Tex Perkins and the Dark Horses

Tex is a star. No two ways about it. He owns any stage upon which he steps. He practically devours any microphone he is given. A Tex Perkins show is one that will probably always have a ready and waiting audience, and deservedly so, for the man has built up a tremendous reputation and an enviable back catalogue, with multiple distinguished bands and classic albums under his belt.

What Tex and his Dark Horses delivered at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (on a Wednesday night – Wednesday! – as the audience and band pointed out to our man repeatedly in one of the evening’s more curious comedic moments) was 75 minutes of mostly mellow and moody – but not quite magnificent – music.

There were certainly marvellous moments. Opener Lucky Me was shivers-down-the-spine superb, and other early high points included Tunnel at the End of the Light and So Much Older. The band were solidly supportive throughout, at times creative, and occasionally cutting loose in a relatively polite fashion.

Ultimately, while the emphasis on musical sound-scaping was often as impressive and captivating as must have been intended, one can’t help feeling that the presentation could have afforded just a little more in the way of dynamism. The stage was well lit and attractively presented, the music on offer was consistently pleasing to the ear, and Tex is still one of the most magnetic musicians and most charismatic performers in this country, but next time he might do well to try mixing up the mood a bit more.

Anthony Vawser