Live Review: Paul Kelly in Concert | Perth Festival 2024
27th of February 2024 at Perth Concert Hall
Review by Erica Lorimer
Photos by Sophie Minissale
It has become customary for the people of Perth to start wearing their winter coats to the evening events of Perth Festival, even though the weather hasn’t quite yet turned chilly. Perhaps this signals their eagerness for the end of summer’s lease and an embrace of autumn, like greeting an old friend.
Inside the heart of the Perth Concert Hall, another timeless friend, singer-songwriter and musician Paul Kelly, awaits with a group of talented artists. With a career spanning over four decades, an Order of Australia, ARIAs, over 350 songs and a significant influence on Australia music, Paul’s inclusion in this year’s Festival of Perth program is a great choice which underlines his profound impact on our cultural landscape.
Tonight is packed with over 1,700 people. The show starts with “Take Your Time” and the popular classic “Before Too Long”. After a simple “Hello” Paul Kelly frames the theme: songs from his album “Time”, a “mix tape” from his rich library grouped by themes like Poetry, People, Drinking and Rivers and Rain. The show’s twenty-five songs will cover time’s nuances: lost, found, slow, ticking, racing and wasted.
In “Time and Tide”, crafted 14 years ago in Broome with Alan Pigram, Paul shares its inspiration: Alan’s father’s saying, “Time and tide waits for no one”. Bathed in a turquoise light reminiscent of the Kimberley’s tranquil waters, Jess Hitchcock confidently shines on vocals, echoing the tide’s fluidity.
“Good to be back in the Wild, Wild West!” Paul exclaims, before launching into a duet with Jess on “Everyday My Mothers Voice”. The song showcases her exceptional talent, earning applause and sparking post show chatter in the parking lot.
The song “Deeper Water” navigates the eras of life’s stages while “Won’t You Come Around” explores youthful impatience, and “I Wasted Time” delves into aging and regret with a comic balance:
I was a handsome raver in my time
Oh girl, you should have seen me in my prime
I see old friends at funerals now and then
It’s down to this, it’s either me or them
Time’s complexities unfold as Paul, joined by nephew Dan Kelly and Ash Naylor, pays tribute to guitarists Spencer P Jones and Steve Connolly, original bandmates from the Coloured Girls and Messengers. Reflecting on their journey together, Paul acknowledges, “Friends who’ve left us, but we carry their spirit with us tonight”.
Paul takes the stage alone for “Going About My Father’s Business”, touching on the loss of his father during his youth. Lightening the mood, he shares an anecdote from his Sydney days, recalling feedback on this very song from the successful songwriter for the band “Dragon”, Paul Hewson. Hewson apparently simply said: “Good one”, eliciting laughter from the audience appreciating the subtle humour and irony.
Paul Kelly seamlessly integrates poetry into his concerts, surprising and delighting his audience. He’s a poster boy for English teachers across the country for being a popular poetry advocate, bringing its beauty to the masses. Tonight, he chooses to recite Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” and sets Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60 to music, a personal favourite exploring the passage of time. Jess’s repetition of Shakespeare’s haunting words “cruel hand” enhances the emotional impact.
Fitting perfectly with the theme, 1996’s classic hit “How to Make Gravy” is next and it’s a message from a prisoner, Joe, whose “doing time”. Mary’s last boyfriend (“What has his name again?”) earns another black mark as the lyrics have recently sometimes changed from “Just a little too much cologne” to “He never did get Nina Simone”.
Other iconic gems like “To Her Door” prompt sing alongs: “Shove it Jack, I’m walking out your f’ing door!”. The tale of people triumphing over power and privilege in “From Little Things Big Things Grow” always strikes a chord. As the early 1987 classic “Leaps and Bounds” fills the air, the Perth Concert Hall sways in harmony. In the song Paul’s subtle reminiscence about smoking Marlborough cigarettes in South Fremantle hints at his West Aussie nostalgia.
Closing with “Buffalo Ballet,” a cover by John Cale of Velvet Underground, Paul bids farewell with his guitar slung over his shoulder mirroring the simple greeting he offered the audience at the start of the show. As he exits, the band plays on, ending the night on a punchy yet classy note led by Peter Luscombe’s drums.
Paul Kelly and his collective are heading on to another sold out Festival of Perth show in Kalgoorlie tonight, 29 Feb 2024, before moving on to New Zealand next month.
The writer and Sheldon Ang Media wish to thank the Perth Festival for media access for this review.
About the Writer: Erica Lorimer holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Degree from the University of Western Australia (UWA), majoring in English Literature and Economics, and a Certificate IV in Design. She is also a freelance photographer who loves capturing images of live music and travel photography, sometimes with film from vintage cameras and making prints in a home darkroom.
Setlist
1. “Take Your Time”
2. “Before Too Long
3. “Time and Tide”
4. “The Pretty Place”
5. “When I first met your Ma”
6. “Back to the Future”
7. “To be Good Takes a Long Time”
8. “Love Never Runs on Time”
9. “The Magpies”
10. “Everyday My Mothers Voice”
11. Recital of “Ozymandius” by Percy Busshe Shelley
12. “Cities of Texas”
13. “Going About My Father’s Business”
14. “If I Could Start Today Again”
16. “I Wasted Time”
17. “Winter Coat”
18. “Sonnet 60”
19. “To Her Door”
20. “Same old walk”
21. “Won’t You Come Around?”
22. “Deeper Water.
23. “How to Make Gravy”
24. “From Little Things Big Things Grow”
Encore
25. “Young Lovers”
26. “Leaps and Bounds”
27. “Buffalo Ballet” (John Cale cover)
