Midnight Oil at "4th and B" in San Diego



I saw Midnight Oil at a small hall/large club called "4th and B" last night. The last time I'd seen them was 14 years ago, during their "Diesel and Dust" tour. They've not toured North America in 10 years. It was fun to see them. They've grayed a bit, of course and the energy level was not quite as high as it was waaay back then, but it was enjoyable in a different way.



Last time Peter Garrett, the singer, was very vocal and up front about his opinions of the state of the US at the time. It was a month before the 1988 election, so I guess it was on his mind. This time, with maturity and mellowing (and probably a little cash, too) he was actually funny, not annoynig with his declarations. He mentioned the current President Bush, but made some sarcastically funny comments.



After back-announcing a song as "Good to ride a clean wave on, eh?" he said, "Now, I hear that President Bush is not strong on the environment. How can that be, with his background and contacts!"



We got a chuckle out of it.



They played all the famous songs and a bunch of stuff fromthe new album. The bass player, Bones Hillman, was working as hard as Peter, as was Rob Hirst, the drummer. In a concession to their graying audience, the volume was not too bad and they started at 9:00 PM and were finished with the encores at 11:00 PM. I was back home by midnight.



Not a bad show for $24 + $10 parking plus $8 for a beer and a Diet Coke.