Legendary Australian rock band and agitators, Midnight Oil, announced their first show in South Africa in over two decades.
They also unveiled plans to release three archival box sets including a collection called The Overflow Tank which will contain more than 14 hours of previously unreleased and rare material.
The Johannesburg show is included as part of the already sold out The Great Circle 2017 World Tour, featuring the group in its classic lineup. The world tour kicked off in mid-April and Midnight Oil will be performing over 30 gigs around the world reaching Johannesburg on Saturday, 29 July. During the world tour, they will share festival stages with artists like Arcade Fire, Sting and The Pixies.
These will be Midnight Oil’s only shows in the last 15 years. It will also be the group’s most extensive world tour since their classic late 80s and early 90s albums.
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of music knows the basics of Midnight Oil’s story and how these musical innovators and social justice brought us anthems like Beds are Burning, The Dead Heart, Blue Sky Mine, plus a string of other hits that make you feel and lyrics that make you think.
In keeping with the band’s longstanding commitments, their carbon footprint during The Great Circle 2017 World Tour will, of course, be fully offset and sustainability initiatives will be undertaken at all shows. The band will also continue their collaborations with local and international environmental organisations including Greenpeace, supporting their campaigns on crucial issues like dangerous climate change and the imminent threats to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
At one level, The Great Circle 2017 simply reflects the geographic reality that the tour will loop around the world and circle Australia. At another level, the name clearly implies the planet itself but it has a further meaning too.
Midnight Oil is more than just a rock-n-roll band. In 2017 they will finally bring things back to where they all began. The circle remains unbroken.
Read: Local band gets fans on their feet
