Paul Kelly marked the release of his 30th studio album Seventy with an intimate and heartfelt launch show at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel last night, performing the new record in full before a crowd of devoted fans – and following it up with a generous encore of beloved classics.
Opening with the new material in order, Kelly and his well-seasoned band – guitarists Ash Naylor and nephew Dan Kelly, drummer Peter Luscombe, bassist Bill McDonald, keyboardist Cameron Bruce, and vocalist Jess Hitchcock – settled into songs that, as Kelly quipped, many of them hadn’t been played since they recorded the album over a year ago. Yet there was no sign of rust – only warmth, precision, and a quietly commanding presence that has defined Kelly’s live shows for decades.
Seventy finds Kelly turning his pen toward age, memory, and mortality – themes delivered with the grace and wit that have long been his hallmarks. Highlights of the new material included “The Body Keeps the Score,” co-written with Billy Miller, who joined the band onstage for guitar and harmony vocals. The song turns Bessel van der Kolk’s landmark text on trauma into a meditation on how pain and resilience live on in the body. Kelly’s gift for empathy and plainspoken poetry shone through.
“Happy Birthday, Ada Mae,” a sweet tune written for Kelly’s granddaughter’s second birthday, became an affectionate sing-along, with the crowd chiming in on the title line. Dan Kelly’s banjo added sparkle to “The Magpies,” a song based on a Denis Glover poem which Kelly first recorded on his 2019 album Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds. Rebecca Barnard joined for the sultry “Made For Me”, their first duet since “She Answers The Sun (Lazybones)” on 1998s Words and Music.
The new album is book-ended by fireside sing-along “Tell Us a Story,” with Barnard and Miller returning to the stage, bringing Seventy to a warm communal close before the band eased into the second half of the night – a brief set of fan favorites.
“To Her Door” and “Before Too Long” had the crowd in full voice, while newer material like “Double Business Bound” from last years Fever Longing Still showed Kelly’s songwriting remains as vital as ever. “Deeper Water” was quietly spellbinding; “How To Make Gravy” was jokingly introduced it as a prequel to “Rita Wrote a Letter” from the new album. Before launching into “Dumb Things,” Kelly shared that the title came from something he overheard at The Corner Hotel over 40 years ago – back when he carried a notebook everywhere.
The sombre “Going to the River with Dad” closed the main set, before Kelly and the band returned for one last encore – the quintessential Melbourne anthem “Leaps and Bounds.” With the MCG just blocks away, the song carried extra resonance, with Kelly name-checking many forgotten football grounds (Moorabbin, Whitten Oval) during the conclusion. Wrapping up a night that felt like both celebration and reflection – a fitting portrait of an artist still finding new corners of the human heart to explore at seventy.
Full Setlist:
- Tell Us A Story (Part A)
- Don’t Give Up On Me
- Rita Wrote a Letter
- The Body Keeps The Score (with Billy Miller)
- I Keep Coming Back For More
- Take It Handy
- Happy Birthday Ada Mae
- The Magpies
- Made Fo Me (with Rebecca Barnard)
- Sailing to Byzantium
- My Body Felt No Pain
- I’m Not Afraid Of The Dark
- Tell Us a Story (Part B)
- To Her Door
- Before Too Long
- Double Business Bound
- Deeper Water
- Dumb Things
- How To Make Gravy
- Going To the River with Dad
- Leaps and Bounds