After surprising fans with a short 10-song set at an unannounced warm-up gig last weekend, Midnight Oil formally opened its Great Circle 2017 World Tour in Sydney on Thursday night, playing a 29-song set that balanced the reunited band’s best-known hits with the unexpected — including a near-complete performance of 1978’s Head Injuries.
Performing at Selina’s at the Coogee Bay Hotel, the band opened with “Outside World” and “Only the Strong,” the first two tracks off 1982’s 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, an album that would go on to get a lot of play. After performing five songs, including Diesel and Dust’s “Put Down that Weapon,” the Oils ran through all of their sophomore album, in order, except for “Naked Flame.”
While the requisite hits made the setlist — “Blue Sky Mine,” “Forgotten Years,” “Beds are Burning,” “The Dead Heart,” “Dreamworld,” “Power and the Passion,” “Read About It” — the band also threw in more surprising choices, such as “Ships of Freedom,” the B-side to 1993’s “Outbreak of Love,” and Blue Sky Mining album cut “Shakers and Movers.”
In fact, only three of the 10 songs the Oils played at Sunday’s warm-up show made the cut for the tour opener, suggesting the band is prepared to mine its deep catalog on the upcoming worldwide reunion tour. (Midnight Oil also apparently played a second warm-up show, a secret gig for Greenpeace, this week.)
The Oils’ months-long tour now picks up April 25 in Brazil, then heads to North America, Europe and the U.K., New Zealand, and back to Australia.
Below, check out the setlist from the tour opener, plus some fan-shot video.
Setlist: Midnight Oil, Selina’s at the Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney, Australia, 4/13/17
1. “Outside World”
2. “Only the Strong”
3. “Redneck Wonderland”
4. “Put Down That Weapon”
5. “Maralinga”
6. “Cold Cold Change”
7. “Section 5 (Bus to Bondi)”
8. “Back on the Borderline”
9. “Koala Sprint”
10. “No Reaction”
11. “Stand in Line”
12. “Profiteers”
13. “Is It Now?”
14. “Tin Legs and Tin Mines”
15. “When the Generals Talk”
16. “Ships of Freedom”
17. “Luritja Way”
18. “The Dead Heart”
19. “Power and the Passion”
20. “Best of Both Worlds”
21. “Shakers and Movers”
22. “Lucky Country”
23. “Beds Are Burning”
24. “Blue Sky Mine”
25. “Read About It”
Encore:
26. “Wedding Cake Island”
27. “Forgotten Years”
28. “Dreamworld”
Encore 2:
29. “U.S. Forces”
TV news footage
“Cold Cold Change”/”Section 5 (Bus to Bondi)”
“The Dead Heart”
“Wedding Cake Island”
“Maralinga”
“Stand in Line”
“Dreamworld”
Lucky Country
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS:
- Midnight Oil plays surprise warm-up gig in Sydney ahead of reunion tour — setlist, video
- Midnight Oil to kick off worldwide reunion tour with ‘back to basics pub gig’ in Sydney
- Vintage Video: Midnight Oil lights up Alan Thicke’s ‘Thicke of the Night’ in 1984
- Midnight Oil announces massive 2017 reunion tour, 3 huge box sets with unreleased music
Seeing them in Denver late May. Seen them a number of times, but this one excites me more than can be imagined.
Good to see these guys back in action.
Welcome back fellas. We need you now more than ever!