[pete mellor]

Not really sure what I can add to what has gone before but felt the need to 
put something down.

Good to meet up with Nigel, Pete and Pete (very brave with a broken toe. I'm 
sure those tears were of joy at seeing the Oils for the first time and 
nothing else). Arrived fashionably late in time to see Magic Dirt who in my 
honest opinion rocked without question and Spiderbait were excellent.

The 'Oils' chant blended seemlessly with the cows and the band appeared 
striding into a Hendrix fuelled version of the Australian national anthem. 
Those non-antipodean fans may have felt a little left out not knowing the 
words but the warmth of the sentiment was appreciated fully.

To open with one of my favourite tracks (Redneck) was like being greeted by 
each and every one of them...or is that going too far?

I think Dom's pretty much got the set list down right, and what a list! I 
may be blinkered by distance from the last time they appeared here in 
England but that is a cracking setlist. To hear some amazing tunes (Too Much 
Sunshine in particular) mixed in with oldies like Lucky Country and Only The 
Strong was brilliant. The only thing missing (particularly in light of their 
5 year absence) was, 'Been Away Too Long'. Every song garnered a  feverish 
response from the crowd with hands in the air and serioulsy sweaty jumping 
up and down movements (particularly from the large damp man next to me who 
thought he knew all the words very loudly).

In order to not sound sycophantic and to readdress the balance, I thought 
'Now Or Never Land' was the weakest song on the set. It just didn't seem to 
carry on the acoustics and seemed to calm the crowd down too much. I guess 
that was soon rectified by the harmonica waving that went on before Blue 
Sky.

Still there are no duff notes at a Midnight Oil concert. Each song was 
belted out at full pace by both band and crowd. They were as tight as ever 
and I can only hope they enjoyed playing to a packed park of joy filled 
people as we enjoyed seeing them.

Some notes:

At the end of Dead Heart Bones threw his guitar at Peter and leapt off the 
front of the stage out of sight. In light of the recent postings regarding 
Bones I can perhaps work out what he was doing. There were some loud and 
pretty girls at the front.

Jim's Amercian trucker look, resplendent in blue baseball cap and full 
beard, was unique.

During the haunting acoustic guitar solo in Short Memory, Bones sat down at 
the front of the stage, on his monitor, and jammed.

A seriously nostalgic jaunt through Australia for the Oils and their fans 
(the band clearly missing home having been on the road for so long).

On each cymbal crash at the end of Only The Strong, Rob hurled a stick at 
his crash ride cymbal, firing a stick off into the wings.

Martin held his breath for the entire hour and a quarter!

As I said at the beginning, I can't really add much more. I hope they return 
towards the end of the year as my appetite has been wetted.

Cheers.

Pete



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