Drawing from his catalogue with time as the muse, Australian music legend Paul Kelly makes his Vivid LIVE debut to perform four career-spanning nights on the Northern Broadwalk.
More than one of the country’s greatest singer-songwriters, Paul Kelly is a national treasure: his music has provided the soundtrack to multiple generations, from his early years on the Melbourne band scene and his breakthrough ’80s hits through to his evergreen ’90s classics and generous collaborations with the new guard of Australian music. He made his debut at the Sydney Opera House in 2006 before returning for a record-breaking five sellout shows with Neil Finn in 2013, and in 2017 played an unforgettable two-hour set on the Forecourt captivating our nation.
This year, Kelly is set to perform at Vivid LIVE for the very first time. Across four big nights on the Northern Broadwalk of the Sydney Opera House, Time and Tide: Four Decades of Song is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Kelly’s career in music, drawing upon a catalogue of timely songs that defined a culture: ‘To Her Door’, ‘Before Too Long’, ‘When I First Met Your Ma’, ‘How to Make Gravy’ and many, many more. Alongside Vika & Linda Bull and his trusty band – Bill McDonald, Peter Luscombe, Ash Naylor, Cameron Bruce and Dan Kelly – Paul Kelly will also bring along special guest Thelma Plum, the Indigenous singer-songwriter behind the Top 10 smash Better In Blak.
A multiple ARIA-award winning hall of famer and recipient of the Order of Australia, Paul Kelly has created a rich and varied body of music that captures the bittersweet essence of a national culture in all its joy and sorrow. His work includes such classics as ‘Before Too Long’, ‘Dumb Things’, ‘To Her Door, ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ and that quintessential Aussie Christmas staple, ‘How to Make Gravy’, in addition to co-writing Yothu Yindi’s land-rights anthem, ‘Treaty’. He has performed and collaborated with multiple generations of Australian musical talent, including Archie Roach, Kev Carmody, Vika & Linda, Ziggy Ramo and Courtney Barnett, while his most recent album, last year’s eclectic Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train, featured guest appearances from Kasey Chambers, Marlon Williams and Emma Donovan.
