Paul Kelly at Teragram Ballroom, 10-7-24 Concert Review'"

It had been seven years since Paul Kelly last toured the United States. Not since 2017 had he done shows here. In the meantime there was, as you might recall, a pandemic which made touring impossible for a while. There had been a fall tour planned with Keb’ Mo’ and Shawn Colvin, but that was postponed when Keb’ Mo’ needed surgery. After the tour was postponed, Paul Kelly scheduled just a few concerts: one in Los Angeles, one in Austin, and one in New York. The first of the three took place last night at the Teragram Ballroom in downtown L.A. Because there are only three shows, people traveled some distance to make it to last night’s concert. The folks in front of me in line were from Arizona, and the guy behind me was from Wisconsin. They had come to Los Angeles just for this concert. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Paul Kelly has such a devoted fan base, for he has decades’ worth of fantastic material, and always engages the audiences at his concerts. There is a warm feeling at his shows, like a sort of family gathering. And speaking of family, his nephew Dan Kelly opened the show and then played electric guitar and mandolin during Paul’s set.

Dan Kelly

The show was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., and at 7:59 Dan Kelly took the stage, playing keyboard rather than guitar for his set. He focused on material from his new album Goldfeels, opening the show with “Back To The Garden.” Like his uncle, Dan quickly established a good rapport with the crowd, even before that first song, while he was adjusting his keyboard. He told some funny anecdotes between songs, like one about a nighttime kayaking trip which functioned as an introduction to “Sea Shepherd Cook,” also from his new album. “Burn Up With The Trees” he introduced as “a deeply cynical song, but with a very happy feeling.”  He concluded his set with a cover of World Party’s “Ship Of Fools.”

Then right at 9 p.m., the house music went off, and a minute later Paul Kelly came out on stage, followed by Dan. Without any introduction or banter, Paul began the set with “Letter In The Rain,” a song from his 2017 album Life Is Fine. The crowd was enthusiastic, and Paul Kelly was excited too, doing a little dance at the end of the song. “I can’t believe it’s been seven years,” he said. That sentiment was shared by those in the audience as well, who were not shy about speaking up. “Welcome back,” a guy shouted. And another guy said, “You killed it at the Troubadour.” “Aw, thank you,” Paul replied, and meant it. He then played “Gonna Be Good,” from his 2012 album Spring And Fall. He told the audience he was going to do some new songs and some old ones. “This is a pretty old one,” he said in introducing “Before Too Long.” The audience cheered the moment he started it. I appreciate the Shakespeare reference in this song, with Paul singing “Every dog will have his day,” referring to Hamlet’s line “The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.” That wasn’t the only bit of Shakespeare in the evening. After that song, Paul teased Dan a bit, saying he “could have been in the Beach Boys.”

"Houndstooth Dress"

Paul Kelly has a new album coming out soon, titled Fever Longing Still, and he played some material from it last night. One song that is on it, however, isn’t new. “Taught Be Experts” is a song that Paul Kelly included on his 1999 album Smoke, and also on Live, May 1992 and the soundtrack to the television series Fireflies, and which he revisits on Fever Longing Still.  And it is another song that received a cheer from the audience as he started it. Dan Kelly then switched from electric guitar to mandolin for “Northern Rivers,” which is also from the new album, and remained on mandolin also for “Stumbling Block.” It was great hearing this one. “First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.” Paul Kelly then moved to the keyboard for “Houndstooth Dress,” the cool lead-off track on the new album. He then went back to guitar for “When I First Met Your Ma,” a song he introduced as a love story “told by a father to his child.” It’s such a sweet song, and I noticed some folks in the front singing along. Paul Kelly also played harmonica on this one.

Dan Kelly stepped away for a couple of songs, Paul Kelly performing “They Thought I Was Asleep” and “Everything’s Turning To White” solo. “They Thought I Was Asleep” is a song that I love, and it was a highlight for me, featuring some pretty work on harmonica. Paul mentioned the influence of Raymond Carver’s short stories in the introduction to “Everything’s Turning To White.” Even if you haven’t read the story that inspired this song (and I highly recommend reading all of Raymond Carver’s work), you might know the story through Robert Altman’s Short Cuts. Dan then returned for “If I Could Start Today Again,” another of the set’s highlights. This song is so moving, so beautiful, so wonderfully sad. In introducing the next song, Paul said, “This is a happy one.” He then mentioned that sometimes he writes a happy song that people think to be sad. And indeed the song, “Going To The River With Dad,” from the new album, made me sad, though in a rather pleasant way. It’s been nearly two years, but thinking of my dad often brings tears to my eyes, and last night this song did just that, as I thought about how he used to take me fishing. I miss him, and I think he would appreciate this song. It’s another beautiful song.

I mentioned earlier that there was a bit more Shakespeare in the set, something I always appreciate, and after “Going To The River With Dad,” Paul gave us “Sonnet 18.” Even if you aren’t that familiar with Shakespeare’s work, you know this sonnet, or at least its first two lines. This is the one that begins “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” In 2016, Paul Kelly released Seven Sonnets & A Song, an album on which he set several of Shakespeare’s sonnets to music. Sonnets aren’t very long, so Paul sings Sonnet 18 twice through. Last night, before starting it the second time, he joked, “Second verse, same as the first,” a playful nod to Herman’s Hermits’ “I’m Henry VIII, I am.” (And not a reference to Shakespeare’s Henry The Eighth.) Dan was on mandolin for that one. Paul followed that with “All Those Smiling Faces,” another song from Fever Longing Still. Mine was one of the smiling faces during this song. This song also has its origins in poetry, for lines from Dana Gioia’s “Finding A Box Of Family Letters” made their way into it. (Dana Gioia was in the audience last night.) “Get out on the floor and dance/You don’t have forever.” The poem made me cry, but the song made me happy. Go figure.

"Dumb Things"

The last section of the set featured some classics, beginning with “To Her Door,” from his 1987 album Under The Sun. He followed that with “Josephina,” saying the song was “more about the guy that loves Josephina than Josephina.” Then, giving it another thought, he added, “Well, maybe both.” Dan’s backing vocal work on that one was particularly good. Then we got “Dumb Things,” still one of his most beloved songs. The crowd cheered when he started it. It’s always great to hear this one, and there was a good deal of energy to last night’s performance of it. “That was fun,” Paul said afterward. “Yes, it was,” a guy in the audience called out. Paul played harmonica on “Deeper Water,” the title track from his 1995 album. And he wrapped up the set with “How To Make Gravy,” which pleased everyone, perhaps especially the guy that shouted out a request for it. The set ended at 10:28 p.m., but Paul wasn’t quite done. He came back out for a two-song encore, “Petrichor” and “Careless,” the latter of which he played harmonica on. The show ended at 10:37 p.m. What a great night!  There aren’t many things better than enjoying live music, and Paul Kelly is among the best in the business. It’s no wonder people are willing to travel great distances to see him. If you are looking to do so yourself, his next show is on October 11th in Austin, Texas, as part of the Austin City Limits festival. And then he’s in New York on the 14th (though that show is sold out).

Set List

1. Letter In The Rain
2. Gonna Be Good
3. Before Too Long
4. Taught By Experts
5. Northern Rivers
6. Stumbling Block
7. Houndstooth Dress
8. When I First Met Your Ma
9. They Thought I Was Asleep
10. Everything’s Turning To White
11. If I Could Start Today Again
12. Going To The River With Dad
13. Sonnet 18
14. All Those Smiling Faces
15. To Her Door
16. Josephina
17. Dumb Things
18. Deeper Water
19. How To Make Gravy

Encore

1. Petrichor
2. Careless

"Northern Rivers"

"When I First Met Your Ma"

end of the set

The Teragram Ballroom is located at 1234 W. 7th St. in Los Angeles, California.