The Black Sorrows

Street Food Stalls & Bars open from 5.30pm The Black Sorrows are back on the road – this time to celebrate the recent release of their new album The Way We Do Business through ABC Music Joe Camilleri has been at the forefront of the Australian music scene for decades as the leader of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows, and as a writer of radio anthems Hit & Run, Shape I’m In, Chained To The Wheel, Harley & Rose and Never Let Me Go. He is the consummate entertainer constantly honing his craft, an ARIA Hall of Famer and a rock’n’roll lifer. Joe fronts The Black Sorrows, one of Australia’s most prolific and enduringly popular bands, renowned for their high-energy live shows, musicianship and infectious, roots-soaked blues rock. They’ve sold more than two million albums to date and won an ARIA Award for Best Group. Recorded in the Woodstock Studio, which he once owned, and the roomier Empire Studios in Melbourne, this extensive album – Joe’s 55th – features an array of guest players, most notably master guitarists Shannon Bourne and Shane O’Mara along with John McAll on piano, percussionist Alejandro Vega, Mitch Cairns on bass, Simon Starr on double bass and horn players James McAullay, Nick Ryan-Glennie, Paul Williamson and Tony Norris. This album was supposed to be produced by the Grammy-winning Pete Solly, who turned Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons into a formidable chart entity with the Screaming Targets album in 1979 and its hit singles Hit & Run and Shape I’m In – which had these ugly buggers screamed at on Countdown and resulted in substantial European breakouts and a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Pete had returned to Australia to produce the previous Sorrows’ album, 2021’s Saint Georges Road and it was hoped he would return to helm The Way We Do Business. Sadly throat cancer intruded on those plans, with Joe travelling to his American home to be with him during his final days. So it fell to Joe Camilleri to sit in the producer’s chair for his inaugural ABC Music release. Of course, such chores are not unfamiliar to this musical polyglot, a 2007 inductee into the ARIA Hall of Fame, whose production credits include Sports, Renee Geyer, Ross Wilson, Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons and Jane Clifton. “I have a great love for the things I do. I’ve been in the studio for a lot of years now, learning things. You’ve got to feel you’re going forward. We can make as many mistakes as you like as long as we’re going somewhere. The joy of live music, the excitement of watching great performers playing off each other and feeding off the room, and the thrill of never knowing what is coming next but knowing it will be incredible is what The Black Sorrows are all about. Do not miss your chance to see The Black Sorrows, book your tickets now!