Oils Gig Reviews

Parramatta Leagues Club, Parramatta, 29th August 1998

This was a very special Midnight Oil show, the last of the "Redneck Wonderland" tour. It began with the usual routine with those country bumpkins, the Pale Riders and the course jokes of Steady Eddy...who gave away his Redneck shotgun since it was the last show of the tour. The Oils came on at about 9:10 and Steady had already spun the Wheel to set the show on fire....and surprise, surprise!! it was Read About It..Garret lost the words mid way through, but that didn't stop the mood of the song. He was clearly very happy to be still playing at Parramatta Leagues after twenty years. Instead of their usual, occasional spin of the wheel..the entire '20 000 Watt' set was determined by the Wheel. It was spun 10 times!!.

The songs included where Only The Strong and funnily enough was followed by Outside World ( which should be before it), Truganni, Generals and a stunning version of Earthbeat were also included. One guy had to spin the wheel at least five times because songs such as Only The Strong and Read About It kept coming up (Rotsey was keen to play them again!). The usual forty-five minutes allocated to the greatest-hits set was extended to well over and hour. Other songs such as Sometimes and You May Not Be Released where also included. It was clear that this was no 'Routine' gig and that the Oils where cherishing every minute playing together. They where clearly getting into their old songs more than ever before. They left the satge after a moving One Country. They really needed to have a shower...they all looked like they where going to have heart attacks.

Comfortable Place On The Couch kicked off the Redneck Wonderland set. A brilliant and most refreshing change of tone set the standard for the rest of the evening. Although Moginie never seems to show a hint of interest on stage, I reckon there is nothing he enjoys more than pumping out the solo in Cemetry in My Mind or fiddling with the analogue keys on What Goes On. Seeing Is Believing followed Comfortable Place and Garrett, as usual, began his new dance routine; a cross between James Bond movements and a fish with arms. He was desperatly trying to get the other members to pay attention to him and even laugh...but twenty years of this nonsense must harden their sense of humours. Safety Chain Blues also went down well...the audience really getting to know the album helps greatly for the atmosphere of the show. Garrett used a megaphone for the verses..up front it was very hard to hear what he was saying though. Using sequences the Oils tried to pull off Great Gibber Plain...the Xylophone part had been programmed in and Hirst was playing along to a click track. This was probably the worst song of the night it lacked a great deal energy. Even the apparent fuzz bass solo was sequenced. This song replaced Blot in the set...I do not know why?? I was really hanging for Garrett's "Welcome Stranger listen in!" speech and the killer riff which opens the song. What Goes On was brilliant with an extended guitar solo allowing Garrett to go off stage, back stage to tell all the engineers he was going to cut White Skin Black Heart from the set (another great disappointment). He realised that the time was running out. Cemtery In My Mind followed...which even though it can be viewed as yet another formulated Oils song with the killer chorus and all, I have to say it really did work live, the vocals where astounding the guitar solo brilliant...Moginie actually looked interested. Concrete followed which was one of the most energetic songs (which is actually good) that I have heard. It left the audience shocked that they can pull off a song like that at their age.

To conclude the Redneck Wonderland set they played surprise, surprise... Redneck Wonderland! Sensational all round...except Garrett thought he was singing the last verse in the second verse. So when he sings the softer "Redneck Wonderland" he did this in the second verse instead of the last verse...leaving him shocked when the band came in a bar earlier than he was expecting..(I know you won't follow...you had to be there). They left the stage and came back for their encore. Instead of playing their usual Drop In The Ocean they played a magnificent surprise verision of Short Memory followed by Blue Sky Mine and Dead Heart. The finale had to be the extended dance remix of Power And The Passion. It was a great version allowing everyone to feature in their own special way...the song alone went for ten minutes!.They were finally done....Goodbye Redneck Wonderland, a tour and an album that is arguably their best effort yet. A very special show, well over two hours, be remembered as one of the great Oils gigs...worth all $25!!.