Paul Kelly Presents The Merri Soul Sessions

After a tapas dinner at Teatro along Southbank Promenade (food was good, service not so much) Tash and I headed to Hamer Hall for Paul Kelly Presents The Merri Soul Sessions. The opening act for the evening was Emma Donovan & The Putbacks. Joined by Kylie Auldist on backing vocals, they played a soulful set of songs and sounded great.

The musicians assembled by Paul Kelly for The Merri Soul Sessions were an amazing bunch of Australian talent. The album itself has songs written and sung by a variety of members of the group, as well as covers of a couple Paul Kelly tracks. The evening started with Vika and Linda Bull taking turns singing lead on the the first two songs "What You Want" and "Smells Like Rain." Paul Kelly dedicated "Thank You" to a couple after receiving a letter, and it resulted in a marriage proposal during the song (she said yes). Dan Sultan and Clairy Browne did a sultry duet of "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby."

It was the Paul Kelly tracks from his back catalogue though that got the biggest response, with "How To Make Gravy, "Song From The Sixteenth Floor," Clairy's version of "Keep On Coming Back For More," Dan singing "Look So Fine, Feel So Low" (complete with audience sing along), Kira Puru doing "Give In To My Love" and Vika's great rendition of "Sweet Guy." In the encore everyone joined in to sing "Dumb Things" and then the six vocalists gathered around a microphone in the middle of the stage to sing "Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air" a capella.  It was a moving finish to such a fantastic evening of music.

Here's a clip about how The Merri Soul Sessions came to be:

Neil Finn and Paul Kelly- Return To The Palais

Mary and I returned to the Palais Theatre tonight for the second run of dates in Melbourne and show number six of Neil Finn and Paul Kelly's tour.  A big thank you to my friend Ben for getting us tickets (as well as for Fran and her sister).  Since they have been on the road for a couple of weeks I was curious to see how things had evolved since I saw them at the start of the tour in mid-February.

Lisa Mitchell was the opening act again and seemed to be more chatty tonight.  She played a couple different songs from the previous nights, including "Bless This Mess."  My highlights of her set were "Coin Laundry" and the closer "Spiritus."

Neil and Paul once again emerged onto the dark stage with lanterns and shook hands in the middle before playing Paul's "Don't Stand So Close To The Window."  The set list was pretty much the same as the previous two shows I saw, with a couple of changes to Paul's songs, including the addition of "From St Kilda To Kings Cross."  You could tell the whole band was much more comfortable with the songs and now able to add their own special touches to each number.  A lot of my favorite moments remained: the variety in the selection of songs from Neil's back catalogue, Neil's breathtaking version of "(You Can Put Your) Shoes Under My Bed," and the energy of so many of Paul's songs throughout the set.  Neil had a ripper of a guitar solo during "Distant Sun" and Paul's playing of the opening guitar riff on "Don't Dream It's Over" adds a whole new dimension to the song.  I feel very fortunate that I got to see three of the Melbourne shows and be able to watch these legendary songwriters perform with each other.

Neil Finn and Paul Kelly - The Palais Theatre

When the Neil Finn and Paul Kelly Australian tour was first announced I was very excited because one of the two original dates at the Palais Theatre was on my birthday!  Those shows on February 16th and 18th quickly sold out and they are now doing a total of 7 shows at the Palais in February and March.  I'm not sure anyone expected this tour to be so popular, but it's not surprising when you have two of the best singer-songwriters from Australia and New Zealand joining forces.

Lisa Mitchell opened both nights with a half hour set.  She was accompanied by Robert Vasey playing keyboards and drums while she switched between acoustic and electric guitar.  Lisa's set sounded good and included "Pirouette," "Coin Laundry," "Neopolitan Dreams" and "Spiritus." 

Paul and Neil emerged onto the dark stage with lit lanterns to the sound of crickets.  They met in the middle, shook hands, and then launched into Paul's song "Don't Stand So Close To The Window."  The songs mostly alternated between Finn and Kelly numbers throughout the evening with both Neil and Paul singing parts on each song.  The band for this tour consists of Neil on piano/keyboards and guitar, Paul on guitar, piano and harmonica, Dan Kelly on electric guitar, Elroy Finn on drums and Zoe Hauptmann on bass.  The amazing backdrops were once again created by Noel and Sally Crombie.

The set list was pretty much the same for both nights I went. I was really happy about the diversity of Neil songs from throughout his career as they played some ones I haven't heard live in quite a while, including Crowded House's "Not The Girl You Think You Are," "She Will Have Her Way" and "Sinner" from his solo albums, and the Finn Brothers' tracks "Won't Give In" and "Only Talking Sense" (which was replaced by "I Got You" on the 18th).  As expected they also played the Crowded House classics "Four Seasons In One Day," "Distant Sun," "Private Universe," and audience sing along favorites "Better Be Home Soon," "Fall At Your Feet" and "Don't Dream It's Over."

Many of Paul's songs really lifted the energy in the venue, including "Careless," "Leaps and Bounds," "Deeper Water," "How To Make Gravy," "To Her Door," "Dumb Things" and "Before Too Long."  One of the best parts of the set was when Paul and Neil took turns singing one of each other's songs.  Paul put his unique interpretation on Crowded House's "Into Temptation" while Neil did an amazing version of Paul's "(You Can Put Your) Shoes Under My Bed" solo on piano.  This was my favorite moment of both shows as Neil's voice was just so strong and pure.

As you would expect there were many funny moments of banter.  On the 16th, which was the first night of the tour, Neil and Paul joked about having a $100 tip jar for every time they messed up on a song.  While Paul complained about having to learn all of Neil's complex instrumentation, Neil worried most about all the words in Paul's lyrics he needed to remember.  Neil recounted how he got badly electrocuted at the Palais once and had to be rubbed down by a strong man in the crew.  On both nights I thought Paul captured the spirit of Split Enz with his deadpan shaking of the bells on "One Step Ahead."  And on the 18th Neil admitted to getting a perm before they shot the video for that song- it was the 80s after all!

We were treated to two encores on both nights, with some fake snow falling on the stage during Paul's "Winter Coat" (I think we wished it was real snow as the heat wave Melbourne has been experiencing made the Palais feel like a sauna).  The second encore had a love theme with them playing Paul's "Love Is The Law," the Split Enz classic "Message To My Girl," and a cover of Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love" to finish the nearly two and a half hour set.  I'm so happy I got to see these shows, and I'm looking forward to one more return visit in March to see how they sound after being on the road for a bit.

Here's a little promo video for the tour:

Paul Kelly- The A to Z Shows

Tonight was the second night of Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly's A-Z shows at The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles.  Paul was accompanied on stage by his nephew Dan Kelly for the shows.  We got songs from his catalogue starting with the letters M- Z, including "The Oldest Story in the Book," "Randwick Bells," "To Her Door," "When I First Met Your Ma," "Winter Coat," "You're 39, You're Beautiful and You're Mine" and "Zoe."  Since Paul did not have a "Q" song, he let Dan do one of his own- "Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam" off his latest album Dan Kelly's Dream, complete with the audience singing along to the chorus.  The show was fantastic and it was a privilege to see Paul play in such an intimate venue (and for much cheaper than it would cost in Australia).  I also got to catch up with my friend Nancy and her husband after the show, which was nice.

Sound Relief

I knew it would be a wet day when the sky went black at 10:30 am and the heavens opened up. Thankfully I had a poncho which was the fashion choice of the day amongst the crowd at the Sound Relief Bushfire benefit concert at the MCG yesterday. I arrived as Jet was midway through their set. Once they finished Tash and I located each other in the front arena section as we waited for Melbourne teen Gabriella Cilmi to start. She sang her hit "Sweet About Me" as well as a cover of "Whole Lotta Love." Next on the bill was the first big act of the day, Kings of Leon. The crowd noticeably swelled just as the rain began to fall. Due to the fact they were playing a show later on that evening, they had a short set of four songs and didn't play their biggest here "Sex on Fire" which led to some mumbling in the crowd after they finished.

Next was Melbourne's own songwriting legend Paul Kelly. There were big crowd sing alongs for "Dumb Things," "To Her Door," and the song that mentions the MCG "Leaps and Bounds." Augie March's set started off a bit slow, but picked up at the end with the barnstormer "This Train will be Taking no Passengers" and their bit hit "One Crowded Hour." As the dark clouds came over the arena Tash and I decided to take a food break during Bliss N Eso which was smart because a torrential downpour happened while we were undercover and the stage lost power for a bit. However the rain eased up and the boys were joined by Paris Wells for a song at the end of their energetic hip-hop set.

During breaks between acts we were shown video from the artists performing at the Sydney concert. We got to see snippets from Coldplay (including their collaboration with John Farnham on "You're the Voice"), Hoodoo Gurus, Little Birdy, Josh Pyke, Eskimo Joe, Architecture in Helsinki, You Am I, Icehouse, and The Presets. There were also videos in tribute to the CFA firefighters and of the devastation from the bushfires.

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson performed a similar set to the one we saw at Homebake and had Troy Cassar-Daley join them for "The House that Never Was." Then is was time for Liam Finn and friends. Liam and EJ Barnes came out and performed "Second Chance" and "Lead Balloon" before calling out the family band- Elroy Finn, Unkle Nick (Seymour) and N-Dog (Neil Finn) for some songs. When "Don't Dream It's Over" started the crowd erupted in cheers and quickly filled the arena for a big sing along. Tim Finn came out to sing "Weather With You" and then Neil finished up with a song dedicated to the firefighters "Better Be Home Soon." It was one of the highlights of the day.

The crowd stuck around for a mellow set by Jack Johnson during which we watched the dark clouds start to come over the stadium again. After he finished the downpour began with much colder rain this time. It continued as Wolfmother took to the stage in front of an excited crowd. I found the set a bit uninspired as Andrew Stockdale is playing the exact same songs from 3 1/2 years ago except with all new band members. I was expecting at least some new material out of them. When they finished there was a joint live feed with the Sydney concert where a video message from Princes William and Harry was aired and a minute of silence held for the victims. Kylie Minogue then appeared on the Melbourne stage and lead everyone in singing "I Still Call Australia Home."

Next it was time for the first big reunion of the night, Hunters & Collectors, who hadn't played together in 11 years. They started their set with "When the River Runs Dry," and played their hits "Do You See What I See?", "Holy Grail," and "Throw Your Arms Around Me" among others. They finished with an encore of one of their earliest songs "The Slab." After the Finn family set in the afternoon Neil and Tim were back on stage with Split Enz. Opening with "Shark Attack" the highlights of the set were "I Got You," "Six Months in a Leaky Boat," "History Never Repeats," and "I See Red."

The final and most anticipated act of the evening was a reunited Midnight Oil featuring current Federal Minister for the Environment Peter Garrett. They began with "Redneck Wonderland" and played their hits "Dreamworld," "Blue Sky Mine," "Beds are Burning," "One Country," "King of the Mountain," "The Dead Heart," "The Power and the Passion," and finished up with "Sometimes." It was an amazing and powerful set to top off a fantastic day of music (despite the weather) and I was proud to be part of the historic 80,000 crowd there at the MCG.

Music For A Cause

Tonight my friend Julie and I went to a show at the Corner Hotel in Richmond which was a benefit for the Edmund Rice Camps, which offer holiday programs for some of Victoria's most disadvantaged children. The artists performing included Deborah Conway, Rob Clarkson, Jaimi Faulkner, Things Of Stone and Wood (duo), and Paul Kelly. All the acts did about 30 minutes each and there was a lot of diversity between the sets.

Things of Stone and Wood were fantastic. It's been a while since I last saw them, and tonight it was just Greg Arnold and Justin Brady. They played a wide selection of songs, and I was amazed that the young crowd was so familiar with the older material. There was a big sing-along to several of the songs. I also learned that TOSAW had released an album a couple years ago, which I will need to go buy. I'm not sure what the other members of the band are up to- I did enjoy Michael Allen's solo albums (maybe there are more?).

Paul Kelly finished off the show. He is an amazing Australian singer/songwriter who has been recording for over 20 years. Paul's songs always tell an interesting story, often featuring things about Melbourne. It was great to see him perform solo in such a small venue with just his guitar and harmonica. Justin Brady came out and played violin on a couple songs as well. The crowd were really into his set and sang along nice and loud to most of the songs.