Cold Chisel Perform ‘Ita’ For The First Time In 32 Years

Sydney was treated to a Cold Chisel live rarity last night when the band performed ‘Ita’ for the first time in more than 30 years at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

The song, written by Don Walker about Sydney media identity Ita Buttrose’, was never a single but one of the most popular songs on Chisel’s iconic third album ‘East’.

Cold Chisel performed ‘Ita’ on the 1980 Australian tour following the release of the ‘East’ album and then only a handful of times in 1982 and 1983. The previous time the band had performed ‘Ita’ was at the Narara Festival in 1983.

‘Ita’ was a late addition last night and was not written on the setlist. Singer Jimmy Barnes told the audience that Ita had been invited to the show last night but was not available to attend.

Ita Buttrose was the founding editor of ‘Cleo’ magazine and became the youngest person to become editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly. In 2011, the story of her life was told in the TV mini-series ‘Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo’. Since 2013 she has been a panellist of Channel’s 10’s morning show ‘Studio 10’.

Cold Chisel will perform their final show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre tonight (December 18, 2015).

PHOTO GALLERY: Cold Chisel live by Ros O’Gorman

Cold Chisel setlist 19 November 2015

Standing On The Outside (from East, 1980)
Letter To Alan (from Circus Animals, 1982)
Choirgirl (from East, 1980)
Rising Sun (from East, 1980)
My Baby (from East, 1980)
All For You (from No Plans, 2012)
Houndog (from Circus Animals, 1982)
Cheap Wine (from East, 1980)
Long Dark Road (from The Perfect Crime, 2015)
One Long Day (from Cold Chisel, 1978)
When The War Is Over (from Circus Animals, 1982)
Forever Now (from Circus Animals, 1982)
Don’t Let Go (from Swingshift, 1981)
Janelle (from Twentieth Century, 1984)
Saturday Night (from Twentieth Century, 1984)
Breakfast At Sweethearts (from Breakfast At Sweathearts, 1979)
Shipping Steel (from Breakfast At Sweathearts, 1979)
You Got Nothing I Want (from Circus Animals, 1982)
Merry Go Round (from Breakfast At Sweathearts, 1979)
Flame Trees (from Twentieth Century, 1984)
Khe Sanh (from Cold Chisel, 1978)
Bow River (from Circus Animals, 1982)

Georgia On My Mind (from The Barking Spiders Live, 1984)
Lost (with Wes Carr) (from The Perfect Crime, 2015)
Ita (from East, 1980)
Taipan (from Circus Animals, 1982)
Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye) (from Breakfast At Sweathearts, 1979)