Midnight Oil is briefly halting its current tour of Australia after the rock legends’ drummer tested positive for COVID-19.
Founding drummer Rob Hirst now enters quarantine after his positive result, meaning The Oils will miss two shows on Resist: The Final Tour.
“Despite the positive test,” reads a statement, “he actually feels a bit better today and is confident of a full and speedy recovery.”
At a result of Hirst’s diagnosis, the scheduled concert at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena (with Amyl & The Sniffers) on Wednesday, March 9 is pushed back to March 27, and their March 12 performance at Rutherglen (with Hoodoo Gurus and All Our Exes Live In Texas) is now set for April 24, on the ANZAC Day long weekend.
The news was shared by the band earlier Tuesday morning, just one day after announcing its “One For The Planet” benefit gig in Melbourne this week would be canceled, with Hirst “battling a chest infection for several days.”
Peter Garrett and Co. have had an eventful five-year stretch since they reunited in 2017, for the Great Circle world tour.
A studio EP came out of those dates, The Makarrata Project, which debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in 2020. Just hours the chart feat was announced, Oils bass player Bones Hillman lost his battle with cancer, aged 62.
Just last month, The Oils’ landed a sixth No. 1 on the national albums chart with Resist. Its the Aussie rockers’ first full-length studio album in nearly 20 years, their 13th overall. And it’s said to be their finale.
Midnight Oil is one of Australia’s all-time great rock outfits, boasting membership in the ARIA Hall of Fame, and the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music, among their vast collection of honors.
The politically-charged band’s classic LP from 1987, Diesel and Dust, came in at No. 1 in The 100 Best Australian Albums, published in 2010 by Hardie Grant Books.
North America dates on the Resist tour kick off June 1, 2022 at Malkin Bowl, Vancouver, BC, with European shows following in July.