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Accompanied by a number of Ladyboyz and his long time musical companion Charlie Owen, Tex Perkins toured his recently released best of compo Songs From My Black Cattle Dog (A less than complex pun on ‘Songs from my Back Catalogue’). This fact bode well for the night as the songs from this release were hand picked by big Tex himself and draw from his solo work, songs from The Dark Horses, Tex, Don and Charlie tidbits and a couple of reclaimed songs from T ‘n’T and his blood and guts, down to earth Cruel Sea output. Intelligently placed at the always stoner-serene setting of a sold out Gov and 30 minutes after a nail-biting win by Tex’s beloved St. Kilda in a sudden death AFL final, the gig was bound to have if nothing, a cranking vibe. The night ended up teaching me despite some evidence to the contrary, predominantly acousticised and earnest ascerbicness are perfect for any Friday night, especially in good ‘ol A-Town.
Arriving to the stage surprisingly early, Jordie Croser and his mini, rag-tag crew served up a warm-up nicely suited to the pre-gig talking and chain smoking clientele that frequent the Gov of a Friday night. Holding close to their hearts the significantly Australian vibe of distorted plugged in acoustics, smooth and easy harmonica and a voice that doesn’t challenge with either range or intense passion, they set a vibe for the un-pretentious musings of Tex and his gang. They made it clear this night was about Tex and his personality. Having said that in-between song banter was minimal and for most of the night the songs did the talking.
Tex doesn’t do too badly for having mostly younger men around him on stage. His passion (with no sign of fervour) is unquestionable but he’s adequately maintained a youthful look that directly contends admirably with his voice that is aged to perfection (It was aged to perfection when he first started singing all those years ago). It was an easy show to digest, the power of the songs took centre stage, as lets face it Tex is no Hendrix on the axe, and he certainly wasn’t gonna bellow his tunes out like he would at a Beasts of Bourbon show now or deep into the ether of the past. Tex made sure his guitar was always with him and he never let a song go by without he himself strumming a chord and if the musicality never expanded to the heroics Charlie Owen is capable of, the tightness and the togetherness of the band both instrumentally and interpersonally just added to the inclusive vibe.
Songs from my Black Cattle Dog doesn’t purport to be a classical ‘best of’ or any kind of ‘greatest hits’. Instead its a selection chosen by Tex based on the favourite songs that he personally wrote, directed or controlled (with the exceptions of those already present on previous Beasts and Cruel Sea compilations). It was no surprise then that the set-list almost entirely conformed to the track listing of this release, and no complaints could be made about this. The gig began in a somewhat understated way drawing on some of Perkins’ work that doesn’t ask for much. Songs like She Speaks A Different Language and Half Of Nothing that have a direct emotional pull but also float through you allowing you to draw their feeling out or let their slight resignations pull you to-and-fro. This vibe continued in a nice enough way lifting and started to bubble at the surface a bit with Lucid, the first Dark Horses song played and then the mini peak of Ice In The Sun that gave the band their first genuine opportunity to crank out a heavier, sludgy sound, a perfect back-drop for the slide-work of the incomparable Charlie Owen. Tex’s general attitude for the night, unlike some previous shows was better communicated through his songs as opposed to any light banter (bar discussions on the relative ability ‘in bed’ of some of the group’s humble, younger members) and this worked as it added greater power to the most potent songs of the night, those written while he was in Tex, Don and Charlie. The earnestness, humour and as said before resignation (Tex’s special combo) of Fake That Emotion followed by Paycheques, ripped at least me to shreds, drawing me from a cheeky during gig cigarette break straight back to the middle of the sticky Gov floor. Maybe I have a personal bias for these songs but they seemed to dull the hub-bub any crowd at the Gov creates and redirect attention from beers, spliffs and shitty conversations to a man who knows how, but more importantly when to become the centre of attention. Finishing off the main set with Real Love was a real god-damn treat as Tex took one of his best pop hooks and sung it with the gusto that only Tex can do when he’s basically saying, better than anyone can “Get what your given, ‘cos life doesn’t give you much”.
The encore made up for the slightly shorter main set, cookin’ up a delightful mini-jam in the form of the oft-instrumental Great Apes this time winding down a 6 minute road of soulful jamming concluding with Humans are the Greatest Apes and other assorted verbal ejaculations wrapping up the songs with a sarcastic stab at human’s ‘evolution’. And just as if to make me happy three T,D&C numbers concluded the show with most notably the Johnny Cash-esque, sarcastic and cynical (is it self-parody, is it a message about other sycophantic, money-grubbing songmen?) The Singer Not The Song. It was a perfect ending; showcasing the mix of hopefulness and giving-up, disdain yet acceptance, sarcasm and love that only Tex Perkins can dish up.
Tex has been a busy man of late, and it is interesting to note that he is no longer bound to any form of record contract. It seems like he’s been free and easy to do as he pleases from playing with the Beasts, inventing the tongue-in-cheek Ladyboyz and appearing every sorts of who knows where. This tour and this night was a slight closing of the door in some ways, but I think he made sure that everyone that was at the Gov will be waiting patiently on the other side.
