Midnight Oil @ The RoyalTheatre, Canberra (12/03/09)

Fri 13th Mar, 2009 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE HISTORIC SHOW HERE.

Midnight Oil came together for the first time in four years to blow the top off Canberra’s Royal Theatre before a packed house of adoring fans – no mean feat for a venue with all the natural atmosphere of a supermarket. The iconic Aussie rock group (average age now 54) left the crowd (average age notably lower) in a nostalgic delirium with an epic 23-song, two-hour show. The set-list read like a homemade Oils mix tape, with hits dating back to the band’s formative years over three decades ago, all dusted off and belted out.

Sydney comedian Clint Paddison was given the task of warming up the crowd while the band did the same backstage. After a good start, the routine descended into the standard diet for comics visiting the ACT: Fyshwick, Queanbeyan, fireworks and porn. Paddison’s bacon was saved when Oils bassist Bones Hillman made an impromptu appearance and breathed some life into his “air band” segment.

Expectations were high as the “Oils, Oils” chant filled the room. The most disappointed by this stage were the ageing rockers who’d bought seated tickets based on medical advice, but were clearly itching to be down on the floor and ready to sweat. It was right on 8:30pm when Midnight Oil hit the stage. Guitarist Martin Rotsey combined with drummer Rob Hirst for the opening lick of Redneck Wonderland and the rest of them exploded on cue. The crowd took some time to catch up, but by song five when lead singer Peter Garrett hit the harmonica for the huge 1987 single, Blue sky Mine, they were won.

From that point, it was hit after hit. Read About It and Power and the Passion, both from the seminal 1982 album 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, were highlights. Enter stage right a four-piece brass section and the band’s sound hit its peak.

Hitsterical: adjective, to be overwhelmed by rock ‘n roll mega-hits.

This show was one of two warm-ups for Midnight Oil, having reunited to play the Melbourne leg of the Sound Relief bushfire benefit concert on 14 March. Apart from Garrett, all band members are still active musicians, so no surprises that the quality was there. The only senior’s moment came when Hillman hit the last chorus of Power and the Passion a bar too soon and with such gusto that it couldn’t be ignored, so the band had to wheel around for a second approach, and hit it as one.

Of course Garrett’s profession is now politics. Some in the crowd, at least the newspaper journos, were holding their breath to see just if, what and how he would deliver a juicy headline. To their disappointment, and no doubt to the Prime Minister’s relief, he stayed on message. In introducing Beds are Burning late in the set, Garrett said, “It was a good thing when we said sorry, no doubt about it.” The band conspicuously avoided the more controversial US Forces, but it was listed as a “maybe” on the set-list, so the Friday night crowd might get lucky.

To those for whom lyrics are primary and music secondary, there was room for disappointment. The show lacked the anger and conviction of the hallowed shows of Goat Island 1985 or the Sydney Olympics in 2000. To those who thought some of their $80 ticket was going to bushfire and flood victims, there is also room for disappointment – we still don’t know exactly where the Canberra proceeds are headed.

For those who were there to see one of our best-ever bands strip rock music down to its bare essentials and make people feel it, they couldn’t have asked for much more. Just sometimes, it’s great to live in Canberra.

Set-list

Redneck Wonderland
Brave Faces
Dreamworld
Under The Overpass
Blue Sky Mine
Only The Strong
When The Generals Talk
Golden Age
Read About It
River Runs Red
Bullroarer
Power And The Passion
One Country
Luritja Way
King Of The Mountain
The Dead Heart
Beds Are Burning
Best Of Both Worlds

Encore 1
Truganini
Too Much Sunshine
Forgotten Years

Encore 2
In The Valley
Sometimes