Midnight Oil Announce 'Makarrata Live' Tour

Midnight Oil have announced their Makarrata Live tour today. 

The tour - which begins in Mount Cotton on 28 February and visits Hunter Valley, Canberra and Geelong - will be the first without bass player Bones Hillman, who passed away last month.

The iconic group will be joined by First Nations collaborators at each show in celebration of their new album, The Makarrata Project. The shows will highlight The Uluru Statement From The Heart which "calls for a Makarrata – or 'truth telling' – to account for the theft of lands and displacement of First Nations people".

“We’re relieved and excited at the thought of finally playing music to live audiences again," said frontman Peter Garrett. 

“Lots of the songs which have struck the deepest chords with our audiences over the years, like Beds Are Burning, Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers, The Dead Heart and Truganini, revolve around Indigenous issues so we’re definitely inspired to be playing a set that combines older songs like those with newer songs that share similar lyrical themes.”

“The most fulfilling part of The Makarrata Project came through collaborating with so many First Nations artists during those recording sessions,” added guitarist and keyboard player Jim Moginie. 

“I think everyone’s looking forward to seeing what shape all the music from different eras takes as those gifted singers add their voices to it live. 

"We’ve never done anything like this so it feels good to still be pushing the envelope a bit despite everything that’s happened in 2020."

In addition to the tour, Midnight Oil have also been announced as the headliners for WOMADelaide's new sunset concert series, which will take place in March. 

Tickets for the Makarrata Live tour go on sale from Wednesday 16 December, with pre-sales commencing from Monday 14 December. 

Head to theGuide for all the info.