City of Music Laneways

Cold Chisel Lane is previously unnamed and in Adelaide’s West End in a nook behind Hindley St. The Lane is located next to Cry Baby Bar, Sunny’s Pizza and underneath the new Sofitel Hotel, currently under construction.

Cold Chisel was formed in Adelaide in 1973 by Les Kaczmarek, Ian Moss, Don Walker, Steve Prestwich and Jimmy Barnes. In 1975 Les left and Phil Small joined to create the classic lineup. Relentless touring and timeless songs like ‘Khe Sanh’, ‘Flame Trees’, ‘Bow River’, ‘My Baby’, ‘Cheap Wine’, ‘Saturday Night’, ‘You Got Nothin’ I Want’ and ‘When the War is Over’ established their reputation as one of Australia’s fiercest rock’n’roll bands. They were inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame and received APRA’s prestigious ‘Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music’. Cold Chisel’s nine studio albums released between 1978 and 2019 sold nearly 7 million copies and capture the hopes, fears, anger and alienation of multiple generations.

In 1993 Cold Chisel was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and in 2001, Khe Sanh was named the 8th greatest Australian song of all time by APRA. 

Although, Cold Chisel broke up in 1983 they have successfully reformed several times since for national tours.

Visual Artist James Dodd has been commissioned to develop a mural celebrating the legacy of the band. The mural is titled Cold Chisel Lane. James Dodd says of the mural opportunity:

"It has been a great joy to develop an outcome in response to a band whose music and broader cultural context have been present and relevant to me, throughout my life. I have been able to bring together stories from a broad cross-section of people who all talk about how Cold Chisel has left indelible marks on their lives. The research process has deepened my appreciation of the band, their achievements and just how significant their cultural contribution has been. I hope that this artwork can inspire more people to share their experiences of Cold Chisel and continue to perpetuate discussion and appreciation of the band and their legacy."

Paul Kelly Lane runs from Flinders Street through to the City of Adelaide Meeting Hall, and can be accessed from Pirie Street along the walkway located at 25 Pirie Street, through to Flinders Street. Along the laneway is the Pilgrim Church which has existed at the site since 1851. A café, Part Time Lover, also has its entrance along the laneway, at the rear of the Adelaide Town Hall.

Paul Kelly was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for distinguished service to the performing arts and to the promotion of the national identity through contributions as a singer, songwriter and musician.

Born and raised in Adelaide, Paul Kelly has played at various Adelaide venues including The Tivoli Hotel on Pirie Street in earlier years, and Adelaide Town Hall in more recent years. Paul Kelly was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame (1997) and has been the recipient of 17 ARIA Awards. The album Women at the Well from 2002 had 14 female artists record his songs in tribute. Paul Kelly has penned and performed numerous hits with the most recognised To Her Door, Dumb Things, Darling it Hurts, and How to Make Gravy, and the co-written (with Kev Carmody) From Big Things Little Things Grow, and co-written famous anthem Treaty (with Yothu Yindi and Peter Garrett).

The Adelaide Town Hall has hosted Paul Kelly numerous times, most recently for the Adelaide Festival in March 2019 for his composition Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds.

Artist Heidi Kenyon will create an artwork that will be inspired by and respond to the identity and legacy of Paul Kelly along the laneway in the form of a creative public art project using light as the medium, day and night. It is proposed that the artwork be A series of works, will be attached to the existing light posts from Flinders Street to the building at 25 Pirie Street.

No Fixed Address Lane is in the heart of the city, parallel to Francis Street Laneway, just off Rundle Mall, next to the Rundle Place building. It is an easily accessible place to celebrate Aboriginal living culture.

No Fixed Address is an Aboriginal Australian reggae rock group formed in 1979, and the first reggae rock group in Australia. They were also the first Aboriginal band to tour overseas including Berlin, Germany in the 1980’s. In 2011, they were inducted in the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame. Bart Willoughby and Ricky Harrison are both individual Inductees into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame.

No Fixed Address was led by Bart Willoughby together with Ricky Harrison, Les Graham, and John Miller; and former members Nicky Moffatt and Rick Lovegrove (deceased) and Veronica Rankine (deceased). They all met and formed at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at the University of Adelaide. Their 1982 album ‘From My Eyes’ was launched by the former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke.

Professor Aaron Corn, Director of CASM at the University of Adelaide, said, “This is an absolutely thrilling development. No Fixed Address has made an extraordinary contribution to Australian music and culture since forming at CASM in 1979, and it’s wonderful to see those iconic musicians acknowledged by the City of Adelaide in this way.”

“The band’s appearance in the 1981 South Australian film ‘Wrong Side of the Road’ remains a definitive moment in Australian culture. I hope that everyone who visits No Fixed Address Lane in Adelaide will reflect on the band’s significant achievements, and the timeless message that their music holds for the world.”

In 2008 the band's song "We Have Survived" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry.

Visual artists Elizabeth Close (Pitjanjatjara and Yankunytatjara woman), Thomas Readett (Ngarrandjeri and Arrente man) and Shane Cook (Guwa and Wulli Wulli man) have been commissioned to complete a mural in the Lane responding to the impact, significance and legacy of the band.

The Angels Lane is coming soon and will be located off Gawler Place, close to the North Terrace cultural precinct.

The Angels are one of SA’s most beloved bands. John and Rick Brewster founded the band in 1970, beginning as the Moonshine Jug and String Band. Later they met Doc Neeson at Flinder’s University and decided to change to an electric band. The Angels have been cited by the likes of Guns N' Roses, and Seattle grunge bands Pearl Jam and Nirvana, as having influenced their music, amongst many others. The Angels were inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame in 1998 and the songwriters hall of fame in 2008.

Their second album, Face to Face, was released in June 1978, which reached No. 16 on the Album Charts in November and stayed on the charts for 79 weeks, breaking Australian chart longevity records and achieving 4x platinum status. The Angels were initially part of the legendary ‘Alberts’ record label alongside AC/DC, Ted Mulry and The Easybeats, later The Angels signed to a US record deal in 1980 and toured internationally as ‘Angel City’ to wide acclaim and success. The Angels achieved several other top 10 single hits with No Secrets, Am I ever Gonna See your Face Again Live, We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place. Angels’ albums which achieve top 10 status include: Live Line, The Angels Greatest, No Exit, Dark Room, Watch The Red, Two Minute Warning, Howling, Beyond Salvation.

Other than the Beatles, The Angels have been the only popular music band to have been granted a Lord Mayoral Town Hall reception (2010). The Brewster Brothers still perform as the Angels today with South Australian Dave Gleeson out front, continuing their family’s musical legacy, which started with their Grandfather Hooper Brewster Jones who is recognised on North Terrace with a plaque on the footpath. Hooper Brewster Jones passed away backstage at the Town Hall in 1949. Although retired by the 1940s, Brewster-Jones contributed to one last performance on the 8th July 1949, playing Mozart's d minor piano concerto with the Adelaide String Orchestra, conducted by his son Arthur. He died just fifteen minutes later from a heart attack.

The Angels are based in South Australia, John Brewster lives in the Brewster family home, bass player Sam Brewster and frontman Dave Gleeson live in Adelaide. Rick Brewster lives in Tasmania.

Cold Chisel Lane, James Dodd, 2021

This mural is part of the City of Music Laneway Project to celebrate Cold Chisel Lane. James Dodd says of his mural: "It has been a great joy to develop this artwork in response to a band whose music and broader cultural context have been present and relevant to me, throughout my life. I have been able to bring together stories from a broad cross-section of people who all talk about how Cold Chisel has left indelible marks on their lives. I hope that this artwork can inspire more people to share their experiences of Cold Chisel and appreciation of the band and their legacy.”

No Fixed Address Lane, Elizabeth Close, Shane Mankitya Cook and Thomas Readett, 2022.

This mural is part of the City of Music Laneway Project to celebrate No Fixed Address Lane.

Elizabeth Close (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara), Shane Mankitya Cook (Guwa and Wulli Wulli) and Thomas Readett (Ngarrindjeri and Arrernte) say of their collaborative mural: “This artwork is an enduring visual expression of the legacy of No Fixed Address, whilst also being future driven and informed by the work that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists are continuing to do today in the fight for parity and equity.”

Street of Love, Heidi Kenyon, 2022

This artwork is part of the City of Music Laneway Project to celebrate Paul Kelly Lane.

Artist Heidi Kenyon has created light-based artworks based on Paul Kelly’s songs “Love is an oft-travelled theme in songwriting, but Paul Kelly’s honesty and vulnerability keeps me coming back for more. Love in all its guises; the yearning, kinship, sadness, exquisite beauty, addiction and complication. The solace and quiet understanding from a partner, an old friend, in coming home.

My artwork features lyrics from Paul Kelly songs that can be made complete by the word love, and employs the moon as a metaphor for its shapeshifting form. It responds to the rich character of the laneway, and asks passers-by to look up and bring their own stories to these heavenly bodies— riffing off the song Beautiful Promise (2010) with the lyrics “love don’t shine steady, it waxes and wanes”.

PHOTO: Cath Leo

Coming soon!