Oils Gig Reviews

Womadelaide 97

My first Womadelaide was made special by the Oils being the headline act and the only group in the rock category. This was my present to my girlfriend Linda on her 21st birthday. The concert was on Friday the 28th March at Botanic Park which is a large grassed area with lots of Moreton Bay Fig trees.

Whoah! The Oils were as good as ever as they pumped out mostly radio songs from their last decade to an appreciative crowd. There was the typical few out to spoil it by crowd-surfing instead of watching the show. I was able to get within 5m of the stage and Rob was close enough to the front to see the roadie that swung the mike around every time he sang backing vocals. The stage was set up with a sound shell above which gave a great backdrop for all the mood colours shone on it.

The set opened with Beds Are Burning after an intensely atmospheric buildup, which was repeated a few times more so you were never sure what classic was suddenly going to be unleashed. The next song was introduced as being a response to the media attention being given to Her and Her racist ignorant ways - White Skin Black Heart being a dark brooding number that I could only remember the simple chorus from. During the guitar break Peter spun round and round and kicked two water bottles off the stage in his fury.

They kicked on with Dreamworld which is one of my favs, and after another brooding interlude where they all were facing inwards they spun into Sins Of Omission. I couldn't but think of the Sins of Emission joke. Some Brazilian guys were waving their countries' flag which Peter grabbed and draped over the gun-carrying roo of Rob's drum-kit. In return he tossed his tambourine to them and urged them to shake it. Underwater was next with Pete singing the 'Underwater Overland' bit and Bones doing the 'No-one can touch her' bit. Bones was looking pretty stylish with his long fringe pushed to the sides and wore a black T-shirt. Martin wore a dark windcheater, Rob a grey tight T-shirt, and Jim a grey windcheater with a light stripe along the arms. Peter had dark red Volleys on his feet, dark Tartan pants, dark purple long sleeved shirt over a dark T-shirt. Of the performances Peter never tired - he just perspired heaps, Rob was full of energy, Bones and Martin looked relaxed, I was just concerned with Jim who looks to be thinning on top and was looking a bit stressed - mainly when at the keyboards so I'll excuse him.

King Of The Mountain got the crowd excited again after the more melodic Underwater - perhaps a little too much since it was during this that I copped a Doc Marten in the face from a surfer. Being six foot four I saw it coming but couldn't avoid the guy. He wasn't pulled from the crowd but some others were at which point Peter said that since there was some footy supporters in the crowd that they were being taken to where the footy was being played (Aussie Rules that is) - about 10km away. As a crowd subduer One Country was played which is IMHO not as powerful live as it could be. Revving it up again the Oils impressed mightily with Eye Contact - definitely worth the price of admission alone with Martin doing a great job of playing at an near impossible tempo - while Peter stalked around and even played Jim's keyboards but I'm sure the volume was way down.

I can't remember anything remarkable over the next few songs - Truganini, Earthbeat, Warakurna and Blue Sky Mining except that it was the first time I heard Earthbeat live and may never hear it again. The Dead Heart was back to the 1987 version with Bones leading the Do Do Do bit. The closing song was a flashback to Power & The Passion which included an adlib disco style tune about the Unley St Blues with a familiar 'A ha ha haa' keyboardy bit that I couldn't place during which Rob stood up and danced mockingly to. During the drum solo of Power, Peter raced back and forth along the security track with one hand pushing forward. Then the song was ended and the Oils farewelled the crowd and left the stage, while we were unsure of whether they would get an encore since no other artist at the festival had got one due to time restraints. But the Oils are the Oils and they returned to play Forgotten Years with the highlight being the lighting of an orange flare that had smoke blowing all over the front of the crowd. And then it was over. We waited to try to get a setlist but they were gone, and there was no chance to wait at the back entrance to see them so we left with an intense desire to still meet them one day.

The setlist was then:
Beds Are Burning
White Skin Black Heart - new song
Dreamworld
Sins Of Omission
Underwater
King Of The Mountain
One Country
Eye Contact
Truganini
Earthbeat
Warakurna
Blue Sky Mining
The Dead Heart
Power And The Passion / Unley St Blues
Forgotten Years

Andrew Wundke - Powderworker