[mjbljb]

Three days of Wonderland or our Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the
Oils.

Ah Midnight Oil, let me give you a bit of personal background. My wife
Laurie and I have some very different musical tastes in many ways. But
one thing we agree on is the Oils are just the best. My kids also agree
(they’ve been brainwashed you see!).
 So it with great anticipation (which we will try not to make a prison
of) that we set out for New Jersey on Thursday for the Oils @ Birch Hill
NightClub.  I was accompanied by my wife, my friend Jon ( a big
Oils fan and the only one of us to have seen them in Oz) and my
sister-in-law
Linda also a big fan. The trip down was uneventful and  we arrived at
our hotel in Brunswick at 6.00pm. After a great dinner at a local Jersey
Dinner (a staple of the area, “Hey what exit you from?”, “Do you know
Vinnie Trombolli he’s from Jersey”, etc…) We headed over to Old Bridge.

 The Birch Hill Night Club complex is one of these holdover from the big
band days and is an entire sports and nightclub complex, albeit very run
down. Upon entering the Club we found out :
1. No Liquor
2. Photo’s were Ok (no flash)
So my wife got her camera and we grabbed some water and parked about 2
people back from Martin’s side of the stage.
 The opening band Will Hoge was very good maybe not to everyone’s taste
but they had a country sort of Springsteen twist to them and played a
great opening set and were well received by the crowd. I must be hard to
open for a band with such fanatical followers but the did a fine job.
 Robs kit was uncovered and the Oils bathed in a blast of red light
burst into Redneck Wonderland. This was going to be a wild ride. I won’t
recreate the set list as it’s already been posted but I’ll pick out my
highlights. Forgotten Years was the best song for me that night and very
appropriate. As to Peter towing the media line, sorry I don’t think in
this case it’s a bad thing. We had to respond to the terrorists and as
regrettable as it may seem I don’t think there was another viable
solution that didn’t include a military component.
More on this later. Peter spoke a few times saying basically: “No
alcohol, so I we have our work cut out for us!”, “Great to be back and
have you here because it’s what we must do, the Oils play music and you
come an see us, whatever you do, do it with more passion, conviction and
drive that you have done it before".
 Rob moved up front onto cocktail set for the outback inspired portion
of the show, nice to see Rob in the front line. God he is such a
monster, one of the most intense, interesting and captivating drummers
I’ve ever seen. Martin and Jim’s acoustic outro on “Dead Heart” was
stunning and an Oils moment that like so many other you can’t explain
with words. Like Pete cavorting like a giant kid across the stage
whipping everyone into a frenzy, screaming a huge not as the sprint hand
thrusts upward, unbelievable. Having never been in front of Martin before
I really appreciated his skill and how much he adds to the total sound.
Whether treming out on his Blue Mustang, cranking the black Guild or
arppegiating on acoustic (Manton?) via the twin Vox AC30's, he is the
quiet soul that brackets this hurricane with finesse and power. I spoke
with him briefly after the show, getting onto the bus. He was so friendly,
I said how great it was to have the Oils back stateside and how we missed
having them tour RW. He agreed and said "Yea it's been a few years in
between
hasn't it" We shook hands what a great guy.
 Bones was fierce on the bass (Yammy 4 and Fender P Custom 5, silver
glitter!!!)
The bass was up in the mix and you felt it. Bones was in great form and his
few
lead vocal parts an great harmonies with Jim, Rob and Pete show what a
underrated
singer he is (especially on one of the new songs?).
 And Jim Mogine (I will not smile at all!!) blasted away on Les Paul,
electric dobro
and as always with those oh so important keyboard accompaniments. He's so
cool yet
in that calm he was cranking and grinding with abandon.
 I agree that Only the Strong was one of the best songs of the night. I
whished
for more RW (BSWH,Concrete,Cemetry, etc) but that's just being greedy.
 All in all a great first of three shows, but little did we know.....
Next (Back in NYC, the Oils triumphant return to Manhattan)

PS: Photo's to follow