Midnight Oil

Press, 20 February 1988, Page 10

Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil, at the Theatre Royal, from February 19 to February 22, Reviewed by Nevin Topp,

For a band that sing about peaceful issues Midnight Oil generate energy equal to a nuclear reactor. The slowest moment in the whole concert was in the first half when a pristine Wizard, alias lan Brackenbury Channell, introduced a genuine choir, who sang from the side of the circle. But as soon as the Australian band hit the stage it was more than 90 minutes of white-hot energy. Such was the power and the passion that the audience were mesmerised — indeed, they did not catch on that the lead vocalist, Peter Garrett, wanted them to sing the chorus of "Power and Passion” until the lines were reached for the third time. A Midnight Oil concert is done very much on the band’s terms. The hit song, “Beds are Burning,” was about the fourth one into the show. Most groups would have kept it for an encore, but that is not the way Midnight Oil work — the audience has to work too. Garrett covered a lot of stage territory during the show. His boiler suit had a big sun drawn on the front and an equally large light bulb on the back, although even he had to strip down in the unrelenting beat. The drive was best illustrated by "Dreamworld” and “Read About It,” with drummer Rob Hirst threatening to go through his kit. Midnight Oil kept up their Outback theme. The only thing missing from the i,-. e

stage was a dunny. But it was superb lighting that set off songs, occasionally creating the burnt orange of the desert during the day, or just the cool of the early morning. The stage set was more like that for a play than a rock music concert.

About the only time that the Oils slowed down was on “Kosciusko,” with Martin Rotsey providing some semiacoustic guitar, and also “Put Down That Weapon.” But, the main picture is a manic Garrett, jerking out semaphore signals like a puppet, with Hirst, and newcomer Bones Hillman (bass), formerly of the New Zealand band, The Swingers, providing a driving platform for the rest to work.

Midnight Oil also showed that they were not opposed to trying something new. The horn section, rarely used, sweetened the opening of “Power and Passion,” as Garrett went into his own version of a 60s dance craze and later in the same song, a little reggae crept in. Hirst’s drum solo ended with his tapping his sticks on the water tank — one of the many Outback props on stage. Beats hell out of a gong behind the kit anyway. A three-song encore ended the show, including a tribute, “Shipyards of New Zealand,” and "Arctic World.” Even here the pace was ferocious, but it must be said that the vocals and sound were distinct in spite of the hard-edge to the music.

Midnight Oil concerts are not for relaxing — they sear the brain to be savoured later on, as this one did.