It's great to enjoy a feast again.
Having a two-hour serve of Paul Kelly with the full trimmings was a delight. Like dining at a five-star restaurant with a full menu.
Not quite a smorgasbord: the evening's set list was curated by Paul Kelly. It was not 25 of Paul Kelly's greatest hits. In fact, some of the rare gems contributed to its one-off feeling, like bluegrass thumper Our Sunshine, relatively new rocker Josephina and a stunning recital of Banjo Paterson's Clancy of the Overflow by Kelly to open the encore.
There were a few moments that could have been better. Cities of Texas is a great rhythmic musical tune, but the lyrics are lightweight. Deeper Water opened brilliantly with Kelly on acoustic guitar but dropped the ball when the full band kicked in and the sound just drowned out the vocals. Winter Coat may be somebody's sentimental favourite, but didn't seem to fit the spirit.
Back to the main meal. Kelly lined up with his heavyweights - Ash Naylor (guitar), Cameron Bruce (keyboards), Dan Kelly (guitar and mandolin), Peter Luscombe (drums) and Bill McDonald (bass) plus Linda and Vika Bull is the real deal.
From the opening line, "You're a long cool drink of water on a blazing summer's day," in Finally Something Good, you're hooked by the infectious nature of Kelly's music. The ageing rocker (now 67) is full of grace and style, a singer who is fully engaged in getting across the message of his lyrics to audience.
He's not only an Australian icon, but an old friend to all of us. And we haven't been able to catch up for quite some time, so let's get started.
A handful of the songs on the night appear on Kelly's 2017 album, Life Is Fine, and they feel new to us - Finally Something Good, Rising Moon, Firewood and Candles and Josephina. Kelly's brief song intros are informative and anecdotal, just right. Let the song tell it's own story.
But the majority of the setlist reaches deeper into his back catalogue, many of them striking a chord with us about when and where we first heard it. Love Never Runs On Time. Dumb Things. When I First Met Your Mother.
Our Sunshine (co-written with Mick Thomas) was plucked from Kelly and Uncle Bill's Smoke album (1992). The band turned this song about Ned Kelly into bluegrass magic.
Same Old Walk was another gem - it first appeared on Under The Sun, by Paul Kelly and The Messengers in 1987.
Ah, we could sit at this table and enjoy this musical food for many hours. It even felt like an indulgence being immersed in How to Make Gravy over nearly five minutes, followed by From Little Things Big Things Grow.
Ah, the conversations we could have, the conversations we do have because of Paul Kelly's music.
Set list
Something Good, Before Too Long, Careless, Rising Moon, The Oldest Story in the Book, Love Never Runs on Time, Firewood & Candles, Say No More, When I First Met Your Mother, Cities in Texas, Midnight Rain, Sonnet #18, From St Kilda to Kings Cross, The Pretty Place, To Her Door, Josephina, Our Sunshine, Dumb Things, Deeper Water, Sweet Guy (vocal by Vika), How to Make Gravy, From Little Things Big Things Grow. Encore: Clancy of the Overflow recital, Winter Coat, Leaps & Bounds (tribute to Shane Warne), Down on the Jetty (vocals by Vika and Linda).
And a special mention, to the fill-in opening act Dan Kelly (scheduled opener Fanny Lumsden and her band were in COVID isolation). Dan Kelly was crazily entertaining, playing a set he will probably never perform again.
