Jimmy Barnes is coming to Summernats 36 after pulling the pin on last year’s festival. Photo: Jimmy Barnes, Facebook.
The ‘Working Class Man’ is returning to Canberra for the first time in six years as the headline act at the celebration of gleaming machinery, tyre smoke and mullets that is Summernats.
Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes will take to the stage at Exhibition Park for Summernats 36 in January 2024.
“I’m happy to announce that I’ll be heading to Canberra for Summernats on Friday, January 5 2024,” he tweeted on 1 August.
He’ll be joined on the stage by Daryl Braithwaite as well as The Screaming Jets to round out Friday night’s offerings.
“My good mates [Daryl Braithwaite] and [The Screaming Jets] will also [be] playing on the same night. Grab your tickets below and I’ll see you there,” Barnes said.
Saturday night will then feature Hot Dub Time Machine, self-described as the “world’s first time-travelling DJ” and “a global festival smash hit”.
Jimmy Barnes at a Menslink event in 2019. Photo: Region.
It’s a commitment Barnsey made last year after last-minute back and hip surgery prevented him from making it to Summernats 35.
“I’ve been jumping off PAs and stomping around stages for nearly 50 years, but it’s finally caught up with me,” he said in a video he posted to social media at the time.
“I’ve had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks and I’m now in constant and severe pain.
“As everybody knows, it’s against my religion to blow out gigs but the doctors tell me I need an operation as soon as possible.
“As much as it kills me, I have to get this fixed so I can jump around onstage for another 50 years … And I’m really happy to announce that I will be there at Summernats 36, January 2024.”
The last time Barnesy visited Canberra was during his national tour in 2018 when he performed his chart-topping memoir, Working Class Man.
His latest album was Blue Christmas, released in 2022.
Since then, he’s teamed up with The Living End’s Chris Cheney, UK pianist Jools Holland, Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, and producer Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley to form a supergroup called The Barnestormers.
They released their first album in May, with the first single as a cover of Don Walker’s ‘Johnny’s Gone’.
Livij Krevatin was crowned Grand Champion at Summernats 35 with his 1978 Porsche 911. Photo: Summernats.
Hopes are high for Summernats 36, after this year’s festival attracted a record 125,000 people and 2700 vehicle entrants over the four days.
Co-owner Andy Lopez said it was full of “amazing cars, fantastic people and beautiful nights of concerts”, and represented a sure sign of things settling down to normal after COVID-19.
Michelago man Livij Krevatin took home the coveted ‘Chic Henry Memorial Grand Champion’ sword for his locally built 1978 Porsche 911.
Summernats 36 will be held at Exhibition Park in Canberra from Thursday 4 January to Sunday 7 January, 2024. Tickets are available online at OzTix.
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