Eric Bogle and Slim Dusty – Two Concerts We Remembered

By Greg

Slim

We were always going to feel a little uncomfortable in this environment. But I felt it was something we had to do – and Trenna was prepared to go along to prove that I was wrong!

It was a Slim Dusty concert at the Perth Concert Hall.

I cast my mind back to our house a month or two earlier.

“Hey, Tren. Slim Dusty is doing a concert at the Concert Hall”.

“So?” Those two letters were shorthand for, “so, what on EARTH has that got to do with me?” I knew that is what she meant, so I followed up.

“Well. Slim’s a legend. And he’s getting old. He won’t last for ever.”

“So?” It had the same meaning as last time – but with more emphasis.

I plugged on, getting to the point I am sure she had already gleaned. “Well, we should take the opportunity to see him.”

“Slim …. DUSTY? You want to go to a Slim Dusty concert?” What she was really asking was “Have you gone totally mad?”

I remained silent.

“OK” she said, “why not? Yeah, I’ll go”. She was really thinking “This can’t possibly go well, but it might be interesting.”

So I booked the tickets and that is why we were now wending our way to our seats in the centre of the fifth row from the front.

In My Defence

Now, I want to take a moment in my defence, here. Yes, Slim Dusty sang Country Music, and neither Tren nor I were fans of Country.

But, Slim Dusty was a dead set Australian legend. Check out his Wikipedia Page.

OK, I know you aren’t going to do that, so I’ll give you a few highlights.

• He was awarded Australia’s first Gold Record
• He released more than a hundred albums – in fact he was the first recording artist in the world to achieve that goal
• He sold more than seven million records
• He earned over 70 gold and platinum albums
• And he was the first Australian to have a No. 1 international hit song
• And he had lots and LOTS of accolades

My reasoning was that with about 60 years experience (he also earned Australia’s only 78rpm Gold Record) he HAD to have performance down to a fine art. This man was an important part of our nation’s musical history. This was someone to see before you (or he) died.

Anticipation

The 1,700 or so seat Perth Concert Hall was fairly full, so how I snagged seats right at the front is a bit of a mystery to me – I certainly didn’t line up for them before dawn as I had done for many a rock concert. I can only surmise that country life is slower, and so are country music fans when it comes to buying tickets.

As we took our seats it was apparent that in front of Tren was a boy in an Akubra, or a Stetson, or some other type of country hat we knew nothing of.

Just as Trenna was making an aside to me “I hope he’s going to take that bloody hat off”, the 12 year old turned around and spoke directly to us – country people ARE friendly.

“Are you fans of Slim? This will be great!” he was really pumped.

“Um, yeah! Sure! It should be terrific” I half enthused.

He turned around as I saw Trenna giving me a weird look, that said “yep! You’ve gone totally mad”.

We sat there. As show time approached the stage curtains were open and the stage lit like daylight. Not dazzling daylight, not with coloured lights, nor lazers or even a mirror ball, it was just that the lights were on.

There was a backdrop that was a sort of country town street with a pub and some shop fronts. It was painted in a naieve style, a bit like I would expect at my primary school in the 1960s (if anyone had ever bothered to do a backdrop, which they never did).

I was actually wondering if it was a backdrop from Slim’s hay days in the 1950s, and he was still using it decades later. It did look a bit like it…

The Yodelling McKean Sisters

Look, I can’t recall the exact order of things, but this is my best recollection of the show.

The first act was The Yodelling McKean Sisters. One sister was Joy, Slim’s wife and manager, and her sister was Heather. Look, there is no doubt that these two could yodel as well as anyone I had ever heard, but really, for me and Tren yodelling has very little entertainment value. I think the two of them sang A cappella – so some credit for that.

Next was David Kirkpatrick. Now, the university educated among you will know that David Kirkpatrick is actually Slim’s name. This is not a coincidence. It was Slim’s adult son.

David did a perfectly competent job, but I don’t recall it as being all that entertaining. He was accompanied by his own guitar playing. My recollection is that David was a qualified medical doctor, so perhaps he didn’t see his future in music.

After a few songs, David left the stage and we were “entertained” by Australia’s greatest whip cracker – apparently. Now this guy could crack whips with the best of them – but it’s a bit like yodelling – it’s a skill, but I’m not sure it’s entertainment.

Discreet, quiet moans from Trenna told me she thought the same.

Still no Slim.

Anne Kirkpatrick was next, and yes, she is Slim and Joy’s daughter.

By this stage of her career Anne was already established as a star in the Australian Country Music scene. She’s an accomplished singer songwriter. Her set was pretty good – if we liked country music we probably would have really enjoyed it.

Perhaps things were hotting up for the big act still to come.

At last, Slim moseyed on in to the stage.

It was … a perfectly adequate performance – he sounded just like his records, which is something you would hope for. Well, a minimum you would hope for. There were no changes to the staging or lighting – still just fixed, white light. There were no particularly interesting or funny introductions to the songs. And the songs themselves, well, they were just Slim Dusty country music songs.

There was none of the magic, the fantasy, the excitement of so many other concerts we had been to. You know, the ones that build up and build up to that great final song that leaves you with a huge smile and a thirst for so much more….

Slim’s concert ended with the whole family on stage singing a country gospel song. A COUNTRY GOSPEL SONG!

As we filed out of the Perth Concert Hall Trenna had a “I told you so” look on her face. To her credit, I don’t think she actually said “I told you so”, but if we ever mentioned the worst concert we ever went to she was always quick to point out that it had been my big idea!

A Final Word About Slim

I’m acutely conscious that Country Music fans tend to own firearms and/or big trucks, and that I haven’t given Slim the best review here.

I absolutely acknowledge that neither Trenna or I were Country Music fans, and the concert didn’t pretend to be anything other than a Country Music show. So, it was probably our own fault if we didn’t enjoy it.

Slim died in 2003, and his wife Joy died this year. My country hat is dipped to them in recognition of the millions of (other) people who they did entertain over the decades.

Eric Boil

No, it’s not a typo. Early in our relationship Trenna was looking through my record collection and she came across the album “Eric Bogle in Concert”.

“Who’s Eric BOYLE?” she asked. Her eyesight had let her down, but from then on, in our household Eric Bogle was always referred to as Eric Boil.

Concert

Unlike with Slim, I had seen Eric perform before, and I was a fan. I also quite liked most Folk Music. So when he was coming to play at the Perth Concert Hall I didn’t hesitate to get a couple of tickets so Trenna too could also appreciate this very entertaining performer.

But, she didn’t…

Prickles on the Lam

I need to take you back a few days before the concert.

Trenna was still living in her duplex in Girrawheen. One day she came home to find her VERY BELOVED dog Prickles gone. It turned out the lawn mower man had left the gate open and Prickles had decided to go explore.

Of course Trenna, and then I, searched and searched for her. Trenna’s distress and anxiety grew and grew, she was distraught. I had taken a shine to Prickles so I was upset, and Trenna’s hurt greatly effected me.

A few days later Prickles was still missing and not knowing what had happened of course was driving Trenna mad. I was however able to convince her that as we already had the concert tickets to Eric Boil we might as well go. It might even be a distraction.

It wasn’t.

Eric and his musical mates were great. He sings a delightful mix of serious songs, often with social messages, and quite funny ones. Unfortunately it was the funny ones that did us in.

You see, Eric Boil has a song called “He’s Nobody’s Moggie Now”. It’s a funny song about a cat being totally squashed by a car as it tries to cross the road. As soon as he started singing it Trenna started crying. My heart bled for her.

Then to make it worse, later in the set he sang his song “Little Gomez”. It’s a humorous song about a dog getting squashed and killed. Of course, this brought on the tears again.

I’m pretty sure it was a good concert, but neither Trenna or I enjoyed it – we were thinking of Prickles. Trenna later told me the only thing she remembered about the concert were those two songs.

Prickles

I am delighted to report that after a couple of WEEKS of searching and heartache Prickles was located. She was at a veterinarian hospital with one leg heavily bandaged. She had been hit by a car but someone had found her and taken her to the vet. From memory it was a vet located about 15 kilometres away.

Prickles was very happy to see us, as was the vet who now had someone to pay the bill.

Not too long after that Trenna and Prickles both moved over to my place in Kensington where Prickles enjoyed greener lawn and some shady trees. She never wandered off again.