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SXSW Review: Paul Kelly
There were pounding basslines bleeding through into Esther’s Follies from some nearby venue during Paul Kelly’s set Wednesday, but the Australian singer-songwriter was so mesmerizing, the noxious booming soon ceased to be distracting, as it seemed to be happening in an entirely different world from his sharply etched characters and tightly spun tales.
Kelly has been around since the ‘70s, but first enjoyed U.S. success in the mid-’80s with his old band the Messengers, and roots-rock hits such as “Darling It Hurts” and “Before Too Long.” His more recent material hasn’t gotten much play stateside, but proved just as exceptional Wednesday as the still-fresh ‘80s single “Dumb Things,” with its litany of mistakes including the extraordinary line “I’ve melted wax to fix my wings — I’ve done all those dumb things.”
Kelly’s songs frequently have such literary allusions, while maintaining a completely down-to-earth simplicity. The lovely “Gift That Keeps on Giving,” from 2002’s “Nothing But A Dream,” was a homespun distillation of one side of the Song of Solomon. Adam and Eve conversed as married couples do in Kelly’s “Stolen Apples Taste the Sweetest,” from 2007’s “Stolen Apples,” which Kelly said dryly had been a little delayed in its U.S. release — “How surprising.” (For now, you can get it on iTunes, he noted.)
One of the most stunning songs was the understated “They Thought I Was Asleep,” from Kelly’s 2005 bluegrass album “Foggy Highway.” The narrator is a child becoming accidentally aware that there’s something very wrong between his parents.
After opening solo, Kelly brought out his nephew, Dan Kelly, to accompany him on acoustic and electric guitar and sing beautiful high harmonies. The humorous rapport between the two was delightful. The uncle half-boasted, half-teased about the high notes which his nephew, among only a select few residents of the southern hemisphere, might very well be able to hit, even after a 26-hour flight — “So wish him luck!” The contrast between Kelly’s rough-hewn but powerful vocals and his nephew’s sweeter voice was lovely, and the younger Kelly proved a superb colorist on guitar.
Paul Kelly was exceptionally funny and engaging between songs, right down to his expression of admiration for the aquatic decor of Esther’s Follies, which he said stemmed from an appreciation of swimming pools that had led him and Dan to a wonderful swim at Stacy Pool earlier in the afternoon.
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