It was hard to escape Paul Kelly and Crowded House when you grew up in the ‘90s, and as much as the angst of grunge appealed to me, so did the romance and honesty of Neil Finn’s songwriting, and the storytelling prowess of Paul Kelly. Arguably the most lauded singer/songwriters from New Zealand and Australia respectively, the anticipation that this was going to be a gig to remember was palpable.
Lisa Mitchell warmed up the polite, seated crowd at the Palais Theatre, who greeted each song with polite applause. Mitchell was by no means timid, dressed in an eye catching red dress; she reminded us all that she is a strong songwriter in her own right, and not just a reality TV pop star. She bounced well off her drummer/keyboardist, particularly on the more upbeat numbers where she seemed most comfortable and energetic. She pounded her guitar until she broke a string towards the conclusion of her set which is always a good sign, I feel, that someone is giving it their all.
The tone for an intimate affair was set when Finn and Kelly took to the darkened stage, lanterns in hand amid audio of crickets chirping. Warm yellow light shone upon their faces, and if it weren’t for their suits you could’ve sworn they were around a campfire. That illusion dissipated when during the second track, Finn’s Four Seasons In One Day, the band joined them. Kelly stopped to inform the crowd that tonight was a family affair, with Neil’s son Elroy on drums and Paul’s nephew Dan Kelly taking up the lead guitar, the latter relishing the opportunity to play some well known guitar solos from his uncle’s back catalogue.
Both Kelly and Finn were on stage the entire time, accompanying and even taking the spotlight on each other’s songs. Paul sung the entirety of Finn’s Into Temptation though disappointingly Neil only took verses of Paul’s songs. It was a thrill though hearing him singing lines from Leaps and Bounds and an absolute delight to hear them singing together on tracks like Not The Girl You Think You Are and Deeper Water, their voices working surprisingly well together. Finn was hilarious between songs and though both forgot lines here and there, it just ended up being fodder for on-stage banter. Performance wise neither were content to just stand and deliver, dancing around and even rocking out a little bit on She Will Have Her Way and Dumb Things.
The ever-changing backdrop and lights were used to good effect, and thankfully Kelly’s use of the harmonica was sparing and well timed for the most part. Two encores meant that a majority of hits were covered and Finn even conducted the obligatory crowd sing along for Fall At Your Feet. No one was left wanting, that’s for sure.
BY GARRY WESTMORE
LOVED: It all.
HATED: The overzealous fan who got the clap-along going once out of ten attempts.
DRANK: One overpriced Stella.
