MIDNIGHT OIL
5/7/2002
WARFIELD THEATER
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
 
              The bay area and Rocktime Magazine welcome Midnight Oil back to the U.S. for a long awaited North American tour that just kicked off in the midwest. The tour was in California last night, and then it heads up the coast into Canada. Midnight Oil is an Australian band best known for laying down heavily controversial, provocative, and conscience stirring rock and roll. The decision to change the name of the band from "The Farm" to "Midnight Oil" happened in 1976.  A band with twenty five years of history should have a tale or two to tell the Rocktime readers..

                The Oil slicked into the bay area last night and spilled its eccentric eclectic brand of rock and roll all over an expectant crowd of two thousand or so at the Warfield Theatre in downtown San Francisco. My thoughts on this band were always to slip them into a category along with bands like INXS, Talking Heads, and R.E.M. I found out real quick, like within a few songs that these guys don't fit into any category at all. They have pop sounding songs, they have heavy metal sounding songs, they reach into every genre of music to incite an understanding of what their motif is. It was great high energy rock and roll with this crazy wild eyed bald headed frontman moving around the stage and screaming into the mike with so much passion and emotion. The music sounded kinda like Thorogood mixed with B-52's and surf guitar, sprinkled with a little Pink Floyd on top. There were great sound effects the whole night, it seemed like every song had background noises that you strained to hear and recognize. Midnight Oil was extraordinarily different than any band I've come in contact with.

                        It's like they are from outer space, ah, but they are from a place called down under, which seems as far away as outer space when you see these guys in concert. Their music is indeed far out, but this band's ideals are very down to earth. In tune with our Mother Earth these gentleman are, and their concern for its inhabitants has inspired them on a musical crusade for human rights. This band has journeyed far and wide to help raise awareness to many important world issues. Vital issues that can be easily ignored by the masses unless attention is brought to them. Frontman Peter Garrett has an electric personality that reverberated throughout the venue with cries of despair and messages of hope.

                They rocked!! The show was spectacular, the set list from the stage is below, but it does little to convey the immense energy released upon the crowd. More review and pic's of the show still to come. I'm back now, well I just can't say enough about this band. The opener was perfect, it seemed so familiar yet I can't be sure I've ever heard the tune before. The set list was seemingly orchestrated to make a statement in itself. As Peter was up there singing the first song he made it feel like the song was about the band being gone for so long from performing for each and every one of us American Midnight Oil fans.

           The whole event was a huge party and the guest of honor was bassist Bones Hillman, a veteran Oil member since 1980. There was even a birthday cake presented to him in the middle of the show. It's always the greatest when you are doing what you love to do the most on your birthday. Bones was just pouring it out with no mercy for the guitar gods. He thumped that bass until he was way past red in the face, delivering every ounce of energy directly to the crowd. The highlights of the show were mostly every song with special regards towards "Been Away Too Long," " Blue Sky Mining," and  "Dead Heart."

             The evening ended with an important issue being directly addressed directly. In true Midnight Oil fashion, Peter Garrett asked everyone to fill out the contact cards and do what you can about stopping the Yucca mountain dump project. Garrett is a champion of our environment and a spokesman for human rights that we can all be proud to support. Our concert dollar spent here are paying the salary of an outspoken rainbow warrior concerned about the health of our planet and it's inhabitants. Not only concerned, Peter has an extensive track record of speaking out about injustices of the past and present. Here is a little quote from the Rocktime Magazine interview done on the day of this show that gives a clear notion of where Peter Garret is coming from and where he is going. Peter said to me, "It's not enough to sit back and criticize the politicians, you have to somewhat become them." An exclusive Rocktime interview with Peter Garrett coming soon to a computer screen near you... Thanks for reading and we'll see ya at the shows.
                                            NICK RUNNING 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!
BONES HILLMAN

NEW ROCKTIME PHOTO!!!

THIS PHOTO PUBLISHED 5/13/02
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WEEK!!!

NEW ROCKTIME PHOTO!!!

THIS PHOTO PUBLISHED 5/13/02

 
COUNTING CROWS
 
DEF LEPPARD
CHER
THE OTHER ONES
AEROSMITH
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
PAUL McCARTNEY
SANTANA
SHERYL CROW
TESLA
JAY-Z AND 311
OZZFEST 2000 OZZFEST 2001 OZZFEST 2002
DAVID BOWIE AND MOBY AT AREA2
THE WHO
JACKSON
BROWNE
PAPA ROACH, P.O.D.,CYPRESS HILL, & ROB ZOMBIE
MORNING SPRING RAIN FESTIVAL JUNE 2002
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
MIDNIGHT OIL
MT. AIRE 2002
BIG HEAD TODD
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG
BUSH AND DEFAULT
INCUBUS
BLUES TRAVELER
LINKIN PARK IN
LAS VEGAS
BRYAN ADAMS AT THE FILLMORE
LINKIN PARK & P.O.D.
CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT 
NYE 2001-2002
FUEL & SALIVA
AEROSMITH 2002
STEVIE NICKS
THE
BLACK CROWES
AEROSMITH 2001
BLINK 182
THE STRING
CHEESE INCIDENT
 OZZFEST 2001
BAD COMPANY
LINKIN PARK
 OZZFEST 2000
MARILYN
MANSON
MEGADETH
TED NUGENT
AND TESLA
THE OTHER
ONES
NEW YEAR'S EVE 2000-2001
 THE
COUNTING
CROWS AND
LIVE
THIRD EYE BLIND
      SUMMER
    TOUR 2000
YES
THE FURTHUR FESTIVAL 2000
THE B.B. KING
  BLUES FEST
2000
THE B-52'S
AND THE
GO-GO'S
THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT
JOE WALSH
2000
  ELTON JOHN
2000
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH, AND YOUNG
REUNION TOUR 2000
NYE
1999-2000
WITH THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT
THE EAGLES
MILLENIUM TOUR 2000
LAS VEGAS
ZZ TOP & LYNYRD SKYNYRD
TOM PETTY
  HOLLYWOOD
BOWL
PEARL JAM
 HALLOWEEN
WIDESPREAD
PANIC
BONNIE
RAITT
'99
BONNIE
RAITT
'98
METALLICA
H.O.R.D.E.
'98
THE
B-52's
FURTHUR
'98
VAN
HALEN
 311
JERRY
CANTRELL
   BARENAKED
LADIES
COUNTING
CROWS

BOOKMARK IT!! BOOKMARK IT!! BOOKMARK IT!!
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE
ROCKTIME MAGAZINE E-MAILING LIST
CLICK BELOW AND TYPE ADD IN THE SUBJECT
BOX,  THEN TYPE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS IN THE
BODY TEXT AREA AND HIT THE SEND  BUTTON.

rocktime@rocktime.com

Rocktime's motif and motto:
                 Rock and roll is either a passion or a lifestyle:
                 You love it, or you live it.
                 Rocktime says live it!!!!!!!
                 ©2000-2003 All Rights Reserved

ROCK
  TIME
  PUBLICATIONS
        © 1997-2003 All Rights Reserved