The final shows of the 2019 tour spanned four unique venues.

First up was the Nuits de Fourvière festival which has happened every year since World War II in a 2000 year old Roman Amphitheatre called the Théâtre antique de Fourvière near Lyon in France. As if that wasn’t unique enough, the local tradition is for the audience to throw their cushions when they want to show their appreciation so at the end of “Forgotten Years” the stage was inundated with thousands of little pillows from the stone stairs. This turned out to be both a hindrance and a help as during the encore Peter went ‘a over t’ after dancing over one of them… at least the stage was well padded! This thankfully allowed the following night’s performance at the nearby Guitar-en-scene Festival to still proceed as planned. With able support from Great Circle tour mates John Butler Trio, the Oils pulled a typically contrarian move by including what was surely the only drum solo on this three day celebration of guitars with a memorable “Power And The Passion”.

From there it was on to Gelsenkirchen for the European finale at their scenic amphitheater. It was an apt spot to end a series of gigs that took place in the shadow of climate chaos heatwaves because this site actually was a coal mine for over a century up until 1993, unleashing millions of tonnes of carbon pollution into the atmosphere. Four years later a National Garden Show transformed the abandoned industrial site into a sea of flowers and now a concert venue sits here surrounded by a green park that points the way to a more sustainable future. The Oils brought their own indefatigable energy to this place for one last gig… 24 songs delivered at a breakneck pace ending with “Best Of Both Worlds” and a (cushion-free) audience yelling for more.

From there it was back home. Right back home. Into the Simpson Desert for the world’s most remote music festival, the Big Red Bash. This place made the supposedly ancient venues of Europe seem quite young as the band took to the stage in front of a gigantic sand dune that bestrode the Simpson Desert, a place of stark beauty occupied by Indigenous people for aeons. Those who were there as “The Dead Heart” kicked off proceedings that night will never forget the feeling. A strongly themed set followed, linking back to the Reconciliation Day show in Canberra at the start of this tour with a heavy presence of “Diesel & Dust” classics as well as a cover of “Treaty” (with special guest Busby Marou). It was a timely moment to reflect on that issue given public debate over recent weeks surrounding the need for an Indigenous Voice in Australia. Comments from the stage during the show suggested that the Oils may have lots more to say on this topic over the year ahead.

And so with the chorus of “One Country” still ringing in heads and hearts – and deep red dust still being washed off road cases – the tour drew to a close. Midnight Oil will soon head into the recording studio and those who keep asking about more Australian and New Zealand gigs should rest assured that once new music is ready the band will be taking it to the road as they have done since their earliest days.

As always across the years the last word deserves to go to the mighty Oils road crew who have battled their way around Europe on some blistering days to stage a seamless tour that created nothing but good memories for those onstage and off. They’re pictured here at the end of the tour… they each looked about five years younger at the start of it but their pain has been everyone else’s gain so we thank them for helping making these gigs possible.

Until next time…