Midnight Oil Confirms Global Dates For 2017

The Australian band announced on Facebook and its website, “The five of us are finally making plans to get together again for some gigs next year. We’re looking forward to hopefully playing overseas and touring our homeland for the first time since 2002.”

The band admitted plans are not firmed.

“We won’t know exactly when, where and what we’ll be doing before next January at the earliest so in the meantime please just ignore any rumours,” the post continued.

Singer Peter Garrett is in the meantime to drop his debut solo album, whose personal songs he says were inspired when he wrote his memoirs, “Big Blue Sky.”

Midnight Oil, one of the most politically charged and biggest live acts to emerge from Australia, broke up when Garrett decided to go into politics. He ended up as a cabinet minister, with a resumé that includes environment, education and the arts. He has since left politics.

The other members continued in music, recording and touring. Bassist “Bones” Hillman moved to Nashville working with Canadian artist Matthew Good. Since the band’s split, Midnight Oil has reunited for two major charity events alongside other major Australian acts.

Wave Aid was at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2005, for victims of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. On March 14, 2009, they played the Melbourne end of the two-city Sound Relief for victims of bushfires and flooding that summer.