After a short break, the Oils resumed their European tour in Paris – the City Of Light. Rob pulled extra duties on the night prior to the gig by conducting a question and answer session for hardcore fans alongside an all too rare screening of the fantastic documentary film “1984”. That event and the following evening’s show were both conducted in different parts of the famous Grand Rex complex – an art deco picture palace built in the early 1930s by the guy who introduced Charlie Chaplin to France.
Europe’s severe summer heat has been causing all sorts of chaos over recent weeks (www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/france-on-red-alert-as-heatwave-forecast-to-reach-record-45c). So with temperatures around 38 degrees celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), this show was literally a scorcher – particularly for those seated on the top balcony where the roof was dripping condensation by the end of the night. Appropriately enough the band played “Wedding Cake Island” in mid-show presumably because the conditions felt more like a hot January night in Coogee than late June in the 2nd Arrondissement.
France (and Paris in particular) has always felt like a second home for Midnight Oil so both the Grand Rex gig and the following night’s festival in nearby Tilloloy saw particularly fervent crowds and Rob busting out his solid local language skills. The outdoor gig featured two songs getting their first airings this year – “Shakers & Movers” (from Blue Sky Mining) and “Under The Overpass” (from Capricornia). European summer events like this often feature eclectic lineups that are uncommon elsewhere but even by those standards this evening was a particularly entertaining mixed bag. 60’s pop legends The Zombies and French alt-world music combo Les Negress Vertes played before the Oils with rockabilly icons The Stray Cats co-headlining at the end of the night.
From there it was on to Munich – another key city who didn’t get a show in 2017. In fact as far as memories can be trusted the band may not have actually played in the city since 1993 which may explain why they gave the locals such an extended show. After 18 songs in the main set the encore opened with a rare performance of the 10-1 epic “Tin Legs And Tin Mines” and stretched out for four more songs including a spontaneous addition of “Put Down That Weapon” stretching the evening well past the two hour mark to make it probably the longest show of the tour so far.
Another balmy summer evening in a local park followed as the band took the train to Stuttgart. Rail travel has been a behind the scene’s highlight for the band on much of this tour and has worked well apart from one ‘train in vain’ which saw them heading east instead of west for a while before the mistake thankfully got picked up. In addition to these efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, they’re also channelling funds from the tour into a project called FEAT (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/04/theres-no-reason-why-this-couldnt-go-global-australian-music-industry-invests-in-solar-farms). Not that any of that was top of mind for the Stuttgart fans who experienced a punchy show that ranked up there with the strongest on the tour so far.
Zottegem was another ‘all sorts’ lineup and the festival constraints meant the Oils could only barrel through about 15 songs in their allotted time. Mind you the band nearly didn’t make it to the show at all having woken up to discover that the famous Tour De France cycling race was starting virtually in front of their hotel! It actually might have been quicker for them to have donned some lycra and ridden out to the gig rather than driving through all the traffic but thankfully they made it through eventually. Perhaps including “King Of The Mountain” early in the set was a sly nod to those competing for the yellow jersey over coming days.
Back to back shows meant it was on to Mainz for a longer workout. Set within sight of the city’s historic citadel which dates from 1660, for this next stop we now pass the pen to Jim Moginie for a first hand report.
From the hipster hotel in Frankfurt, where supermodels gathered behind the reception desk and looked up quizzically from their iPads when we asked for room keys, and then back to their iPads: where manscaped twenty somethings had jobs asking if we’d like botanical water or a taxi or both, we headed out to Mainz to play.
Mainz was founded by the Romans in the 1st Century BC during the Classical antiquity era, serving as a military fortress on the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire and as the provincial capital of Germania Superior. Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, lived there in the 1400’s. We played at the historic Mainzer Zitadelle (Citadel of ), situated at the fringe of Mainz Old Town, constructed in 1660. The gig was at a park within the grounds, playing to about 3000 people on a beautiful afternoon, amongst trees and historic buildings and a real German pretzel stand, very close to the stage actually..
Saint-Julien-en-Genevois and Gelsenkirchen are still to come but it’s already been a truly memorable tour for band and audiences alike. Once these two final European shows are behind them the Oils will travel around the world and into the Australian outback for one more gig at a place without a postcard … The Big Red Bash.”
Grand Rex, Paris, France 26/6
Photo: Christabel Blackman
Grand Rex, Paris, France 27/6
Grand Rex, Paris, France 27/6
Grand Rex, Paris, France 27/6
Photo: Lesley Holland
Grand Rex, Paris, France 27/6
Photo: Gwen Jouan
Grand Rex, Paris, France 27/6
Grand Rex, Paris, France 27/6
Photo: Alex Grant
Festival Retro C Trop, Tilloloy, France 29/6
Photo: Alex Grant
Festival Retro C Trop, Tilloloy, France 29/6
Photo: Christabel Blackman
Tollwood Festival, Munich, Germany 1/7
Photo: Alex Grant
Tollwood Festival, Munich, Germany 1/7
Photo: Bill Carter
Tollwood Festival | Munich, Germany 1/7
Photo: Alex Grant
Killesberg, Stuttgart, Germany 3/7
Photo: Alex Grant
Killesberg, Stuttgart, Germany 3/7
Photo: Christabel Blackman
Rock Zottegem, Zottegem, Belgium 5/7
Photo: Christabel Blackman
Rock Zottegem, Zottegem, Belgium 5/7
Photo: Christabel Blackman
Rock Zottegem, Zottegem, Belgium 5/7
Photo: Alex Grant
Zitadelle, Mainz, Germany 6/7
Photo: Christabel Blackman
Zitadelle, Mainz, Germany 6/7
Photo: Lesley Holland
Les Nuits De Fourviere Festival, Lyon, France 9/7
