Iconic Australian rock band Midnight Oil, long-time advocates for Indigenous peoples, will play in Canberra on Reconciliation Day, on May 27.
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The Oils will only be doing two intimate concerts in Australia in 2019, in Canberra and Wollongong. They’ll also be performing at the world’s most remote music festival, The Big Red Bash, near Birdsville on July 18.
“Meaningful steps towards reconciliation are long overdue, including a whole-of-government response to the Uluru Declaration,” the band’s frontman, Peter Garrett, said.
“So it will be good to be in Canberra on this important date to kick up a fuss and help get the issue back on track.”
Garrett has been kicking up a fuss in Canberra since he was a student at the Australian National University in the 1970s, and again as a member of parliament from 2004 to 2013.
Rumours have been circulating that Midnight Oil is contemplating heading back into the recording studio for the first time since 2001.
At this stage it is not known whether a new song or two will be previewed at some point during their tour, but the band currently plans to head straight into the studio when they come off the road.
“We’ve been talking about recording again for years but The Great Circle Tour in 2017 was such a positive experience that it made us even hungrier to get back to making new music together,” drummer Rob Hirst said.
“It’s a bit early to know what might come out of it yet - we’re just looking forward to getting back into that creative mode.”
Immediately following these gigs, the Oils will head to Europe for headline concerts in cities including London, Manchester, Dublin and Paris, as well as major festivals in France, Switzerland and Germany, before returning home for The Big Red Bash. Tickets for that unique music event in the Queensland desert are already selling fast.
Tickets for the show, which will take place at Canberra’s Royal Theatre on Monday, May 27, will go on sale to members of Midnight Oil's mailing list from 2pm on Tuesday, April 9. A second batch will then be available to the general public from 10am on Friday, April 12.
Acclaimed Darwin singer-songwriter Leah Flanagan will open in Canberra.
For tickets head to midnightoil.com/tour
