Barnesy’s coming to Geelong
JIMMY Barnes will detail his successes, excesses, addictions and revival in a new touring production that will hit Geelong next year.
To accompany his new memoir Working Class Man, Barnes yesterday announced a new national tour that will arrive at GPAC’s Costa Hall on April 27.
Like the previous production of Working Class Boy, the tour will see Barnes telling stories and performing stripped back versions of his songs.
The new Working Class Man live show and book deals with Barnes’ entire adult life.
It begins in 1974, as Barnes leaves Adelaide in the back of an old bread truck with a then unknown rock group called Cold Chisel.
It traces the legendary band’s long climb to the top and their subsequent implosion, before Barnes carves out a new solo career for himself.
He becomes the country’s biggest rock star before drugs and alcohol bring him to his knees and he eventually rebuilds his life thanks to the love of his wife and his family.
“In book one I faced the damage that a broken home and a broken heart can bring,” Barnes said.
“In book two I face the impact that a childhood like mine can have on a man . . . the blame rests squarely on my shoulders, and until I work a lot of things out I carry a lot of baggage around with me.
“I used to think that if someone asked for help they were weak. But the toughest thing I ever did was reach out and ask for help. And that was when I started to heal.”
Tickets to Working Class Man: An Evening of Stories & Songs go on sale to the general public on October 23.