Following months of speculation, iconic Sydney post-punk band, Midnight Oil, today confirmed details of a 2017 world tour.
The appropriately titled “Great Circle” tour will take the band on a full lap of the globe, starting in South America in April, before heading to the U.S., Europe and New Zealand, before heading home for an extensive 18-date Australia tour in October and November that’ll see the band play both capital cities and regional towns. Full list of the fifty-plus date tour below.
In a press conference this morning on Sydney Harbour — simultaneously streamed via their Facebook page — the band also teased details of a smaller Sydney “pub show” in April before they head overseas, although when pressed didn’t offer any more information about that gig.
Today, the band also announced the release of a new, remastered boxset collection, entitled The Full Tank, which will include their entire back catalogue, as well as a 4 CD, 8 DVD set of unreleased material. There will also be a vinyl collection available, featuring all eleven albums, as well as a pair of 12″ EPs. Both sets will be available from May 5th, with pre-orders available now.
Midnight Oil initially confirmed the reunion in May last year, with frontman Peter Garrett tweeting that: “In the midst of everything else there’s music in the air. #aussierock #MidnightOil and a few songs from me. God knows it’ll be fun.”
Garrett’s “few songs” culminated a debut solo album, A Version of Now, in July. In an accompanying cover-story interview with Rolling Stone, Garrett said he “never thought [the reunion] wouldn’t happen, it was just a question of would the conditions be right”.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, published in June, drummer Rob Hirst added that he had his own specific conditions around the reunion.
“I think we need to go out with new material. That’s the first and, for me, most important thing. I talked to [Cold Chisel’s] Don Walker and he felt very strongly about that, especially for bands that have been away for a long time.”
While in this morning’s press conference the band didn’t announce the release of any new material, they did confirm they were in the early stages of writing.
While not their first post-breakup reunion, it is their largest tour since the 1990’s. Following their split in 2002, when Garrett left the group to focus on his political career, the band first reunited in 2006, where they performed at WaveAid, a fundraiser for victims of the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, before returning to the stage again in 2009 for a pair of shows at the Royal Theatre in Canberra, followed by a set at Sound Relief benefit in Melbourne for victims of the February Victorian bushfires.
Ticket info for The Great Circle Tour available via the band’s website.
The Great Circle Tour
Tuesday, April 25th: Pepsi on Stage, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Thursday, April 27th: Live, Curtiba, Brazil
Saturday, April 29th: Espaco das Americas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sunday, April 30th: Vivo Rio, Rio De Janiero, Brazil
Tuesday, May 2nd: NET Live, Brasilia, Brazil
Saturday, May 6th: Center Stage, Atlanta, United States
Tuesday, May 9th: The Filmore, Silver Spring, United States
Thursday, May 11th: House of Blues, Boston, United States
Saturday, May 13th: Webster Hall, New York City, United States
Tuesday, May 16th: Keswick Theatre, Glenside, United States
Thursday, May 18th: The Vic, Chicago, United States
Saturday, May 20th: Danforth Theatre, Toronto, Canada
Tuesday, May 23rd: Paramount Theatre, Denver, United States
Thursday, May 25th: The Wiltern, Los Angeles, United States
Satruday, May 27th: Fox Theatre, Oakland, United States
Monday, May 29th: Revolution Hall, Portland, United States
Wednesday, May 31st: Moore Theatre, Seattle, United States
Friday, June 2nd: The Commodore, Vancouver, Canada
Wednesday, June 21st: E-Werk, Colonge, Germany
Friday, June 23rd: Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sunday, June 25th: Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
Tuesday, June 27th: Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
Thursday, June 29th: Rockafeller Music Hall, Oslo, Norway
Saturday, July 1st: Furuviksparken, Gavle, Sweden
Tuesday, July 4th: Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK
Thursday, July 6th: Olympia, Paris, France
Friday, July 7th: Festival de Beauregard, Herouville-Saint-Claire, France
Sunday, July 9th: Les Deferlantes Festival, Argeles-sur-Mer, France
Wednesday, July 12th: Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Friday, July 14th: Musilac, Aix Les Bains, France
Sunday, July 16th: Les Vielles Charrues, Carhaix, France
Tuesday, July 18th: Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany
Friday, July 21st: Colours of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Saturday, September 9th: Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
Monday, September 11th: Horncastle Arena, Chirstchurch, New Zealand
Monday, October 2nd: ANZAC Oval, Alice Springs, Australia
Wednesday, October 4th: Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin, Australia
Saturday, October 7th: Kuranda Amphitheatre, Cairns, Australia
Tuesday, October 10th: Townsville Entertainment Centre, Australia
Thursday, October 12th: Greatn Western Hotel, Rockhampton, Australia
Saturday, October 14th: Big Pineapple Fields, Sunshine Coast, Australia
Sunday, October 15th: Riverstage, Brisbane, Australia
Thursday, October 19th: Hockey Fields, Coffs Harbour, Australia
Saturday, October 21st: Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, Australia
Tuesday, October 24th: AIS Arena, Canberra, Australia
Thursday, October 26th: The Village Green, Adelaide Oval, Australia
Saturday, October 28th: Perth Arena, Perth, Australia
Wednesday, November 1st: Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart, Australia
Friday, November 3rd: Gateway Lakes, Wodonga, Australia
Monday, November 6th: Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Australia
Wednesday, November 8th: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Australia
Saturday, November 11th: The Domain, Sydney, Australia
