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Live Review: Paul Kelly Presents The Merri Soul Sessions

20 January 2015 | 9:38 am | Rhys Anderson

Paul Kelly and the Merri Soul Sessions were solid at MONA FOMA, but there was a want for more from some punters.

The Hobart summer is freezing and as a result the huge PW1 shed is crammed full with a few thousand people.

The rain and strong winds have forced the Exxopolis balloon cathedral to be brought down for more than a third of the festival so far but has done nothing to deflate the crowd’s energy. Paul Kelly’s performance starts meekly, and it’s two songs in before he and the Merri Soul Sessions singers acknowledge the crowd, albeit briefly.

Paul Kelly and his cadre of some of the most seasoned and wonderful performers, playing as the Merri Soul Session Singers, are just adequate. The music is as precise and well-performed as you’d expect. The band delivers a polished and great performance, swelling vocals piercing through concrete folk backing rhythms, classic songs are mixed in with new arrangements but it was hard not to feel more should have been expected from this collective of several of Australia’s most iconic artists. The bill promised a playlist of renowned songs from the artists yet there’s very little of Kelly’s well-known tunes. Instead he again parades Dan Sultan around like a proud parent, making sure to repeatedly tell the audience how great Dan is before they launch into yet another Dan Sultan song. Perhaps most disappointing is the lack of banter from the stage, an absence surprising from such a group of veteran performers and storytellers. This reviewer wanted to be entertained but after only recognising a couple of the songs in the first hour, wished for more from the artists.

The sum of the performance had the vigour and tenacity you’d expect from a day at MONA FOMA, and regardless, the packed-in crowd at the PW1 showed unfaltering enthusiasm for each artist at one of Australia’s most unusual festivals.