Live Review: Far From Folsom

Tex Perkins & The Tennessee Four, with Rachael Tidd as June Carter took over the old Parramatta Gaol last night embodying the spirit of Johnny Cash in his 1968 Folsom Prison concerts.

Seated in the prison yard, surrounded by looming sandstone walls and barbed wire fences, the sky lit up with searchlights, Perkins took the stage, announcing “I’m Johnny Cash.” The audience was fairly subdued, with the majority remaining seated from start to finish.

Perkins was in character from the second he arrived and launched into Folsom Prison Blues, Busted, and Walk The Line. He made light of messing up the lyrics to Call Daddy From The Mines, saying in a thick Southern accent: “I’m sorry I messed all that up, but I got a little problem I gotta admit to ya’ll, I’ve got the cocaine blues”.

His rendition of Cocaine Blues was a crowd-pleaser, as was Dirty Old Egg-Suckin’ Hound, but it was Jackson that really boosted the atmosphere.

Joined by Tidd, their rendition of Jackson was not without its hiccups as Perkins accidentally pulled out the microphone chord midway through the song, and a stagehand had to come out about three times to tape it up. “I’ll tape you up in a minute… just wait ‘til I get you home,” Perkins joked.

The only time Perkins’ character slipped and his Aussie accent peeked through was when he treated us to a tale of an old Parramatta Gaol inmate, who after suddenly being released stole a ladder to break back into the prison to retrieve a pickle jar full of songs he had written and buried in the exercise yard.

He ended the set with a huge rendition of A Boy Named Sue and Ring Of Fire, followed by an encore medley of hits from throughout the night, which finally got the crowd on their feet.