Tex Perkins & Matt Walker: Old Friends Playing Some New (and seasoned) Tricks ~ Adelaide Fringe 2020 Review         

[MUSIC/Rock ~ VIC] Fortuna Spiegeltent at The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Thu 27 Feb. Tex Perkins & Matt Walker is billed as a collaboration that is long overdue and the gig starts with three brand new songs that are the results of this collaboration so far. Very good at that; blues without being straight in any way, dirty and swampy with plenty of foot stomping and head nodding and swaying (on the stage and in the audience). Tex’s banter around this is what the hell does one do with new music these days (given that nobody buys it)? Matt Walker was the quieter of the two, we heard his voice doing some fine harmonies along the way and joining in with Tex’s banter here and there. But it was Matt’s guitar that was the mainstay of the show, rock solid, steady though with plenty of decoration and play on a couple of acoustics, one six string, one twelve string. Matt provided a great platform upon which Tex could play and take wherever he chose. And so he did! Oh he sang; what a great voice, and presence, he played around with guitar too! And he kept a great audience connection happening having total faith in Matt’s ability to get the duo where they needed to be to deliver the song and yet to allow Tex to play. Tex is entertaining, but he’s also very real – this down to earth Aussie bloke has chops, a voice and some great banter, along with a playful sense of humour that had us all the way. He also writes some fantastic songs and has a back catalogue that extends almost to the very first song he ever recorded. He gave us a couple of covers along the way, Willie Nelson and the finale – which was a surprising selection, going somewhere completely unexpected in a really engaging way. Of course, Tex fans were keen to hear some of the back catalogue and samples of both The Cruel Sea and The Beasts Of Bourbon with a running joke that the Cruel Sea came from the ‘60s so the Beasts (& Tex) were around in the ‘50s with Elvis. The last song was from Kermit – Rainbow Connection, with a Tex twist, instantly recognisable and a great place for Tex to play with his microphone and get up close and personal with the crowd (then add the fun of his microphone cable not quite stretching far enough!) As we exited the Spiegeltent there was a buzz, something pretty damn special had happened that needed to be shared among us! 4.5 stars Clayton Werner #ADLfringe #GOUD20 Presented by Premier Artists