Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line

 

“🎶 The time has come 🎶”

Provocative, detailed and nostalgic, Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line phenomenally encapsulates the talent and times that combined to launch one of Australia’s greatest bands - who’s music pushed boundaries sonically and politically - leaving a legacy that will burn bright forever.

Discussion Points:

Midnight Oil are a legendary band - there music was never about themselves - it was also a call to action. They sang to audiences who felt found in their lyrics. And their activism would extend beyond the concert stage, to the political arena where Peter Garrett would advocate for issues boldly and determinedly. The Hardest Line is a fantastic documentary that charts not only the bands career, but their cause - what drove and continues to drive their music and their message. Formed during a time of progressive rock counter-culture, the band have evolved but never lost their relevance, their radicalism, or their maverick style. They always did it their way - and never let their message become overproduced or diluted. With fantastic use of archival footage, and audio interviews with the band overlaid, the documentary serves both as a historic time capsule for Australian culture and politics - and as a testament to one of the greatest Aussie bands to come from Gadigal land.