The Beds were Burning at Midnight Oil’s monster gig at Sydney’s Domain on Saturday night, and so were former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s ears.
That’s because Peter Garrett used the opportunity to clap back at some of the ex-PM’s recent comments, slagging the band’s historic reunion shows at the venue.
As Fairfax reports, Keating questioned how Garrett could “feel in any way comfortable squatting and profiting from Sydney’s central piece of public land”, which had been fenced off for more than a fortnight for two weekends of Oils gigs, and declared that the Domain Trust “prostitutes its remit by alienating central public recreational lands to commercial purposes”.
So, naturally, Garrett — himself a former Labor minister — returned fire mid-gig, ripping into Keating for his shitty attitude — and taste in music.
“Welcome to the Domain — the place where the people listen to real music,” he told the 23,000 fans in attendance at the sold-out show.
Then he took another dig at the ex-PM, who lives in nearby suburb Potts Point.
“The only thing I can say to Mr Keating now is if he’s got his windows open, and he’s got his Mahler turned down — the classical music and the opera turned down — then have a listen to Australian music here in the Domain,” Garrett said.
Meanwhile, the band’s guitarist Jim Moginie was back in action for the gig, despite ripping his hamstring to shreds in a previous stage accident, and reportedly performed the whole set while sitting down.
The Aussie leg of Midnight Oil’s ‘The Great Circle’ world tour is due to wrap up this week. Catch the remaining dates here.
