Midnight Oil blaze final trail with farewell tour

A goodbye and goodnight everybody will have their own feelings about. Let alone the Oil's members.

It will be a concert celebrating everything joyous, political, historical, all at once.

Our intense rock-god politician himself, never out of form, is back from stepping up on the big hill, with the band's 13th album, Resist, and a final tour.

Maybe ScoMo and Albanese, Barnarby Joyce and all their best friends that have been hanging out together for decades, will find a safe space within the turmoil of politics, and finally celebrate as one. Another victory for Australians of all kinds - an emotional sign off.

Grab that first Chablis, as Peter Garrett AM scores a few runs on his version of the MCG. Right next to a team of artists who have worked their entire careers to put Australia higher on the map.

Guitarist and songwriter Jim Moginie says they don't want to be one of those bands that goes on into the never-never. It's just one of those unavoidable things.

With Resist released in February, "We did the big tour, which was in '17. And we hadn't been really a band for about fifteen years," Moginie says. "Pete was in politics, and we were off doing other things musically. And so when we got back together to play, it was pretty special. And a lot of people came along, which I was surprised by, really. And we did seventy-seven gigs. Which was a huge thing."

Talkative and kind about his fans, and the massive main stage buzz that always happens if they prepare themselves right, Moginie says "people just want to rock out".

"And I think, you know, if we're going to hand the mantle over to someone else, now's the time, you know ... I think it'll be a celebration. It'll be hard, but the audience have grown up with us as much as we've grown up with the audience. And I think people just need a chance to say goodbye.

"I think it feels like the right thing to do, not to sort of hang around into our late '70s, and [become] an embarrassment. I think [with] rock bands, you can have a nuanced conversation about this stuff. It doesn't have to be, you know, you've got to go on and on forever."

There have been various reactions to the news of the band's final gig, which after playing Australia will head across to North America and Europe.

"There's three or four basic reactions," Moginie says. "'Oh, God, you can't stop, you've got to keep going, you have to keep going for ever and ever. We need you'. And the second is like, 'Oh, God, you guys should have stopped in 1980'."

A third perspective includes reference to John Farnham's never-ending farewell tour, and a fourth asserts that this is the very best idea a band like Midnight Oil could have. So they can enjoy their retirement, or just give up and play in other ways. As life does not stop.

"I think for us as people, you know, this is the time and let's make it go out with a bang and have a big party," Moginie says. "People need a chance to say goodbye. Or whatever. I think the last time we did it, we just stopped and didn't say anything basically until it was over ... And that felt a bit cheap."

The end of a cycle, which included the passing of their bass man Bones Hillman (Wayne Stevens) in 2020, the moment is ripe to commence a new beginning.

Leaving us with an election, an ex-future prime minister, or otherwise, at one with his stage, and his opponents, who will be with him and the band. If not in person, then someplace. A local riesling, and a T-shirt that says "Election 2022. Let's play".

"He went in, he did it," Moginie says.

"He went into the gladiatorial [ring], you know, the Coliseum, and came out. And he did his thing. And the thing is he tried and we all respect him for that in the band. We all love him for it. He took the Midnight Oil message, and he took it to its ultimate conclusion."