Midnight Oil
The Living End
The Smith Street Band
Date: August 19, 2017
Location: Greek Theater, Los Angeles

midnight oil

Story
On a chilly evening in Southern California, concert goers journeyed to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. This mostly 40 and over crowd was all headed to see Midnight Oil on the band’s The Great Circle world tour; the tour marks the first time the band has played in the United States in over 15 years. The crowd waited outside the venue until 6:37pm when they were permitted to access their seats. The whole venue became shrouded in shade as the sun soon became engulfed by the numerous mountains surrounding the venue. Helicopters flying overhead briefly disrupted the relaxed mood created by the reggae and conscious hip hop songs which played on the overhead speakers. Security members stood out as sore thumbs in their blue T-shirts due to the fans of the band mainly wearing dark clothing, mostly consisting of the bands logo. While fans chatted, ate nachos, and drank beer the two large screens that adored the theatre played promotional products in a continuous loop. Products such as Fandango, Mercedes-Benz, LA Fleet Week, KTLA, Stella Rosa Wine, among others were prominently featured.

At 7:28pm The Smith Street Band were welcomed on stage by the audience. This rock band hails from Melbourne, Australia currently consists of members Wil Wagner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lee Hartney (lead guitar), Chris Cowburn (drums), and Michael Fitzgerald (bass guitar). The band had cheeky, hilarious lyrics which were told in an almost serious tone. The band couldn’t hold their excitement of being able to play in Los Angeles as Wagner exclaimed, “You have no idea how f-cking cool this looks from here.” Purple hues were constantly covering the curtain behind the band symbolizing the imagination of the band. Wagner’s movements while he conducted his guitar solos were lively as he, in a sense, aggressively moved his guitar about. He’d occasional tell stories to the audience to further lighten up their mood. One particular story involved the inspiration behind their song “Passiona.” When playing a show in the UK he started taking off his clothes in the changing room of the hotel they were staying at. As he stripped down to nothing, that’s when he realized that the people across the street were staring at him from his open window. The band ended their set at 7:57pm once the venue became illuminated with lights. At this point in time the sun had finally disappeared from sight as everything became consumed in darkness. Temperatures dropped off to 68 degrees that night, but people in the crowd were still rocking their shorts. Laughter and chatter filled the air of the venue soon after.

At 8:19pm another band from Melbourne, Australia hit the stage; The Living End. Once the band arrived on stage the crowd greeted them with a thunderous applause. The Living End is a punk rock, rockabilly band which formed in 1994. Rounding out the band this evening are Chris Cheney (lead guitar, lead vocals), Scott Owen (double bass), and Andy Strachan (drums). They were fast paced, containing more energy than the previous band. During their opening number of “Roll On”, bassist Owen jumped on top of his double bass to the thrill of the crowd. The colors of red and yellow consumed the band’s performance for the majority of their performance; highlighting their passion and intense energy seen on stage. The memorable performance of theirs that evening ended up being “Prisoner of Society”, which had the crowd shouting loudly to the chorus of “Well we don’t need no one to tell us what to do.” Upon finishing the song the members played an instrumental song, of which each member would play an extended solo. Around this time singer Cheney walked to the front of the crowd, of which someone handed him a bottle of beer. He started to chug and consume the whole bottle as he motioned to the crowd to cheer him on. The crowd obliged as everyone screamed loudly for him to finish the bottle, which he did. As the band neared the end of their set, Cheney jumped on top of Owen’s double bass as he continued to play it. Before leaving Cheney mentioned that today is Andy Strachan’s birthday; though his birthday is August 20th, technically it is his birthday in Australia by the time they ended their set at 8:51pm.

Loud instrumental indigenous music played overhead consisting of drum and flute sounds as people waited for Midnight Oil. Hundreds of individuals were seated eagerly waiting for the last band to make their grand appearance. Suddenly at 9:16pm the lights dimmed signaling the arrival of Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil, am Australian rock band from 1976, at the moment are Peter Garrett (lead vocals), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (keyboard), Martin Rotsey (guitarist), and Bones Hillman (bass guitar). Garrett through the night conducted interesting dance movements, which consisted of erratic hand gestures that appeared through the night. Multiple colors of blue, yellow, green, purple, and teal colors graced the stage high lightening the mood of the different songs the band tackled. Through half the set drummer Hirst would play the drums on a large platform erected on stage. For the other half he joined the band in front as he played a single drum with the rest. From time to time Hirst would join the two guitarists (Rotsey and Hillman) as they harmoniously sang back up. As with The Smith Street Band, the lead singer of Midnight Oil (Garrett) had tales to tell. He started off by telling the crowd about how in the last 40 years or so they’ve been drowning in music from the United States. So happened when they arrived to Los Angeles he heard a Lynyrd Skynyrd song playing full blast on the radio as a car zoomed past them. He would have preferred it being a Neil Young song, but nevertheless it poked fun at his earlier statement.

For those familiar with Midnight Oil know that the band does not shy away from politics. Through the night the band’s whole performance had a political message which became explicit after the sixth song of their set. Through the beginning of the night Garrett wore a jacket as he sung the first few songs. During the middle of their performance of “My Country” he took off his jacket, exposing his black shirt which had the words DUMP TRUMP written in white. The crowd cheered with enthusiasm at this sight. Once the song concluded the singer exclaimed to the crowd the following, “There is no room for racism or bigotry. Drop this racist creep before it’s too late.” He expanded further mentioning how just the stupid and racist are upon his side. When it came time to play their next song, “When the General Talks”, Garrett introduced it as a “song for Trump”. More political messages were addressed through the evening. Taking out his phone (because now he’s “up to date to this generation”) Garrett urged the audience members to “stand up against racism”. Everyone in the crowd obliged as they stood up while Garrett recorded the crowd. Minutes later he pulled out a flare which he lit up on stage. He began to speak about the incident that occurred at Charlottesville this previous weekend. His message to the crowd, “Those who fail or recognize history are bound to repeat it.” Lastly during their encore performance, Garrett threw his DUMP TRUMP shirt to a passionate fan in the front row. He at this point had another shirt on which read: TO SIN BY SILENCE WHEN WE SHOULD PROTEST MAKES COWARDS OUT OF MEN. The band ended their set preciously at 11:00pm, the time which the Greek Theater is no longer allowed to play music. Though the band planned to end the night with “Forgotten Years” they simply ran out of time.

Midnight Oil Setlist
1. Read About It
2. King of the Mountain
3. Golden Age
4. Feeding Frenzy
5. No Times for Games
6. My Country
7. When the Generals Talk
8. US Forces
9. Love Life
10. Tin Legs and Tin Mines
11. Kosciusko
12. Only the Strong
13. Now or Never Land
14. Stand in Line
15. Warakurna
16. The Dead Heart
17. Beds Are Burning
18. Blue Sky Mine
19. Best of Both Worlds

Encore
20. Power and the Passion
21. Forgotten Years (this was suppose to be the last song, however the band ran out of time before they could perform it).

The Living End Setlist
1. Second Solution
2. Roll On
3. End of the World
4. How Do We Know
5. Who’s Gonna Save Us?
6. Prisoner of Society
7. WhiteNouse
8. E-Boogie
9. West End Riot

The Smith Street Band Setlist
1. Young Drunk
2. Birthdays
3. Song for You
4. Shine
5. Surrender
6. Passiona
7. Death to the Lads
8. Throw Me in the River

Trivial Notes

  • 5th concert at the Greek Theatre.
  • 1st time seeing Midnight Oil.
  • 1st time seeing The Living End.
  • 1st time seeing The Smith Street Band.
  • The Living End’s official Instagram page liked the photo I tagged them in.