Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] All things must pass

afromme@gmx.de afromme@gmx.de
Tue, 3 Dec 2002 12:46:30 +0100 (MET)


How sad!

How incredibly sad!

But not a big surprise, really.

However - just about when they had cancelled the European tour and reports
from their Australian concerts were coming in saying they were probably having
the greatest time of their lives on stage, Pete saying that anything could
and probably would happen and everything, I got very slightly suspecting (and
went straight into denial, of course). 
In retrospect now, I can at least try to see why: I used to play in a band,
too. We split rather unamicably (which does not appear to be the case with
the Oils and Peter), but nevertheless played another two shows after the split
was already a reality. And actually, these gigs were the best we ever played.
Everybody was just enjoying themselves on stage.

Then, some rumours appeared on POWD, saying Pete might leave the band after
this tour or possibly a final album. And while those rumours seemed to have
appeared after 20KW RSL, Redneck Wonderland and again after The Real Thing, I
guess for the first time my heart actually missed a beat when I read them
this time around.
[Mind you, this might read as if I was trying to say "Oh, well, I knew it
right from the start" - that actually isn't what I'm trying to get across,
because I didn't. I just had a very slightly awkward feeling all the time, which
of course I ignored and denied. I'm currently just reliving this.]

In any case, I'm not really surprised that Peter is the one to call it
quits.
His background always was far more in politics than in music and he always
seemed the least eager to do extensive overseas touring (which cannot be said
of Rob, who after th release of RW said it was "long overdue" they went on a
global tour again), away from his family, local politics and his ACF
engagement (and surfing, of course... ;-) )
And while this might sound accusing, it really isn't meant that way. On the
contrary, for me it makes it a lot easier (though still not painless) to
grasp his leaving.
He has had an amazing career with Midnight Oil and obviously feels that all
has been said. Full circle. 25 years! I can only think of very, very few
bands who lasted that long in the first place. And if they did, a lot of their
credibility in most cases faded with the years (think Rolling Stones, to name
the most obvious one) and you think "maybe they should've disbanded about 10
years ago". We're now learning the hard way (the very hard way) that this is
not the case for the Oils.

The bottom line (for me) - it is good to see that apparently the split
happened amicably (and we are unlikely to experience any of the hardness we saw
when Roger Waters left Pink Floyd, Prince left Warner, and Liam left Noel
Gallagher - yet again). It is also good to hear that Bones, Martin, Jim and Rob
get along so well they want to continue together and I'm really looking forward
to whatever they do next (and they won't have to think about creating a
specifically Oilish sound, bearing their legacy in mind). Midnight Oil as we know
it is dead, but there still is RobJimMartinBones, the Ghostwriters, possibly
Fuzzface and Jim's other side project, of which the name currently eludes me
(and I'm offline while I'm writing this, so I can't check).

So while I went quite quickly (as it just occured to me) to semi-acceptance
of Pete taking his leave, I still can't see one thing:
Why the hell did they cancel the European tour?
There were no hard feelings (or so it seems), so why cancel a BOOKED tour
that wouldn't even have been two weeks long? Was it THAT urgent to call it
quits?
(Besides that obviously it would've been a nice goodbye to European fans who
sorta missed out on the guys' final year of extensive touring.)
Yeah, a bit of a blasphemic question, I guess, and a bit pointless at that
(we're not VERY likely to see ANY more Oils tours ANYwhere, are we?), but
still, I can't help wondering... and feeling quite let down, really.

Well, hopefully the remaining quartet will make up for a lack of European
Oils tours in the past six (!) years.


Just in case you're wondering how come I already accept the fact that
Midnight Oil is no more.
a) Rob, Jim, Bones and Martin are likely to continue together!
b) the first song I heard after I read the news was "Sister Surround" by the
excellent swedish band The Soundtrack of our Lives. A rather upbeat song and
a nice reminder that not all is lost - there are still great bands around.
Not the Oils - but great nevertheless.


My 2c's worth. (Amazing - a lengthy email and even I myself don't think it's
worth much...)



André

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