Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] tonight's show in DC

Tony D'Astolfo tonyis@the-loo.com
Thu, 28 Mar 2002 08:30:58 -0500


Tom,

  Very good play by play of the show last night. I couldn't agree with you
more about your last paragraph about what they play at their shows. I saw
them 3 times in Sydney when they were touring for The Real Thing and I must
say that the shows there are very different from the shows I've seen in the
US. The shows in Australia that I've seen tend to last at least an hour
longer with a great mix of songs from older albums. What really threw me was
when somebody in the audience yelled out "Play Beds are Burning". I was
thinking to myself there are much better songs than that to request. It's
funny how the crowd reacts to most songs off of D&D, I guess you'll get that
when that was their big US breakout album. I guess I can't complain though,
they rock no matter what they play.
  As for the ranting Peter did, he did heaps more when I saw them in Sydney.
I guess it hits closer to home there so he has a lot to say.

  I was the person sitting/standing in the balcony on the same side as you
only right up in the front corner. The best part of the night for me was
when Rob walked off stage the first time and tossed a drumstick to my wife
and I. I didn't think we had a chance at one since we were up high but he
picked one up and brought it over and made a perfect toss. Hey does anyone
else on the list think Rob has a striking resemblance to Dustin Hoffman?

  You are also correct about the opening band Cecilia, they were fantastic.
Did you know that all but the bass player are family. Dad - drummer, Mom -
backup vocals, Brother - guitar, Sister1 - guitar/sing/accordian, Sister2 -
singer/backup vocals.

  All in all last night's show at 9:30 = Rocked hard!

P.S. Is the girl who while waiting outside before the doors opened went nuts
when she heard Warakurna during their soundcheck on this list? Just curious.

Tony

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Davies" <tdav@wam.umd.edu>
To: "powderworks" <powderworks@cs.colorado.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 1:49 AM
Subject: [Powderworks] tonight's show in DC


> Workers of the world—
>
> Just got back from the 9:30 club in Washington DC, and I feel like waxing
> somewhat loquacious about the show, so here goes…
>
> I got there bright and early, in time to get a nice place to sit on the
> bleachers on the balcony, the one on the left if you’re facing the stage.
The
> 9:30 is a good space – every time I go there I tell myself I should go
there
> more often. There’s food and coffee as well as beer, and the balcony
provides a
> great view of the stage. I checked out the Oils stuff that was for sale –
thirty
> bucks US for a white t-shirt? No thanks. I do like that black t-shirt with
the
> iconic, slightly menacing picture of Peter’s face in yellow, but I already
have
> one of those from 2001. The hats are nice (yellow hand on black) but I
just
> don’t wear hats.
>
> The stuff the Oils had on the set was kind of interesting – a couple of
> sculptures of lizards or something hanging from the ceiling; a freaky
cow-like
> being standing in one corner; and three painting/collage/sculpture
thingies on
> corrugated iron in the back. There was a torn US flag off to the right,
and I
> was trying to figure out what it might represent – sympathy for America?
Support
> for America’s so-called war against terrorism? I bloody hope not. For me
it
> called to mind the flag-burning sentiments of Truganini, but of course the
flag
> was not burned during that song or any other (imagine the media circus if
it had
> been!). Still don’t really know what the Oils were trying to do with that.
>
> Anyhow, I went up, found an empty space and sat in it. I was by myself – I
’ve
> gotten some of my friends to appreciate the Oils, but none could come
tonight.
> And so I found myself between two couples – one in their 40s and the other
in
> their 60s. (I’m 23.) Looking down from the balcony I could see a few grey
and
> balding heads – the diversity in age is nice, it’s cool that the Oils have
such
> wide appeal. While I’m thinking of the crowd, I don’t want to leave out
the two
> blonde cuties dancing on the opposite balcony… and the guys down front who
had a
> painting, on canvas, of Peter. Only got a quick look at it, but it seemed
like
> good work. Are those guys on the list? If so, care to tell the rest of us
about
> it?
>
> Spent a while chattering with this woman to my right who’s old enough to
be my
> mother, when we find out that there’s going to be a support act, even
though
> none was previously announced. Mild disappointment/apprehension sets in –
Will
> Hoge last fall was okay, but nothing to write home about. Pretty soon the
> support act comes on. First reaction: hey, that lead singer’s gorgeous!
Second
> reaction: oh, and the music’s great too! Cecilia is a really good band –
by the
> end of the first song I was hoping they were local, but they turned out to
be
> from New York. There are six of them – three women, three guys; two
guitars, a
> bass, drums, lots of singing, and sometimes an accordion. Their music
shares one
> of the Oils’ basic strengths: harmony combined with power. More emphasis
on the
> harmony and less on the power, but nonetheless a really nice combination.
As
> soon as they finished playing I went down and bought their CD, which I’m
> listening to as I write this. I hope the Oils bring Cecilia along on the
rest of
> the tour – I’m betting a lot of you will really enjoy them.
>
> Midnight Oil finally came on, and there were many scary cow noises.
“Mooing”
> doesn’t begin to describe it; I don’t really know what kinds of noises
cows
> usually make, but these ones sounded as if they were being tortured.
Again, not
> quite sure what the Oils were trying to do there.
>
> Redneck Wonderland first up, same as at last fall’s shows. It’s a good
opening
> number – instant energy. After that came Too Much Sunshine, which was…
fine.
> It’s never been one of my favorites. Next was Under the Overpass, which is
good
> live, being a big dramatic sort of song, though it slowed the energy down
a bit.
> But after that, Forgotten Years kicked it right back up. Politically,
Forgotten
> Years struck me as an unfortunate choice – it seems to implicitly
subscribe to
> the whole “we are at war” attitude that the Republicans and the military-
> industrial complex are trying so hard to inculcate in us. But then Peter’s
first
> rant of the evening put a bit of a different spin on things. He said he’d
> promised himself he wouldn’t talk politics in Washington, but then
proceeded to
> do so anyway… something about Rumsfeld dreaming up a war for all the young
> people. I remember thinking that rant in particular was very poetic.
>
> I think it was then that Rob came to the front with the little drum kit,
with
> which he always seems to rock just as hard as with the full kit. Case in
point:
> the next song, Luritja Way, which continues to sound D&D-like in a very
good
> way. Then Peter gave a quick explanation of the situation with the Afghan
> refugees trying to get into Australia (not sure if anyone in the audience
who
> didn’t already know would have gotten it) as a lead-in to Ships of
Freedom. Next
> came Warakurna, which the crowd really got into, and then Blue Sky Mine,
which
> kept the energy going. Then another rant (Peter was more talkative tonight
than
> I’ve ever seen before) which was apparently occasioned by some technical
glitch
> with the mic during the previous couple of songs. It went something like
this:
> engineers always think things are going to go perfectly, whereas dreamers
think
> things can be perfect but accept that things will go wrong, and …
something
> something. I forget.
>
> Say Your Prayers was next, and then some random discussion of the
Melbourne Cup.
> Some dork (apologies if you’re reading this) near me asked why, the last
time
> they played in DC, they had to play “on that night of all nights.” Peter
> responded that he’d like to know why Britney broke up with whatsisname,
but some
> questions just don’t have answers. The crowd laughed heartily. Then Golden
Age
> was played, and then Been Away Too Long, which still does nothing for me,
even
> live. Some songs (No Time For Games!) are better live, others are still…
what
> they are. Thankfully, Only The Strong was next, and it completely kicked
ass as
> always – Peter was striking some amusing poses in the flashing lights. (By
the
> way, he was wearing the same red shirt with the nuclear symbol that he
wore on
> Letterman.)
>
> Then the singalong section of the concert really got going – Dead Heart,
King of
> the Mountain, Beds, and Dreamworld – songs everybody recognized and got
into. At
> the end of Dead Heart, Bones gave his bass to Peter, who played it during
that
> last big chord at the very end.
>
> The first encore number was an excellent rendition of Poets and Slaves –
very
> dramatic. Then Truganini, then (the highlight of the night in my opinion)
Tone
> Poem, which opened with a long guitar bit featuring Jim. Then Peter
dedicated
> the last song to all those people fighting for rights that are in danger
of
> being lost (something like that – I’d interpret it as a reference to all
the
> threats to civil liberties in the US post-9/11) – I inwardly thanked him
for the
> dedication, not that I’m a big activist but I’ve done a few things, and
the song
> that went along with the dedication was perfect: Sometimes.
>
> Only one encore, unfortunately. Still, Sometimes was a great finish.
>
> Now here’s my one and only gripe: I think there should be a law, or a
petition,
> or an unwritten rule, or something, that says the Oils must play at least
one
> song from any of the following: the blue album, Head Injuries, Bird
Noises,
> PWAP, Red Sails, Breathe. It’s always great to hear the Oils play, of
course,
> but would it be so hard to include ONE SONG from off the beaten track, as
it
> were? Tonight we only even got one song from 10-1 (of course I was hoping
they’d
> play US Forces and Short Memory, but I guess they either didn’t feel like
it or
> weren’t going to get that politically confrontational), and the rest were
either
> standards (mainly from D&D and BSM) or songs from the new album (with the
single
> exception of Ships of Freedom). I mean, I get that this is America and the
Oils
> have to play a certain amount of songs that audiences will recognize – but
come
> on, how about just one song that’s a bit less familiar? If anyone could
convince
> the band to play a bit less of the familiar stuff next time they come to
DC, I’d
> be eternally grateful.
>
> peace and love,
>
> Tom
>
>
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