Paul Kelly – Civic Theatre December 1, 2017

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Paul Kelly, the Bob Dylan of Australia, finished his three-month tour at the Civic Theatre in Auckland last night in front of a warm and enthusiastic crowd, and I must say he delivered to expectations.
An initial highlight before Paul and his entourage hit the Civic stage was the support band The Eastern from Christchurch.

The six piece delivered a really tight set of folk and bluegrass with lead singer Adam McGrath’s vocals sounding very similar at times like the Boss himself.  In fact there were moments if you shut your eyes Bruce was there in spirit guiding the band through the southern fields of years gone by.  The Stepping Razor was the highlight for me, and had my feet tapping probably to the annoyance of the patron in front of me.

A short interval and then Paul Kelly hit the stage…seven in all including backing singers Vika and Linda.  Some may remember they had a hit of sorts in the 90s called The House Of Love and have had a strong musical relationship with Paul Kelly over the years.

The set was kicked off with Rising Moon, Finally Something Good, and Life Is Fine, all off his new album Life Is Fine  released earlier this year to much critical acclaim.

The titles and vibe of the tracks perhaps finally acknowledging after dealing with love lost, disappointments and other bumps in life like we all have I guess, suggests that he is happy with his lot and the upbeat tracks set the scene just nicely for the rest of the evening.

There is no disputing that Paul Kelly is an Australian national treasure and has captured all the key characteristics of his country and its history. None more so than his nod to Ned Kelly with the song Our Sunshine (signalling a possible family connection with lead guitarist Dan Kelly), while other tracks had references to St Kilda, Kings Cross, their sporting heritage, and the vast outback with many themes easily identifiable to New Zealand audiences as well.

I can’t say I have been an avid follower of all his work but the track To Her Door was the song that introduced me to his work way back in the 80s, and while surprisingly played earlier than expected was one of my highlights, and probably still his most commercial song to date. This really connected with the crowd who were made up of an eclectic cross section of music lovers and surprisingly diverse in age.

Having released some 23 albums there was plenty of material to choose from and the interaction of the crowd calling our for their favourite track including Bradman (which wasn’t played) was met with humour and calls back from Paul saying “Thanks for the suggestions but I will play what I want, but they may help with the encores” which I am sure they did given this show had three in total by the end of the night.

Playing for nearly 2 and a half hours there were times for me the songs seemed to blur into the next, and this is not a criticism more a lack of knowledge of his extensive back catalogue he has. This was reinforced on many occasions by the crowd picking up on the first chord and signing along to many of the choruses.

The band was super tight and clearly are all great musicians in their own right. With Vika and Linda sometimes taking on lead singing duties, they added a depth and range that filled not only the songs but the Civic which is one of the best venues around for those who want to really appreciate the bands sound and musicianship as wells the songs themselves.

There were some moments that didn’t quite work for me especially God Told Me To, and My Man’s Got A Cold  which somewhat disrupted the flow for me. However these are just minor quibbles, over all this was an artist that deserves all the accolades he has received over the years and has to me cemented himself as a singer songwriter of significant worth.

The crowd finally got to their feet for the last encore and then it was all over, and gauging by the smiles both from the band and audience everyone left feeling pretty happy with their lot and will remember this night for some time to come.

David Boyle

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