Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Australian rock band Midnight Oil to play first world tour in 20 years
February 17, 2017
Jane Wardell, Aaron Bunch
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian rock band Midnight Oil said on Friday they will play their first world tour in 20 years, vowing to continue their political activism during the six-month, fifty-show world tour.
The tour, scheduled to begin in mid-April, will take the band to 14 countries, including the United States, Canada, New Zealand and to countries in Europe and South America.
The band’s frontman Peter Garrett – a former Australian government minister between 2007 and 2013 – said the group would not shy away from speaking their mind, taking a swipe at new U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Healthy democracies sometimes need to react against craziness and ugliness and selfishness and stupidity,” said Garrett.
“You’ve got that in ample abundance in President Trump,” said the Midnight Oil frontman.
The band is no stranger to controversy.
An impromptu lunchtime protest performance in front of Exxon Mobile Corp’s New York offices criticized the company for the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1990.
In 2000, when playing at the official Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, the band performed while wearing clothes emblazoned with “sorry”, a direct reference to the then Australian prime minister John Howard’s refusal to apologize to indigenous Australians for their historic mistreatment.
In 2008, then Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology to the country’s marginalized indigenous people, which aimed to herald a new era in race relations.
Midnight Oil has released 17 albums, with sales of more than 10 million worldwide.