Midnight Oil at Terminal 5

Peter Garrett

Guitarist/keyboardist Jim Moginie and drummer Rob Hirst started rocking together as a cover band named Farm in 1972 while in school in Sydney, Australia. University student Peter Garrett answered their advertisement for a vocalist in 1975. Garrett relocated to Sydney in 1976, and Farm became a full-time band and changed its name to Midnight Oil, named after a Jimi Hendrix song. Guitarist Martin Rotsey joined in 1977 and Bones Hillman replaced earlier bassists in 1987. Known as outspoken and non-compromising, Midnight Oil gained a fierce following, winning 11 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards during its career, including induction into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Garrett first entered politics in 1984, and essentially dissolved the band when he entered politics full time in 2002. The band's 11th and final album was 2002's Capricornia. Midnight Oil reformed for sporadic benefit concerts starting in 2005.

Midnight Oil embarked on its first world tour in 15 years in 2017, which included sets at Webster Hall earlier in the year and tonight's performance at Terminal 5. The tour promotes several box sets of back catalog because the band has not written or recorded new music. As such, the setlist concentrated on the band's best known songs from 1982 to 1993, with a few surprises, included the first ever performance of "Heart Is Nowhere," the tour debut of "Is It Now?" and a rocking cover of the Clash's "London Calling." Accompanied by Jack Howard on trumpet, flugelhorn, keyboards, and percussion, Midnight Oil played its bristling rock music with new fever. Several times, Garret expressed his contempt for contemporary politics and tied it with songs that originated from earlier social commentary: "Short Memory" was a critique of imperialist repression; "Truganini" referenced multiple issues, including the treatment of indigenous artist Albert Namatjira, the Australian flag debate, and republicanism; "US Forces" was a denunciation of American military interference in foreign affairs; "The Dead Heart" told the story of colonization from an indigenous point of view; "Blue Sky Mine" described asbestos exposure in the Wittenoom mine tragedy. The music rocked as solidly as it ever did, with Garrett stalking the stage and dancing awkwardly while singing in strong voice, and the band providing driving aggressive, hard rock with sizzling guitar work and thunderous, primal rhythms. Hopefully the band will use this reignited firepower to write new songs.

Visit Midnight Oil at www.midnightoil.com.

Setlist

1. Redneck Wonderland
2. Read About It
3. Golden Age
4. Brave Faces
5. Short Memory
6. Heart Is Nowhere (live debut)
7. Dreamworld
8. Truganini
9. London Calling (The Clash cover)
10. Is It Now? (tour debut)
11. My Country
12. When the Generals Talk
13. US Forces
14. Tin Legs and Tin Mines
15. Kosciusko
16. Now or Never Land
17. Power and the Passion
18. The Dead Heart
19. Beds Are Burning
20. Blue Sky Mine
21. Best of Both Worlds

Encore:

1. Forgotten Years