1969 LEARN DAD ~ SURFING SAGE SANDMAN c1979 1982 1985
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 The Wanda Beach Concert 1982 “Many of those present that day wear the experience as a badge of honour. For some, it changed their lives. And two of the bands would go on to perform on the world's stage and change Australian rock music forever. 'No idea what was about to hit'Wanda Beach is south of Sydney's CBD on Dharawal Country in the Sutherland Shire. It's along the same stretch of coastline as Cronulla Beach. There's a big hill down to the water covered in lush green grass and coastal pines. These days the streets closest to the beach are full of multi-million-dollar houses, but in 1982 Wanda Beach was very different. And for the local kids, there wasn't much to do.” |
“One of the area's youth refuges had an idea to put on a free concert to raise money for local unemployed young people. The organisers asked ABC radio station triple j and local TV broadcaster SBS to help put the gig together.
The plan was to set the stage up at the bottom of the hill, creating a natural amphitheatre.
The audience would have a view of the bands and the beautiful blue ocean beyond.
But at the top of the hill were residential houses, and the action would take place right in front of these properties.
John Diamond, who was part of triple j's live music team, knew the damage a big crowd could do, so he spoke with the homeowners.
"This is going to be one hell of a concert," he told them.
"There's going to be people fornicating on your lawns and vomiting and throwing beer bottles and cans all over the place.
That's what kids do."
With the neighbours worded up, focus could return to the line-up: some of the most exciting bands of the time were set to play.
Spy vs Spy and Machinations were the opening acts. They were followed by New Zealand new wave band Mi-Sex, who was on the rise globally.
"When we played New York, we played three sold-out shows. Two or three thousand people. It was really exciting," keyboardist Murray Burns says.
"Mi-Sex were huge," says Kirk Pengilly from INXS, who were lined up to play after them at Wanda Beach.
Alongside Mi-Sex and INXS was the headline act: Midnight Oil. It was a time of growth for us," recalls Jim Moginie, the Oils' guitarist and keyboardist.
"A bit of a coming of age was about to happen. We didn't know that of course."
In 1982, the Oils were just like any other Sydney band trying to make it.
"We'd just made an album called Place Without A Postcard over in England with superstar producer Glyn Johns, who'd done the Stones and the Beatles and the Kinks and everybody else," Moginie says.
"We were back in Australia touring our arses off to make up the shortfall of all the money we'd spent in England, which was the usual situation for Australian bands going overseas in those days."
The quiet beachside spot had no idea what was about to hit.
A crowd up for anything
Sunday January 31, 1982 was not the sunny day organisers were expecting. Instead it was grey and drizzly.
But that didn't stop anyone from turning up.”
The Day was HUGE
MESSY MUDDY CHAOS
TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL
Beauty full Curry
The UTS Crew
Best days of our life!
