Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week’s releases include Midnight Oil, Nick Cave, Blondie, Afghan Whigs, Slowdive and more

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. See the full setlist and some fan-shot video.

Midnight Oil recently announced it would kick off its global reunion tour with a “back-to-basics pub gig” in Sydney this week, but have now pre-empted that by playing a surprise warm-up set Sunday night that marks the band’s first public performance in eight years. We’ve got the full setlist and fan-shot video here.

As promised, Midnight Oil’s much-anticipated Great Circle 2017 World Tour will open in Australia, with the band having announced what it calls a “back to basics pub gig” in Sydney on April 13 — which means the months-long tour will now begin and end in Australia’s largest city.

For this week’s installment of Vintage Video, we turn to the very short-lived late-night talk show “Thicke of the Night,” hosted by the late Alan Thicke, and this 1984 visit by Aussie powerhouse Midnight Oil.
The band — not exactly a well-known act in America at the time — was allowed to perform three songs.

A week after suggesting they’d move some sold-out North American shows to larger venues, Midnight Oil has done just that in Vancouver, British Columbia, shifting their gig there from the 900-capacity Commodore Ballroom to the 1,500-capacity Malkin Bowl outdoor amphitheater.

Following last week’s quick sellout of the North American leg of Midnight Oil’s reunion tour, the band today announced that discussions are underway to “possibly shift some North American shows to larger rooms,” as well as add more dates in Australia and elsewhere in the world.