Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed Saturday 30th July 2011
http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide
Season: One performance only
Duration: 1hrs 50mins, no interval
Paul Kelly is a household name with a long, successful career, a prolific output and a string of awards to his name, including eight ARIAs. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1997. Choosing a set of his songs for a concert could be a daunting task. This collaboration with Paul Grabowsky, who wrote the sensational arrangements, has a theme running through it, with Kelly pointing out that this is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. That is not to say, though, that the Devil does not get a right of reply in amongst the chosen pieces.
The evening opened with the entire cast singing an ethereal 48 Angels and there was immediately no doubt that this was going to be an exceptional evening. Aside from Kelly and Grabowsky, that cast included Vika and Linda Bull, the six member Choir With No Name, and the nine member Australian Art Orchestra. That is a very impressive line-up and offers plenty of scope for a varied and exciting evening of music, centred on the wonderful lyrics and melodies written by Kelly.
Kelly shared the evening with the marvellous Bull sisters, who next sang together as a duo on a Latin-jazz version of Be Careful What You Pray For but, from there on, had a chance to show their individual abilities, with many of the songs being either solos for one of the three, the remainder being for all three together. Various concepts of spirituality were explored, as well as the other side of the coin.
There was not let up with only the applause and the occasional few words on introduction between each number. This jam packed show included such numbers as The Gift That Keeps on Giving, Coma, Glory Be to God, Gold Told Me To, and closing with God's Hotel, with Nick Cave's lyrics. There were so many fabulous songs but the very moving title song, Meet Me in the Middle of the Air, that draws on Psalm 23, a Psalm of David (The Lord is my shepherd), really brought the house down.
As the final notes of G God's Hotel faded the audience leapt to its feet, applauding wildly, cheering, whistling and yelling for more, as the entire ensemble took their bows and left the stage. With no sign of an end to this accolade, they all returned for the first of two encores, Gathering Storm. The second encore, Please Leave Your Light On For Me, following another departure and more applause, was performed by just Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda Bull, and with Paul Grabowsky accompanying them on piano. Yet more applause and the house lights finally went up after almost two hours of continuous music.
The contributions of the Australian Art Orchestra and the Choir With No Name cannot be overlooked. Grabowsky's demandingly rich arrangements are executed with precision and feeling by the musicians and the singers add even more power to Kelly's lyrics.
This was a sensational concert that obviously delighted every single person in the the audience in what appeared to be a completely sold out performance. A precedent has been set and it will not come as a great surprise if they reunite for other concerts based on different themes, as this is clearly a formula that works well and is worth revisiting.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor, Glam Adelaide.
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