Barnes gig Schlam dunk

AUSSIE rock legend Jimmy Barnes is returning to the Gold Coast to perform – and his cousin is hoping to get a gig beside him.

Barnes, 63, will be performing with special guests Jet and Thirsty Merc at Home of the Arts (HOTA) at Bundall for By The C on October 20.

Barnesy’s nephew Matt Schlam, 40, used to play alongside the former Cold Chisel frontman and has spent the past 25 years busking around Australia.

He moved to the Gold Coast late last year and spent three months playing on the streets of Southport before scoring himself a permit to busk on Cavill Ave in Surfers Paradise in March.

Schlam (pictured, left) is hoping he will be asked to get back on stage with Barnes.

“With him coming, I will put the feelers out and say: ‘Hey, are you coming to town? I’ll come see you.’

“A lot of the time he will say ‘great, get on the stage with me’.

“I’m always ready for it.” The Gold Coast stop is one of 16 Australian shows on Barnesy’s Shutting Down Your Town tour.

Schlam said anyone thinking Barnesy (pictured, right) might be “getting a bit too old” was wrong.

“I know he’s fit as a Mallee bull,” he said. “People often comment, saying ‘he’s looking sick, there must be something wrong’.

“He’s 63. You need to take into account the guy has lived such a huge life. And he has the workload of a 20-year-old, or worse.”

Pre-sale tickets, offered to eNews subscribers, will go on sale next Wednesday at 2pm.

General public tickets will go on sale next Friday at 9am.

Visit HOTA’s website for more information.