The Beasts
Metro Theatre
Sydney, Australia
March 8, 2019
It is not exactly the best kept secret that The Beasts of Bourbon are one of my favourite Australian bands. Given last year’s departure of their bassist Brian Hooper and Spencer P. Jones, two integral constituents of this fantastic band, one could not be blamed to think that after a last emotional concert with the original line-up, that this chapter was done and dusted.
However, as their new album title suggests, they are still here.
Reinforced by Kim Salmon, they have recorded an offering that is a veritable and raw tour de force with no frills, embodying the gritty DNA of the Beasts and the fact that the recordings seem to have been nailed down on the spot based on sketchy idea only contributes to its allure.
In a live environment, The Beasts are something else.
Tex Perkins has yet to deliver a disappointment in any of his many incarnations and tonight among Kim and Boris Sujdovic from the immensely influential The Scientist, Charlie Owen with his unique strumming style and Tony Pola of The Surrealists’ fame, The Beasts did what they have always done best:
They effortlessly slay as their channel their alchemy via a never not eclectic melange of sleazy swamp blues pub rock, punk carried by their idiosyncratic menacing swagger, which in 2019 and given what the band has been through last year was infused with a good portion of both defiance and a sense of renewal.
With Kim Salmon from being back in the fold and his bludgeoning riffs, there was again the explosive dynamic that has always made The Beasts the cruelly sardonic, dangerous, self-effacing and compelling unicum and one of the best untamed rock’n roll bands on this earthround with tonight adding a deeper going new layer as they seemed be genuinely enjoying performing together and more centred in the moment.
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Photo provided
