40 YEAR OLD MIDNIGHT OIL LIVE RECORDING REVEALED BY ARCA

Made off the sound desk by a crew member, 'MIDNIGHT OIL LIVE at the OLD LION, Adelaide 1982' was recorded by Mark Woods, and is another fantastic tribute to the great sounds engineers produced for the early Aussie pub rock scene. This live tape is released on ARCA’s Black Box Records and is available this Friday 2nd December through MGM Distribution and on all major streaming services.

The MIDNIGHT OIL recording is the 30th release of the Australian Road Crew Association’s (ARCA) Desk Tape Series.

Midnight Oil are the 29th act to throw support behind Support Act’s Roadies Fund through the Australian Road Crew Association (ARCA)’s awesome Desk Tape Series.

The Series was created by ARCA to raise funds to provide financial, health, counselling and well-being services for roadies and crew in crisis.

"On this run they were at their absolute peak. Much of the set was from 'Place Without A Postcard', which was just released four months before, so the songs sounded fresh," says Woods.

'Place Without a Postcard' was the band's third album released by CBS Records in November 1981. Creative tensions between the band and its English producer, Glyn Johns (The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Clash), stifled proceedings and the group was not totally satisfied with the final record. It's off the back of this situation that the band dug deeper within themselves and asserted Midnight Oil as one of the greatest Australian live bands.

Woods added, “it wasn’t that they were loud, it was the power. They weren’t ‘screamy’ or harsh listening, they just had a very full solid big fat sound.”

Drummer, Rob Hirst’s drum kit had to be nailed down. Not only did he attack them with exuberance, breaking pedals and sticks, but he’d also jump into the air off his stool for greater power when he landed. Listening to the Old Lion tape, Hirst chuckles, “It reminds me of the breakneck speeds we used to play those songs!”

“The album versions chugged along but the live versions were 30% to 40% faster, if not faster."

LISTEN HERE: https://ffm.to/midnightoil-live

TRACKLISTING:

1 Written In The Heart

2 Brave Faces

3 Armistice Day

4 I’m The Cure

5 Bus To Bondi

6 Quinella Holiday

7 No Time For Games

8 Burnie

9 Cold Cold Change

10 Powderworks

11 Koala Sprint

12 Back On The Borderline

13 Don’t Wanna Be The One

14 Wedding Cake Island

15 Stand In Line

16 No Reaction