ROB HIRST

MIDNIGHT OIL 1984 (2018)
Starring Peter Garrett, Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie, Martin Rotsey, Bones Hillman and Peter Gifford. Directed by Ray Argall.

1984. As Midnight Oil launches the tour for Red Sails in the Sunset, lead singer Peter Garrett is running for Senate with the Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP). The musicians are plunged into a charged alliance of rock and politics that will play out on the live stage and front pages of the dailies.

The NDP campaign resonates powerfully with young people concerned about nuclear weapons and wars, and a demographic previously alienated from politics is suddenly re-energised and ready to vote Peter Garrett into the Senate. But as the election draws closer the pressures of performing on both the live stage and the political stage build and it becomes an anxious and conflicted time for the band.

Using never before seen footage, this film provides a window into a band in a state of change, as they struggle to balance the political message of their music, the raw and visceral power of their live performances, and a lead singer torn between the connection to his audience as a rock star, and how to create real change.

REVIEWS Midnight Oil: 1984 - The power and the passion