Fox Theater

Midnight Oil are more than just a rock ‘n’ roll band. From the northern beaches of Sydney to the streets of Manhattan, they have stopped traffic, inflamed passions, inspired fans, challenged the concepts of “business as usual” and broken new ground.

Seeing Midnight Oil in full flight is to experience the transcendent, kinetic power of live rock ‘n’ roll.  They leave you inspired to live life more passionately and to Get Involved.

Everything about the band is uncompromising, but their greatest achievement is that they are, night after night and album after album, a great rock ‘n’ roll band. For all of the incredible growth, ambition and experimentation that Midnight Oil have evidenced, the sound and the fury and the spirit of their earliest recordings are still there 40 years later, on tracks like “White Skin Black Heart” and “Say Your Prayers”.

2020 saw the band release their first new music in nearly two decades – “The Makarrata Project”. All songs on the mini-album shared a strong lyrical focus on Indigenous reconciliation, and featured collaborations with First Nations friends. The release sought to elevate public awareness of ulurustatement.org/the-statement. Lead single ‘Gadigal Land’ (feat. Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs & Bunna Lawrie) was peer voted as the prestigious “Song of the Year “at the 2021 APRA Music Awards and “The Makarrata Project” debuted #1 on the ARIA Album Chart, becoming Midnight Oil’s first studio release to do so in over 30 years. In early 2021 it was accompanied by an acclaimed concert tour featuring lots of special guests that proceeded despite profound challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sadly, on the same weekend that the mini-album debuted at #1 Bones Hillman passed away after a battle with cancer. He was the bassist with the beautiful voice, the band member with the wicked sense of humour, and a brilliant musical comrade. Bones joined Midnight Oil way back in 1987 after stints in various Kiwi bands, most notably, The Swingers. He played and sang on every Midnight Oil recording since “Blue Sky Mining” and played thousands of gigs as part of the Oils. He is deeply missed.

At the time of recording “The Makarrata Project” with Bones and producer Warne Livesey (“Diesel & Dust”, “Blue Sky Mining”, “Capricornia”), they also tracked another dozen songs together. In November 2021 it was announced that this latest chapter of their career would come to a close in 2022 with a new album and final tour, both aptly titled, “Resist”.

The band has made it clear that while this will be their final concert tour that does not mean the end of the Oils. Each of the members will continue their own projects over the years ahead. They remain very open to recording new music together in future and supporting causes in which they believe. Meanwhile, Resist will be a fitting, forward looking, statement for a band whose clarion call has always been “it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees”. The tour will see them performing classic Midnight Oil songs from across their repertoire while also showcasing some urgent new works. As the title makes abundantly clear, Resist engages with the issues of today and tomorrow – like the lead single “Rising Seas” which tackles the climate crisis in typically uncompromising fashion.