Andy J Ryan Mar 26, 2023

Beasts of Bourbon - Metro Theatre, 2 June 2007

The Beasts return to the road and are back at their brooding best unleashing songs from their latest album Little Animals.†

The edgy rock sounds of Melbourne's Children Collide got the majority of the crowd on their feet. The guitar-driven 'Brave Robot' was later followed by the slightly more ethereal 'Cannibal', complete with bassist Heath Crawley's emphatic contributions throughout.
It only took one line from the Beasts, the bludgeoning "I don't care about nothing anymore", to scatter the chatter and envelop the crowd in a dark and depraved world.

The Beasts of Bourbon are a chillingly capable band. Behind the menacing figure of snarling frontman Tex Perkins is a powerful pack of hardened musicians, who can intuitively lead the music down any stylistic path. The new songs interspersed through the set were played with a stinging freshness, as if they were thankful to get back out on the stage again.

The band brutally ploughed through the opposing longings to drugs and revenge in 'Chase the Dragon' and 'Make 'Em Cry', going on to the brooding 'Low Road', the downright menacing 'Hard For You' and the intense 'Straight, Hard and Long', which took an extended detour into jazz territory. It felt like a reprieve when the Beasts later served up a dose of reggae, and even got down for some 'chugging' as they got funky. "Are you feeling funky, Spencer?" asked Perkins. "Not particularly," replied guitarist Spencer Jones, "but I've been going along with all your crazy schemes and ideas for the past 24 years, so no point stopping now."

For all the brutality and aggression present within the Beasts there is still an almost cartoonish side to them. "We are releasing an exercise DVD," the band quipped. "This song is part of it, so if you want to lose weight just follow these simple 83 steps."

Returning to the stage for one last tilt, the Beasts offered a particularly passionate 'Saturated', dedicated to its late co-writer Ian Rilen, and staggered off with ramshackle parting ditty 'Thanks'. It was thanks for the memories and the real good times.