The time has come

May 4, 2016 5:07 PM

Midnight Oil have today confirmed they will reform for a series of shows both in Australia and overseas in 2017. This will be the band's first shows since 2009 and their first tour since breaking up in 2002. A refresher: Beds Are Burning - Power and the Passion - The Dead Heart - Bus to Bondi - When the Generals Talk
posted by misterbee (42 comments total)

There's something that can be said about Peter Garrett's current reputation (he didn't really walk the walk, going into politics) but I'm actually more surprised on account of his age. I read a couple of pieces about the 2009 shows and I got the impression they were a real physical strain.
posted by solarion at 5:21 PM on May 4, 2016

I think Peter knew he'd get nothing done if he was a radical ideologue. So he followed the party line and somewhat compromised his principles for political power.

The last time I saw him was in 1998 in a pub in Mackay. He just happened to be there having a drink and decided to sing a few songs.
posted by adept256 at 5:51 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Forgotten Years" was always my favorite of theirs.
posted by jonmc at 5:56 PM on May 4, 2016 [5 favorites]

I've never had a chance to see 'em & that's always bugged me. Videos seem to confirm that they're a fantastic live band. I have most of the studio albums, but the one I love best is Earth & Sun & Moon. Forceful, insistent music, and one of the 20 or so best audio recordings of a rock band ever, sonically. Truganini still gives me chills with the backwards piano, guitar swells and WHACK! of the snare.

If they come within a thousand miles of Austin, I will be there.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:13 PM on May 4, 2016 [5 favorites]

Peter Garrett can't be that old.
posted by Flashman at 6:17 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

One of the best live bands I've ever seen. But that was in the late '80s. Still, looking forward to this.
posted by stargell at 6:18 PM on May 4, 2016

>There's something that can be said about Peter Garrett's current reputation (he didn't really walk the walk, going into politics)

My wife and I are just thankful that Peter Gifford founded Wicked Weasel.
posted by My Dad at 6:18 PM on May 4, 2016 [2 favorites]

Frente. Frente is the Straya band we want to reform. Make it happen.
posted by Brocktoon at 6:26 PM on May 4, 2016 [7 favorites]

Angie released her last solo album in 2009, if that helps.

Agreed Frente! were great. They burnt brightly but not for long.
posted by adept256 at 6:38 PM on May 4, 2016

I ended up seeing them in the late 90s/early 2000s in Toronto. They put on a good show but I was annoyed by this guy in the audience who was wearing an Australian flag as a cape that would block my view every now and then. I actually ran into the guy on the subway the following day and he unprompted apologized for his behaviour. I told him it was OK, because it must have been pretty exciting as an Aussie to see the Oils in a foreign country.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:55 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you're looking for Frente you should try Kelly Street. It's where friends and neighbors sometimes meet.
posted by Talez at 7:10 PM on May 4, 2016 [6 favorites]

That being said I've been listening to Hoodoo Guru's Kinky a lot to remind me of where I came from.
posted by Talez at 7:13 PM on May 4, 2016

I never thought much of them until a friend had an extra ticket to see them at Great Woods. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen and I've been a fan ever since.
posted by bondcliff at 7:14 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

They put on a good show but I was annoyed by this guy in the audience who was wearing an Australian flag as a cape that would block my view every now and then.

They asked us to take this down at the Vancouver winter olympics. We were just excited to see what winter was like! Sorry about that. Though it's nice to hear from a foreign fan, sometimes it seems Aussie bands don't get much notice overseas.
posted by adept256 at 7:16 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm a huge fan of Midnight Oil and a huge fan of the Beatles. I consider their work comparable since the work of both bands have held up over time with considerable strength, unlike many other bands, e.g. (in my humble opinion), much of U2's rock albums that I've collected.

'Forgotten Years' makes me weep.
posted by uraniumwilly at 7:35 PM on May 4, 2016 [2 favorites]

I will be very happy to see them again. Saw them in San Francisco not very long after 9/11 and Peter was exceedingly kind to the audience.
posted by feckless at 8:12 PM on May 4, 2016

I was going to see them in high school...and then they canceled the show to go protest the Exxon Valdez spill. Never came to town again. Sigh.

I still think their stuff holds up.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:13 PM on May 4, 2016

This is fantastic news! What a great band. I've seen them live twice (Blue Sky Mining and Capricornia tours). Sure hope this means there'll be a new studio album too.
posted by JonathanB at 8:39 PM on May 4, 2016

Angie released her last solo album in 2009, if that helps.

The Holidays On Ice stuff is worth checking out too.

(Also, Frente! do do gigs every couple of years. Last I saw them was at the Gasometer, IIRC. Being in Melbourne may be an advantage.)
posted by pompomtom at 8:45 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've seen them live in the late 80s... Definitely one of the best live shows I've ever seen, and one of the few bands I probably would pay to see in their "golden years".
posted by mmoncur at 9:23 PM on May 4, 2016

Hel-LO bucket list!
posted by Eikonaut at 10:02 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

MoonOrb I caught Ian Brown solo a few years ago, and although the Stone Roses did a reunion tour recently I missed it. Going by friends who went, and my Ian Brown experience, the Stone Roses are best left in memory....
posted by prismatic7 at 10:38 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Seconding prismatic7 - I saw Ian Brown a few years ago in Hong Kong and frankly he was shite. He just can't sing very well i.e. he was out of tune for most of the show.

I did some recording a couple of years ago in Jim Moginie's studio surrounded by Oils' gear - amps, guitars, drums, keyboards etc. It was kind of spooky finding the 12 string Maton Jim used to record "Short Memory".

The band are probably in there now rehearsing like mad.
posted by awfurby at 10:44 PM on May 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Rob Hirst is one of the most potent drummers I've ever heard. Looking forward to seeing him play.
posted by flabdablet at 11:24 PM on May 4, 2016 [2 favorites]

Can I hope beyond hope that Bones Hillman takes his upright bass with him on tour?

I've been loving his work with Elizabeth Cook lately - and I regret missing her when she's come to Seattle.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:59 PM on May 4, 2016

I saw them at Wave Aid in 2005. They put on a great show, listening to the whole of the SCG singing "doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo" for about 10 minutes was the highlight (the lowpoint was a group of ignoramuses playing cricket all the way through Nick Cave, the fuckwits).
posted by kjs4 at 12:01 AM on May 5, 2016

Bullroarer is so underrated.
posted by PenDevil at 12:20 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Videos seem to confirm that they're a fantastic live band

I can confirm. I went to a lot of gigs in my life (and in the 80s/90s/000s) and the 1988 Midnight Oil gig at my university was memorable.

Re the Stone Rose, I felt the same way about them but they were a completely different live experience.. Find the video of the Blackpool Empress Ballroom gig from 1989 (it used to be for sale), that will be the best version of what was not really a great live band. John Leckie's production, John Squire and the drummer made the most of what they started with on those records. Also helps to have smoked a spliff before watching.
posted by C.A.S. at 1:03 AM on May 5, 2016

Frente. Frente is the Straya band we want to reform. Make it happen.


I'd vote for The Hummingbirds. They did reunite for one gig at Big Day Out in Sydney some years ago (and I managed to arrange a flight to visit family/friends in Australia partly to catch that, and tell you that it was worth it), though I'd like to see them do a proper comeback and maybe an album.

Failing that, Swirl (i.e., Australia's one shoegaze band from the 90s) could probably make hay in the current shoegaze revival.
posted by acb at 2:19 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Also, I wonder what a politically sincere Midnight Oil album circa 2016 would sound like. Songs about the necessity of making hard compromises and shrewdly jockeying for incremental change, with slogan choruses about how the alternative to the lesser evil is the greater evil?
posted by acb at 2:21 AM on May 5, 2016 [8 favorites]

Ouch acb.. ouch...

Saw them twice stateside. One of the best live act/vibes I've ever seen/been part of. The first time i saw them was sometime sfter Earth and Sun and Moon, which was awesome because at that point i was deep enough into their catalogue... From the perspective of some impressionable 14 year old who knew very little of the social politics movement outside of the US, Midnight Oil introduced me to a lot. Like - hey stupid (me), there are a lot of people in this world and every culture has found a way to be a dick to a part of their heritage and corporations worldwide suck when they are faced with a situationalso choice between people and profit (hint: the answer isn't binary). I mean - these were 1960s protest songs which actually rocked...

So some time in the mid 2000s was the last time I saw them (for free at the hatshell in Boston) and I remember it being mentioned that this was likely their last stateside tour - and they still rocked! And I remember thinking in my mid/late twenties selfishness that there was no reason that a band still this on top of their game with writing and playing (and singing - because damn that is/was still an iconic voice!) shouldn't be ending their careers in some sort of a Calvinisitic (as in Waterson) 'Pander to me' moment.

Ten/Twelve years later, I am a bit older, and I get it. I've worked with a ton of musicians who still have day jobs and didn't make it and I've seen the toll -that- takes on them.

So politically Peter Garrett wasn't a battle cry for the left once he was in office... that's a bit of a shame, but...

The Oils were at the start of my own interest and contributed a large part of my own political ideological narrative. Would I be a liberal without the Oils? Sure... but probably not as good a one.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:30 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ouch acb.. ouch...

That wasn't sarcasm; I was sincerely imagining how Midnight Oil could proceed with new material, other than (a) by writing from a left-wing high-ground and exposing the insincerity of their voice and/or the fundamental limitation that, as a rock band, they are an entertainment spectacle and not a manifesto for political change, (b) becoming resolutely apolitical, or else writing in U2/Coldplay-style motherhood statements that no centre-right politician would have problems with using as their entry music, or (c) redefining themselves as a period act, writing from an angry, idealistic point of view over the issues of the late 70s/early 80s that their fans would have been fired up about before they owned a stake in the status quo (more songs about the Franklin Dam, the madness of Reagan's Star Wars, the Pinochet regime, atrocities in East Timor, and so on). And cultivating a pragmatic third-way-centre-leftist voice and trying to sell fabian incrementalism to a market more used to passionate idealism and moral purity may be the least worst option.
posted by acb at 5:43 AM on May 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Are they even working on new material?
posted by spinifex23 at 6:22 AM on May 5, 2016

FTA: Last year, Peter Garrett told Lateline that he had started writing songs again for the first time in "10 or 15 years" during the writing of Big Blue Sky.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:07 AM on May 5, 2016

Swirl (i.e., Australia's one shoegaze band from the 90s)

I own the tattered remains of one of their promo T shirts, and would certainly jump at the opportunity to buy another.
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 AM on May 5, 2016

One of the disconcerting things about this thread is putting on my favourite Oils track (No Time For Games) and idly looking up when it came out (1980).
posted by hawthorne at 7:58 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

They have so many good songs. I admit to getting a bit burnt out on them for a while during the 80's and 90's because the local commercial radio stations just flogged them to death, plus I think they were *wildly* misunderstood by many bevan/bogans of my acquaintance who had them blaring whilst being disgustingly racist and sexist and every-otherist pigs, but now enough time has gone past that I can listen to them with real enjoyment again.

I've always admired Peter Garrett and I was sad to see him swallowed up by the machinations and limitations of party politics. It's a dirty, ugly game and I guess he discovered that there's not much room for anything but conformity in the major parties. Which, let's face it, he was never going to be particularly good at.

I've seen them live twice and their sheer command of the stage was just awesome. I'm glad they're coming back.'Short Memory' is one of their many songs that really gets to me.
posted by h00py at 8:04 AM on May 5, 2016

Can someone explain to a Yank exactly what transpired with Garrett's political career? I'm aware that he became a politician, but I don't really know what happened except that it was disappointing.
posted by ericthegardener at 7:45 PM on May 5, 2016

My opinion on Garrett's time in parliament is that he was recruited by Rudd with the promise this was going to be a government of progressive change, and the ALP used him as a celebrity figure head to demonstrate their integrity to the left, especially those a bit suspicious Rudd was going to be an Australian Tony Blair.

They won, and it turns out governing is hard. IMO, they were a good government, and I think history will judge they achieved good things, but were inept about the politics. A lot of the government, including Garrett, were new to political life and seamed to struggle with the opposition attacks and constant media scrutiny. And they kind of expected to be given a fair go, and opportunity to be heard.

So when stuff ups happened, the government often dropped the ball in explaining their point of view, I think because they were busy governing, while their opponents had all the time in the world to oppose.

To give an example, during the GFC the gov decided to offer generous financial incentives to people to install building insulation in their homes. The plan was to drive a big uptick in low skill jobs that would absorb the people being rapidly shed from their jobs in the private sector. And, hey! the country gets an ongoing energy efficiency bonus, plus renters and the poor get insulation that they might have very much wanted but not been able to make an economic case for.

A key item was that to have a meaningful impact on employment, the program had to happen quickly. As a result, rules were hastily drawn up and funding released. To comply with neo-liberal orthodoxy, the government didn't employ anybody directly, but rebates were paid to private businesses doing the installs.

The scheme was a smashing success. Approximately a million houses were insulated and the desired impact on employment happened.

Unfortunately, some private businesses were lax in their safety standards. I think the lure of government money encouraged a bunch of dodgy operators to go into business, or dramatically expand their operations, hiring lots of staff that they trained poorly. Sadly, four workers died installing insulation when they accidentally stapled live power wires or were overcome by heat stroke. Separately, poor installation practices resulted in some house fires that caused property damage.

This combination of dodgy operators with poor safety standards was laid at the governments door, and the investigation showed the gov could have done much more to ensure worker safety. How much of this is 20/20 hindsight, I don't really know.

Anyway, I think the whole experience soured governing for Garrett, and his performance handling the problems certainly appeared slow. And when the political flack started flying, some ALP heavies like Mark Arbib and Greg Combet got involved with finger pointing etc. making it look less like a mistake, and more like a fuck up that could have been avoided if people hadn't been playing politics.

He later became the Eduction minister (not as big a deal as it sounds as school education is a state responsibility) and ended up resigning after backing Gillard when Rudd came back.
posted by bystander at 2:01 AM on May 6, 2016 [4 favorites]

Thanks for the great answer bystander! One more thing (if you're still around): generally speaking, did the Australians who supported Garrett and voted for him appreciate that he was in a difficult situation doing the best he could? Or did they feel shafted by him and that once in office he wasn't any different from the other politicians.
posted by ericthegardener at 6:20 PM on May 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Well, I think Garrett is still well liked and respected, but he certainly looked out of his depth in the rough and tumble of politics. Its worth noting he did a few things that would have definitely compromised his values, like approving a uranium mine, that would have been hard to feel good about.
Rationally, you govern for the whole population, while if you are an activist, you can retain focus on your little niche.
I would say that the general public probably view his record as mixed. I can't think many people would question Garrett's commitment or values, but I would guess they felt let down that he wasn't more effective.
My own feeling is he didn't have the bloody mindedness, or perhaps was too nice a guy, to do some of the difficult stuff, and let others who were hard-nosed pricks roll over him.
posted by bystander at 5:13 AM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

I'd actually wondered about that for a while. Thanks for the perspective!
posted by ericthegardener at 1:20 PM on May 8, 2016