Aussie rockers Midnight Oil disbanded in 2002, but rumours of another one-off reunion have now begun to swell around the forthcoming Live Earth concert, which will call for global action on climate change in June.
According to Triple M‘s admittedly hit-and-miss music reporter Nui Te Koha, the Oils might be getting back together to perform at Sydney’s Live Earth concert on 18th June.
“For Live Earth in June… It certainly feels like the Oils are ramping up… Peter Garrett was at the Beat The Drum concert in Sydney about a week ago,” he told Triple M. “[There are] definitely plans, definitely talk for some sort of Midnight Oil action this year.”
Midnight Oil were renowned for their environmentalism and focus on social equality during their recording career, which saw the band record 11 studio albums. The latest, Capricornia, was released in 2002.
The group momentarily reformed for WaveAid in 2005, and later performed two headline shows in Canberra in 2009, before performing at Sound Relief in Melbourne to help raise funds for victims of Victorian bushfires.
Garrett renewed his focus on politics following the Oils’ breakup, becoming the Labor member for the seat of Kingsford Smith, New South Wales, between October 2004 to August 2013. Now that Garrett is out of the political game, however, his musical and environmental activist tendencies might have the time and space to rise once more.
In June 2014, Oils drummer Rob Hirst said he was “excited and terrified” at the idea of another comeback. In July, Hirst said “never say never” to the Music Feeds Podcast when he was asked about reunion rumours.
Hirst was this week announced to appear at a Mercy Campaign concert in support of Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
UPDATE 28/01/15 6:30pm: Midnight Oil has denied rumours that they will be reuniting for the Live Earth Sydney event. “There’s no basis to any of this story,” the Midnight Oil Office told theMusic.com.au. “It appears to have come from Nui Te Koha.” The Oils’ office did not comment further on any other reunion plans for the year ahead.
Watch: Midnight Oil – Beds Are Burning – Sound Relief 2009
http://youtu.be/HYPh7UCzpHc
