Tex Perkins & Matt Walker at Lefty's: The Man's Got Chops!
Updated: 2 hours ago
Tex Perkins & Matt Walker
Lefty's Music Hall, Brisbane
Saturday, 7 November 2026
Tonight has an air of expectation about it. Not unlike a few weeks back, when Paul Kelly and his nephew Dan grace the intimate Lefty's stage for a very special night celebrating an iconic body of Australian music, another icon, Tex Perkins, is here in duo mode with his Cruel Sea guitarist, Matt Walker, promoting their gorgeous new release, Before The Show, recently released through Cheersquad Records.
Once again, Lefty's is packed to the chandeliers. It's a great room, and deceptively large. The front steps lead you up to the main floor, guiding you to the bar on the right or the booths on the left, with the stage nice and high in the centre, sweeping stairs wrapping around behind it, and a balcony providing more options to choose your spot. There's a lot of choice at Lefty's, and that's welcomed by this mixed crowd. One thing I notice is that nobody really moves from their spot much. They're here to see Tex and Matt up close, and they ain't budging from their vantage point. Fair enough.
It's a cliché, and used way too often, but I think you'll all agree they totally broke the mould when they made Tex. I get the sense that onstage and offstage Tex really aren't that different at all. Part social commentator, part stand-up comedian, part smoky baritone vocalist, part stellar songwriter, and, what I never actually realised, part lead guitarist! He's really very good at wringing the neck of his Fender, playing tasty solos and producing droning tones on his gorgeous sunburst Tele. I guess it makes sense. We've seen him strumming cowboy chords enough in his various non-Cruel Sea projects to know he can play, but this takes me by very pleasant surprise. The man's got chops!
And this gives the hugely talented Matt Walker space to sonically build these wonderful songs into room-filling swells of effects-laden acoustic guitar tones, and at other times gorgeous, clean 12-string arpeggios that sound so timeless. The ability to fill a venue with sound, with no rhythm section behind you, is beyond me, but Matt does it so effortlessly. The tiny stage produces a glorious sound from the front to the back of these reverb-loving timber walls and ceiling (kudos to the sound guy!). Matt's exactly the type of guitarist I love to watch, masterfully creating a bed to serve the songs, nothing overly flashy, mostly looking down at his pedalboard and guitar while he guides them through delicately intricate pieces, song after song.
The setlist is perfectly constructed. With the album relatively recently released, the new songs are woven in with a solid selection of tasteful covers and also a hauntingly perfect version of The Cruel Sea's 1991 title track from This Is Not The Way Home. The audience goes to the next level when they realise it's coming and soaks up every second of it, because let's be honest, it's just such a perfect song and we all want to hear it. Tex and Matt totally nail it, not losing any of its energy without the masterful talents of Jim, Ken and Dan from The Cruel Sea onstage with them. And given the talents of those boys, that is not an easy thing to achieve!
The relatively early show flies by. We genuinely all belly-laugh at Tex's schtick, whether he's telling stories about losing his wallet and then borrowing one from a member of the audience, ordering cocktails from the bar, or letting the audience behind the stage know he has no arse to speak of: "Just two sticks, a hole and a back!" It's a very special night.
But it gets even more special, because the snarly, imposing, one-time Beasts of Bourbon frontman is also a loving, caring and proud dad. He welcomes his son Louie onstage to close the night with one of my all-time favourite songs, 'Golden Age' by Beck. Louie's just 16, but he's already making an impact with Vandalism Angel, his three-piece alt-rock band from the Northern Rivers, as they build career momentum. Between Tex's wonderful take on the achingly haunting yet optimistic lyrics, Matt's 12-string flourishes and Louie's delicate acoustic touches, it really is a special way to end a special evening.
We all want more, but 9pm is the end of the show, and just like that, it's over. A large scrum of fans instantly forms around the stage, all wanting to shake hands, grab a selfie or offer a beer to Tex, Matt and Louie while they pack up their gear. Dare I say it, the honeymoon continues for Tex and Matt, and we're here for it, baby.
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