Tex Perkins and Tim Rogers

The street was filled when I arrived at Fly By Night Club, and the doors still hadn’t been opened. As people filed in the place filled quickly, and the tables in the corner were snapped up quickly. The bar quickly got snowed under, and it became clear that the place was gonna be filled long before TnT got on stage.

Rebecca Barnard, of Rebecca’s Empire fame, kicked the night off, and instantly showed she had lost none of her confidence, with a complete lack of self consciousness. I preferred her older songs, and I think the reason is because these have a strong introspective element. Having said this, a few of her new songs, notably one written about her son, are quite introspective, and this is truly where she shines. It will be interesting to see if she pushes hard to refresh her career, because music is a notoriously difficult industry in which to reenter after a length of time out of the spotlight. I guess songwriting is the deciding factor, and she has already proven she can shine here, it is just a matter of rediscovering this, and she may be on the way.

The crowd was visibly loosened when Barnard finished, and after a short wait, Tex and Tim waltzed on in typically charismatic fashion. They looked resplendent, Tim in a swanky jacket and Tex in classic 80’s shirt. They started off strong with crowd banter and jokes (both in and between songs) and the reaction was predictably good. The second tune told the tale of how they settled in the music business, and was an endearing duet which came across particularly well on stage. Other songs featured good picking, particularly from Tim, while Tex shone on vocal harmonies. Their voices blended impressively on most songs, and the lyrics were mostly light-hearted, though some serious songs broke up the atmosphere to lend some weight to the evening, and this was appreciated because this is where the true talent lies. Tim, in particular, is a brilliant songwriter, and You Am I songs “Damage” and “Heavy Heart” transferred well to the dual acoustic rendition, showing strength in their adaptability.

Having already proven themselves, they stepped above good and into the realm of great performers with their final track of the night. Anyone who has seen this act will be sure to remember the legend of Cunnilingus, the Tenacious D style light-hearted story of the origins and history of the art of male-on-female oral sex. This brilliantly hilarious epic features a high degree of ad-libbing and improvisation, but it also has a catchy chorus, and you may have to be careful where you find yourself humming this tune. All in all, fans of acoustic music and good Aussie humour should endeavor to make a show by these guys while they are performing together. A chance like this may not come around again.

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