bunch of songs that people really want to hear - all those songs like Flame Trees and Lay Down Your Guns and Khe Sanh - which you put in the set automatically because that's what people recognise you for.
"Then you go through the rest of the repertoire and look for stuff that interests you and that you think might gel with those songs.
"I've also got some new material that I will be trying out this summer that I have written for a new album."
With his old Cold Chisel bandmate Ian Moss also on the tour, Barnes says it's likely they'll do a few numbers together.
"I love playing with him. He's such a talented singer and guitar player, and one of my best mates, so it's lovely to have him on board."