[Tom Davies]

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