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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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PETER GARRETT & THE ALTER EGOS
+ Raintalker
@ Factory Theatre, Sydney,
15th March 2024
(Live Review)

Review and photos by Alec Smart 

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Peter Garrett performed at The Factory Theatre in Marrickville, Sydney, with his backing band, The Alter Egos. The latter is an evolving coalition of musicians centred around fellow Midnight Oil bandmate, guitarist Martin Rotsey, and his two daughters, May and Grace, on backing vocals.

The concert highlighted Peter’s latest album, The True North, released earlier that day to coincide with the tour, his second solo venture post-Midnight Oil after A Version of Now (released July 2016).

The lass on the merchandise desk revealed Peter signed 50 copies of his new CD plus a load of albums prior to the venue doors opening, presumably newly-arrived from the printers.

Grace Garrett, the second of Peter’s three daughters, designed the four-colour cover artwork, which resembles an aerial view of a dark mountain ridge bordered either side by sand and a rust-coloured sea.

The lyrics to the album’s title song state: “In the floodplains seasons lightning red rock white water living colour of the true north”, so perhaps instead of sand and rusty water, the cover artwork represents red rock and white sea.

The support band on Peter’s True North tour was Raintalker, a quartet that includes the aforementioned Grace and May, on vocals and drums, respectively.

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Raintalker, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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On their website, Raintalker describe themselves as: “A dynamic four-piece hailing from Sydney, Raintalker has embraced the diversity of its music scene and carved their own path with a fresh and captivating indie sound. With driving rhythms, jangly guitars and strong vocal melodies, their songs resonate with a powerful mix of joy and melancholy, seamlessly transitioning between anthems that make you want to dance and introspective tunes that tug at your heartstrings.

“With infectious energy, Raintalker creates an electric atmosphere, forging an unbreakable connection with the listener. With lyrical themes from climate change to heartbreak to friendships lost and found, Raintalker defies genres.”

Although the songs were indeed captivating and energetic, Grace, as the vocalist and central focus, has a static, graceful presence, hardly moving from behind the microphone stand. She certainly hasn’t inherited her dad’s hyperactivity – one can’t imagine her scrambling onto speakers and climbing stage scaffold towers like Peter did in some of his legendary live performances.

Although, in fairness, not many vocalists stray far from the sanctuary of centre stage and certainly not into the lighting gantry above!

However, Grace hasn’t inherited her dad’s nasal, somewhat atonal singing voice (!) and can carry a tune nicely. Raintalker have released their debut music video, Callala, (view it here), named after a beach on the south coast in Jervis Bay.

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Peter Garrett and The Alter Egos launched their performance with the title track to his new album, The True North. The stage was bathed in dim red light as the sparse guitar chimes underscored this atmospheric song, an optimistic tribute praising the Indigenous occupants of Australia’s far north.

Photographers were requested not to take pictures during the dramatic opening number, and thereafter to remain at the rear of the venue when photographing the next three songs.

Peter and the band continued performing his new material in the approximate order they appear on the album, skipping one song, Meltdown, which was saved until the encore. Only one song, It Still Matters, from his previous debut album, A Version Of Now was covered.

Musically, the band were brilliant, with Peter pausing between songs for his customary political and social commentary. Heather Shannon, The Jezebels’ keyboard player, added harmonies and emotion to the new material, which is more variable and complex than Peter’s more rock-oriented debut solo recording.

Peter himself played some mean harmonica, whilst Martin Rotsey’s guitar playing, not often at the forefront of his work with Midnight Oil (in which he compliments fellow guitarist-keyboard player Jim Moginie), here in The Alter Egos he shines, revealing his incredible dexterity and range of tempo as a solo performer.

After the new album had been performed, greeted enthusiastically by the audience (many of whom queued to buy signed copies at the night’s end), the band took on a few familiar songs that journeyed into the Oils’ back catalogue.

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Peter’s daughters had exited for a break when Martin launched into the familiar guitar scales of a song harking way back to the dawn of Midnight Oil, Surfing With A Spoon, from their debut, self-titled album. This Peter and Martin co-wrote in 1977, not long after the band coalesced around five Sydney North Shore lads with shared musical tastes and aspirations.

The predominantly seated audience, thrilled that Midnight Oil songs were on the night’s agenda, were now rapturous, and were rewarded with Put Down That Weapon, the third single released from the Oils’ 1987 Earth-shattering album, Diesel And Dust, which brought them international recognition.

Peter’s daughters returned to the stage for It Still Matters, the only song performed from his first album, and remained to cover backing vocals for the next medley of Oils’ classics.

Meanwhile, Peter stripped off his top to replace it with a Coloured Stone T-shirt, which was greeted with a wolf whistle, to which he responded, “That’s so Sydney!”

Then we were treated to four more Oils’ numbers: Undercover, In The Valley, Beds Are Burning and Dreamworld. At this point in the night Peter unclipped the microphone from the stand and, visibly relaxed, transitioned into the iconic performer of countless Oils concerts. This included his signature jerky dance moves and splayed fingers that inspired the open hand logo that adorned all Midnight Oil releases. Thereafter he dominated the stage area, occasionally bumping into Martin, who would give him a wry smile.

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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The band has reworked the Oils’ international call for Aboriginal sovereignty, Beds Are Burning, into a slower, more melodic pop song than the stop-start power-rocker of yesteryear. The killer chorus is still a fist-clenching sing-along, but it has a more nuanced edge. This revised version would no doubt shoot up the music charts if The Alter Egos chose to release it as a single.

The band left to a standing ovation, and inevitably returned to perform a two-song encore, Permaglow and The Dead Heart, with Peter first spinning an amusing anecdote about the green shirt he was now wearing. Apparently a fan in America contacted Peter recently and revealed that after one of the Oils’ first gigs in the USA (which would have been way back in 1984), he stole Peter’s shirt.

Fast-forward to 2023: the fan found Peter’s green button-up cotton shirt folded in his attic, dry-cleaned it and returned it to its original owner after almost 40 years – and surprisingly it still fits!

Peter added, “So, if there’s anyone else out there who’s nicked our stuff, now’s the time to return it!”

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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The night’s grand finale, The Dead Heart, Midnight Oil originally recorded for Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s October 1985 official handing-back ceremony of Uluru (Ayers Rock) to its traditional Aboriginal owners, the Anangu people.

Although Uluru-Kata Tjuta Park is situated in the dead centre of Australia, the song’s lyrics also deal with the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians and the heartless state-sanctioned theft of their children during the infamous Stolen Generation.

This unpleasant era (1905-1970s) was when Aboriginal kids were forcibly removed from their families for assimilation (and often domestic servitude) in white Australian households.

In some rural areas, between up to one third of Aboriginal children were abducted from their families and communities.

By now the audience were up and dancing, with many of the standing area folk down the back relocating to the dancefloor in front of the stage. If the rest of the Oils then walked in and announced they’d join Peter and Martin and the other Alter Egos to play all night, I can guarantee no one would have left the venue until the very last note was wrung out of the instruments and daylight rolled in.

All in all, a fabulous concert.

The Alter Egos are:  Peter Garrett, vocals; Martin Rotsey, guitars; Heather Shannon, keyboards; Evan Mannell, drums; Rowan Lane, bass.

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Set List

The True North
Paddo
Innocence Parts 1 & 2
Hey Archetype
Human Playground
Meltdown
Currowan
Everybody
Surfing With A Spoon – Midnight Oil cover
Put Down That Weapon – Midnight Oil cover
It Still Matters
Undercover – Midnight Oil cover
In The Valley – Midnight Oil cover
Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil cover
Dreamworld – Midnight Oil cover

Encore:

Permaglow
The Dead Heart – Midnight Oil cover

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Check out Alec Smart’s (@alecsmart_fotos) full gallery of this show HERE

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Follow PETER GARRETT
Website – Instagram – Facebook – YouTube

Follow RAINTALKER
Website

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Raintalker, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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AMNPLIFY – DB