After the 35th-anniversary celebration of their classic Black Milk album at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre, The Beasts will bring their swamp-soaked rock ‘n’ roll revival to Sydney’s Factory Theatre on Friday 12 December for one special night.
The Beasts, the latest incarnation of the legendary Beasts of Bourbon, are answering the call from fans who missed the Melbourne show, promising another deep dive into the primal, blues-soaked heart of Black Milk. The 1990 album was a pivotal moment in Australian rock, capturing the grit, swagger, and chaos that defined the Beasts of Bourbon across the late 1980s and early 1990s.
For the Sydney show, The Beasts will revisit Black Milk in full throttle, performing “Cool Fire”, “Words From a Woman to Her Man”, “Black Milk”, and “Let’s Get Funky” along with other early favourites that shaped their snarling sound. The performance is as much a tribute to their own wild legacy as it is to their fallen bandmates – the late James Baker and Spencer P. Jones – whose influence continues to reverberate through every riff and howl.
Formed in Sydney in 1983, The Beasts of Bourbon brought together an unlikely mix of the country’s most unrestrained musicians: Tex Perkins on vocals, Kim Salmon on guitar, James Baker on drums, Boris Sujdovic on bass, and Spencer P. Jones on guitar. Together they forged a sound that merged punk’s raw edge with swamp rock’s menacing groove. What started as a side project for members of The Scientists and The Johnnys became one of the most feral and revered bands in Australian underground music.
Their 1984 debut The Axeman’s Jazz introduced an attitude that was equal parts menace and mischief. But it was Black Milk, released six years later, that proved the Beasts could harness their chaos into something enduring. With songs like “Cool Fire” and “Let’s Get Funky”, the album fused blues, garage, and rock into something unmistakably their own. It cemented the Beasts’ reputation as a group that could never be domesticated.
Now, four decades on, The Beasts are still roaring. The current lineup – Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon, Boris Sujdovic, and Charlie Owen – continue to honour their late bandmates while pushing forward creatively. Their latest album Ultimo, released earlier this year, marks both an ending and a final celebration. Featuring nine new tracks penned by Baker, Salmon, Perkins, and Sujdovic, the album was described by Perkins as a fitting send-off to one of Australia’s most defiant rock collectives.
Tracks such as “Shoot Me”, “A Special Place”, and “The Ballad of the Ballad of Rock N Roll” showcase The Beasts’ unfiltered honesty and dark humour. Ultimo also arrived alongside a limited live record, The Beasts Alive, featuring stage staples like “Hard Work Drivin’ Man”, “Strychnine”, and “Execution Day”.
In recent years, The Beasts have been both a band and a tribute to themselves, keeping the spirit of Baker, Hooper, and Jones alive through the noise and the grit. When Baker was diagnosed with cancer, it was uncertain whether he could continue performing. Against all odds, he did – and, according to Perkins, he “fucking nailed it”. Baker passed away not long after, but his final performances stand among the most powerful of his career.
Joining The Beasts at the Factory Theatre will be The Johnnys, long-time comrades from Sydney’s rock scene, with more special guests still to be announced.
