Midnight Oil have been performing since the 70s with singer Peter Garrett, drummer Rob Hirst and keyboard player / guitarist Jim Moginie. Wednesday night’s show at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre was part of their final “Resist” tour which sees them play Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe.
Jack River played support for the Adelaide audience. Drawing from her 2018 album Sugar Mountain, she warmed up the capacity crowd. Her 2021 song “We Are The Youth” follows themes of abuse of power. She has toured with Midnight Oil previously after releasing her single “Fool’s Gold” in 2017.
But it was Midnight Oil who the crowd were there to see. Adam Virtuora was on bass, replacing Bones Hillman, who sadly passed away from cancer in 2020. This coincided with the release of “The Makarrata Project” album, after a gap of some 20 years. On guitar was Martin Rotsey, with Leah Flanagan and Liz Stringer’s powerful voices providing a full sound to the band. Indeed, it was more than just a garage band, with saxophone accompaniment giving that big band sound.
Peter Garrett addressed the audience early, acknowledging that most in the crowd had probably been to an Oils concert before and wanted to hear old songs. To their credit, there was a good mix of classics such as “Stand in Line” and “US Forces” mixed in with newer songs such as “The Barka-Darling River.”
Themes of climate change, injustice and the love of our wide brown land were ever present, with visuals on the screen behind adding a sense of grandeur. Rob Hirst showed no signs of his recent Covid, hitting the rusty water tank-cum-drum as hard and skilfully as possible. Garrett’s trademark robotic dancing was on show too, and it wasn’t long before the audience were up dancing in their seats.
Bunna Lawrie joined the stage for “Gadigal Land” which was a moving moment. The show was well crafted with moments of power and passion, intermingled with quieter moments of reflection.
Before long, after some 20 songs had been played the crowd erupted into a noisy standing ovation. A generous four song encore finished with “Hercules” and the band walked off, triumphant and spent.
“Wiyathul” by deceased Indigenous performer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu played as the crowd filed out, while tributes to Bones Hillman, Shane Warne and Taylor Hawkins flashed on screen.
Midnight Oil’s Resist tour is one that will stay in people’s minds for a long time to come. It was a well-crafted, solid tribute to what makes us all Australians.
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