Loud Midnight Oil

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 8

Loud Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil, at the Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium last evening. Reviewed by Nevin Topp. Much of Australia’s rock music is loud and brash, and the sound of Midnight Oil is no exception. It must have something to do with living in a big country — the bands have to play at full energy in a brash manner in order to dominate the attention of the listener. There can be no argument that Midnight Oil played in a committed manner, but most New Zealanders who like rock music are not ardent heavy metal fans, and often that is what the group sounded like. But it was interesting to catch quick snippets of other sounds. Occasionally Midnight Oil bordered on Pink Floyd, for example, and even bands like (gulp)

Joy Division or its outgrowth, New Order. Even live, “Power and the Passion,” sounded as though it had been done by one of the new English bands, particularly because of the backing rhythm of the drums and bass. Peter Garrett, the lead vocalist, came on looking like Bazza McKenzie, but then proceeded to remove one item of clothing for every song, early in the show. First to go was the hat, and that revealed his trademark — his bald pate — and as other items of his clothing went he became more like a menacing mannequin. Rob Hirst, the drummer, was particularly impressive behind the kit, providing the driving rhythm that Midnight Oil required for its songs. Besides the hit, “Power

and the Passion” (or as Garrett put it “Power and the Passionfruit” — perhaps an indication that they are tired of playing the song), Oil also had some other excellent live songs, notably “U.S. Forces” and “Short Memory,” because of their drive. But the political content of some of the songs may have escaped the audience because of the loud sound, although there was no mistaking the “Read About It” — some of the words were hanging on three large banners in the auditorium. But politics may have intruded off-stage as well. After the first encore the audience were cheering for more, cheering, in fact, for a few minutes, and then inexplicably the auditorium lights came on. It was not surprising that there was some booing.