Live Review: The Dark Horses, Mike Noga

Let's start by saying tonight was damn sexy. It was somewhat unexpected given it was a Thursday night where seven cops and police dogs circled the venue for no good reason at about 9pm, but even these obstacles didn't get in the way of the love in the room. It wasn't just The Joy of Tex (although it is, almost always, a joy), but the man candy stretched across the acts and genres, a celebration of boys being bad, but almost always doing so with a sultry smile, a gangly guitar and frankly, quite sweet melodies.

Leading the charge (and providing the soundtrack to the world's stupidest ever raid on a venue) was Mike Noga. With a day job providing sticks for The Drones, tonight he showed his wares as quite the charmer, albeit a little nervous being in charge of the guitar business (at least that was his claim, the sounds said otherwise). Mostly drawn from his album, The Balladeer Hunter, highlights included Piss On A Butterfly and a newbie he called a Bogan Duet, played relatively one-sided tonight but with lots of potential. Special kudos too for an act of chivalry as he gave his jacket to an audience member who was cold mid-set - dead-set charming.

Tex and The Dark Horses continued the mood, firstly with the man himself proclaiming, repeatedly, how stoned he was (a jibe at the raid, which continued, hilariously, throughout the set). Tonight's gig was divine, but certainly not of the hard sex and drugs and rock'n'roll ilk, with the billy-goatied Tex in a checked shirt as if to confirm the alt-country side of proceedings. Like their last offering, tonight's Dark Horses effort clearly draws on the morning after rather the night before. New album, Everyone's Alone, doesn't quite have the cheek of their last disc (as the title track suggests), but it's not all doom. Stay (Where You Are) was described as something of a “Don't call us, we'll call you” anti-love song (but, sorry Tex, your charm does give you away), while Uneasy Feeling was just the opposite, actually. The band was tight and playing musical chairs just because they could (particularly impressive was Charlie Owen and Gus Agars, although there wasn't a dud among them), and gems from their self-titled release like Looking At You But Seeing Her and Getting Away With It were particularly smouldering tonight too. At the conclusion of the latter, Tex confessed he'd “been getting away with it for forty-seven years” so far, and long may he, and his horses, ride.