“A city of opening support slots. But there’s something about it, that great silence as no one recognises the melody. First-timers. A beautiful thing, not often thought about. In anticipation of success or failure, a beautiful thing presents itself before a guilty longing for much, much more.” – Alex Cameron, SXSW Reflection
A few weeks ago Alex Cameron and his saxophonist foil Roy Molloy made their live Melbourne debut. It was a support slot for an international band (which band? It doesn’t really matter), dominated by Alex orating over primitive MIDI tunes between songs. They ran out of time, almost comically, not before performing Taking Care of Business. It’s a bleak track, bleak even for its bleak album, Jumping the Shark. The Alex Cameron persona is down and out, but a battler. His heart was in Taking Care of Business that night, like his life depended on it. Around two-dozen early bird punters applauded politely. Each of ‘em ponied up the cash for an Alex Cameron vinyl before the main event. Other musos are sitting front and centre in shameless videos spruiking booze corporations as the saviour of the music industry. Alex Cameron is out there on the battlefield, real or imagined, hunting a success that is real or imagined – most likely imagined.
