Oils Gig Reviews

Woodford Folk Festival, Stanmore, 27th Dec 1996

Well this is a turnaround, I have just arrived home from Woodford after a hectic but exciting 3 days of full-on music. I wanted to write an article on the Oils concert but ran out of time while there so I am writing this from my home in Byron Bay on my PC. The strange thing is I will be sending this text file back to the rest of the Bayweb crew still onsite at Woodford , another fine example of telecommuting in this technologically exciting age. At the moment I am listening to "dead" music (as opposed to live!). I thought it would be appropriate to whack Midnight Oil's "Blue Sky Mining" album in the CD player to get me in the mood! Anyway enough babble from me, here's my account of how I saw the Oils Concert.

The atmosphere was about reaching fever pitch...

I arrived at the opening ceremony fairly late but was lucky enough to find a patch of grass with a relatively unobstructed view albeit some distance from the stage. There was a definite air of excitement amongst the crowd, I too was waiting with great anticipation at what was soon to unfold before this crowd of thousands (estimated around 20,000). I sat through the opening ceremony and backup bands and acts including a Murri dance presentation and the band "Powderfinger", both of which were very impressive. I was also moved by speeches against racism by Aboriginal elders.

After these events had finished the stage was swamped by a gang of roadies dressed in the customary black T-shirts and shorts busily preparing for the main feature of the night. The atmosphere was about reaching fever pitch as Midnight Oil finally made it to the stage. These guys seemed to have an incredible presence about them, here before me was perhaps one of the most legendary groups to come out of the Australian Music Industry and their professionalism shone through like a beacon in the night even before a single note had been played.

Why the hell are they playing the American National Anthem...

The first song took me by surprise, a rendition of our own National Anthem, "Advance Australia Fair" played in a style similar to Jimi Hendrix's guitar version of The Star Spangled Banner, so similar in fact that for the first few seconds I sat thinking to myself "why the hell are they playing the American National Anthem" then my brain clicked into gear and I realised what I was hearing was in fact our own. After a few bars my ears were suddenly bombarded by strong voices from the crowd echoing the lyrics (well as best as they could anyway), I was not going to be outdone here and proceeded to sing in "unison" with the rest of the masses. It was quite a moving experience, never before had I heard a crowd of these proportions singing the words of our National Anthem with such enthusiasm, I think we did our country proud here.

Imagine the incredible adrenaline rush that crowd surfing must produce...

The concert seemed to get better and better as the evening went on, these guys were rippin'. The crowd was bursting at the seams with energy and excitement and Peter Garrett made several trips to the front of the audience to touch and sometimes even kiss some of his many adoring fans (with nervous security personnel looking on). Crowd surfing was the flavour of the night amongst several of the hard core fans in the mosh pit, Peter singled out one of these young rebels and made a comment about the extent of their IQ. I am always amazed by these types of antics and wonder what the injury rate is amongst these people although I can imagine the incredible adrenaline rush that crowd surfing must produce.

The Oils played an excellent line up of songs throughout the night including hits from the past and present such as "Beds are Burning", "U.S. Forces", "Dreamworld", "Bedlam Bridge" and a host of others each a hit in their own right.

Like a grasshopper on speed..

Garret's trademark dance style (described by some as "like a grasshopper on speed") was an integral part of the stage presence of the Band and although I couldn't help but smile at some of his antics, I held great respect for this man who seemed to possess so much energy and vitality. It didn't take me long to get into the rhythm of the music and grace those around me with my own unique dance style, ha ha ha!!!

The threat of rain throughout the night didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the crowd at all, in fact every time a few specks of water fell from the heavens the crowd would proceed to hoot with delight. It was a fairly balmy evening after all and I don't think many of the crowd would have let damp clothes get in the way of them experiencing this incredibly dynamic concert.

A magical night

The whole night had a mystical feel to it, the crowd atmosphere was electric, the lighting and sound were perfect and the open air design of this natural amphitheatre allowed us to absorb the incredible beauty of the surrounding environment, the brilliant stars, the near full moon framed by the clouds, the trees silhouetted against the night sky, all of which helped add to the magic.

The band finally finished their "last" song and was forced to return to the stage by chants of "Oils" and "More" from the crowd, their encore included the song "Read about it" which I believe features on their latest album "Breathe". What a fantastic ending to the night. This net head will remember it for a long time to come I'm sure. That's about all from me. Cheers everyone and have a safe and happy New Year.