the beasts

Attending 80 gigs this year might seem a lot but imagine if I hadn’t cancelled a further 80 due to perpetual bronchitis and various bouts of flu. Thankfully, no Covid this time. Clearly four was enough.

I generally enjoy all music events so picking a Top Ten was quite a feat. If I’ve liked a band enough to see them more than once, I’ve included those gigs.

No. 1 - Bart Willoughby, No Fixed Address on two occasions
One at The Tote on Jan 3, and again at Yabun festival Jan 26. Their distinctive Aus/reggae rock has moved me since we came back to Melbourne from London in 1979. When my son Vyvyan’s godfather, Louis McManus, sadly passed away in 2004, NFA’s drummer and lead vocalist, Bart Willoughby, stepped up to the plate, his friend and mine being Maxine Briggs, his godmother.

I never tire of hearing Bart’s anthem “We have Survived”, beautifully delivered on a sunny Sydney afternoon at the Yabun Festival in Victoria Park, “Music to a Beat”.

_{Martin Philby photo.}

The band that we thought couldn’t be killed, The Beasts – aka surviving members of the Beasts of Bourbon – are releasing a new studio album and it will be the last chapter.

“Ultimo” was recorded over two days at Melbourne’s Union Studios, during a break from the nationally sold-out Alive Tour earlier this year, and it will be released on December 13 via Slick Productions through MGM.

An 11-track live recording, it includes a collection of Beasts’ classics and fan favourites, none of which appeared on the limited edition “be suburban” EP that was sold on tour.

Ultimo - The Beasts (Slick Productions)

"Ultimo" by The Beasts is the final nail in the Beasts of Bourbon's recording coffin.  As Tex Perkins told bandmates in an email proposing its release, the title's definitions include -Finale, Conclusivo, Defenitivo, The Last.

As if you didn't know, The Beasts comprise former members of the Beasts of Bourbon and were conceived to record one more time with an ailing Spencer P Jones while honouring fallen bass player Brian Hooper. The "Still Here" album was spawned and toured before The Beasts lost drummer Tony Pola, also to cancer.

Re-convening with founding Beasts of Bourbon drummer James Baker, now also terminally ill, doing more shows was a way of connecting the historical dots and keeping him on the planet. Call it musical therapy. A couple of gigs led to an extensive national tour earlier this year.

“Black Milk 35^th Anniversary”
The Beasts
with guests Rob Younger, Hellen Rose, Richie Weed & John Schofield
+ The Johnnys
+ Richie Weed and The Strays
+ Unsound
The Factory Theatre, Marrickvile, NSW
Friday, December 12, 2025

Words & Pictures: THE BARMAN

When the definitive mainstream version of the history of Australian rock and roll finally is penned, the Beasts of Bourbon are unlikely to get their dues. History is written by the victors and its telling needs to be simplistic if it’s to have the desired effect of "moving units".

I once shopped a manuscript of a Radio Birdman member (no, not Chris) to a bunch of publishers to be told by one of the biggies that they saw no market for it because the band’s fans couldn’t read.

Despite dancing with a broad audience in the early ‘90s, the Beasts of Bourbon narrative is just too convoluted, edgy and unconventional to suit straight publishers. Not that this need be a deterrent to enlightened ones. 

The Beasts are embarking on their second Australian tour this year, this time in tandem with Magic Dirt’s Adalita.

Still running hard off the back of their studio album “Still Here”, the band formerly known as the Beasts of Bourbon is planning a run up and down Australia’s East Coast before shows in Perth, Fremantle and Adelaide.

The Beasts are Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon, Charlie Owen, Tony Pola and Boris Sudjovic. Their shows earlier this year were sell-outs and showed the ex-Beasts had lost none of their power. even with the fallen Spencer P Jones and Brian Hooper gone. .

Tickets for The Beasts’ national tour go on sale on Friday, August 9 via Oztix.

The Beasts + Adalita
NOV
28 - Barwon Club, Geelong VIC
29 - York On Lilydale, Mt Evelyn VIC
30 - Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne VIC
DEC
4 - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
6 - The Metro, Sydney NSW
7 - Wollongong Uni, Wollongong NSW
12 - The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
13 - Kingscliff Beach Hotel, Kingscliff NSW
14 - Sol Bar, Maroochydore QLD
20 - The Gov, Adelaide SA
21 - Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
22 - Rock Rover, Fremantle WA

I wish I could remember more of the first half of the year… Not sure if I should blame the Melbourne Bitter longnecks. Likely culprit. This is pretty close to a Top 10..

Big love to all involved in the SoundPressing projects and tours throughout the year. In particular Mark Spinks (Gravel Samwidge) and Skeleton Boy (Art Gray Noizz Quintet) who spurred an incredible split 7”that was mail ordered and posted to all corners of the globe.

_{Antoine Nguyen photo.}

1. Radio Birdman - Manning Bar, Sydney
There was magic in the room that night: magic and love. Love from the audience who knew them as either family, friends, heroes, or all three. Everyone no doubt had different stories to tell but we were all there for the same reason - to bid farewell and to hear those songs played live one last time.

The songs that had formed a soundtrack to our lives. It led me to reflect on my own musical and life journey – is this really their last show? Am I heading that way too? I enjoyed being in the space and it brought back fond memories as I spent so much time in Manning Bar in the old days when I was studying at Sydney Uni with Louis Tillett. This show was so worth making the trip up to Sydney for! Great support from the Hard Ons too. Heartfelt thanks to everyone for a magnificent evening and beyond.

2. Mudhoney/Kid Congo - La Trabendo, Paris
It was a fabulous night at a cool venue in the beautiful le Parc de la Villette. I was staying in Paris and couldn’t believe my luck that two of my favourite bands would be sharing a bill. It was a stunning show, as you would expect. A crowded Mudhoney gig in Paris is much the same as one in Melbourne complete with t-shirts, leather jackets, jeans, boots, and slam-dancing, although the French seemed to have a certain je ne sais quoi about it all.

Homegrown supergroup The Beasts will play two special performances next month to celebrate their latest full-length studio release, “Ultimo” - with the prospect of more to come if drummer James Baker’s health holds up.

Melbourne (The Corner Hotel, February 21) and Sydney (Manning Bar, February 22) are the lucky cities and both gigs are expected to sell out. If you caught The Beasts last year on their national sold-out “Alive" tour you’ll know why.

The Beasts are surviving Beasts of Bourbon members James Baker, Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon, Boris Sujdovic and Charlie Owen.

The Beasts
Corner Hotel, VIC
- Feb 21
Tickets
Manning Bar, NSW
- Feb 22
Tickets

Tony Pola - drummer for Beasts of Bourbon, The Beasts and Kim Salmon and the Surrealists - passed away over the Easter weekend. His wife Katherine Pola made the announcement via  a Facebook post.

The West Australian-based drummer (pictured far right with The Surrealists), with bass player, the late Brian Hooper, and Kim Salmon had a reputation as one of Australian music’s most irascible and eccentric characters. He was a founding member of The Surrealists, as well as drummer on the Beasts of Bourbon’s “breakthrough” classic, “The Low Road”.  

Bandmate Kim Salmon has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover the costs of Tony’s funeral. You can make a contribution here. Kim also posted a tribute online:

The term “legend” is readily applied in rock and roll it but it belonged to James Baker. Drummer, at various times, for the Hoodoo Gurus, Scientists, The Victims, Beasts of Bourbon, The Dubrovniks and The Beasts, James succumbed to cancer at home in Perth last night, aged 71.

Tributes have been flying around the Interwebs all day and two of the best come from Melbourne and Sydney. They bear repetition here.