Paul Kelly concerts are celebrations of iconic musicianship that come around yearly, more or less, and because the singer-songwriter was born and raised in Adelaide, it feels like a homecoming – to us Adelaideans, at least.

Because we South Aussies claim him, I get a love vibe from his shows whenever he’s in town, but I think I’m giving into romanticism; my guess is all of his audiences in every major Australian city love-vibes on him too. It’s part of his appeal. He’s so recognisable you don’t want to put him on a pedestal; you want to give him a hearty and heartfelt pat on the back.

Still, when he tells you he used to love swimming at the Norwood Pool, with his dad’s hand under the water holding up his small belly, and he’d look at his bigger siblings in the deep end and think, ‘That’s where I want to be,’ and then he bursts into ‘Deeper Waters’, something akin to pride takes hold. Welcome back to Adelaide, Paul Kelly.

On Thursday night, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre welcomed him indeed, kicking things off with two-time ARIA and nine-time CMAA Golden Guitar winner Fanny Lumsden and her band The Prawn Stars. The pop country singer warmed up the audience with upbeat vocals and clean harmonies, throwing in some choreographed dance moves with her backing vocal brother Tom for good measure.

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Then, hot off her Opera House headlining show of storytelling and song, three-time Grammy winner Lucinda Williams got dirty with her country sensibility, deserving of equal billing with the man himself. Mixing it up with rock, blues and folk (and maybe even a little punk), she’s a superstar of Americana.

Having suffered a stroke in 2020 that affected the left side of her body, the multiple list-maker of all-time greatest American songwriters was without a guitar, but you’d be wrong to think that would lessen her renegade rocker image. She left the stage pumping her fist to the refrains of Neil Young’s ‘Keep on Rockin in the Free World’, which one got a strong sense was a feisty, political statement. With songs like ‘Changed the Locks’ and ‘Joy’, Williams’ raw delivery delivered, the only fault being that she didn’t return to the stage to play a song or two with Kelly, the night’s main fare.

Still, the pairing of Lucinda Williams and Paul Kelly couldn’t have been cooler. Kelly’s songs are, unarguably, at the core of Australiana, chronicling our nation’s greatest and its everyday rouges, from Vincent Lingiari, Don Bradman, the Sydney Harbour and the MCG, to Joe from prison, telling Dan how to make gravy, or the guy riding through the rain to his estranged wife’s door (aren’t they the same?) or the one who’d done all the dumb things.

All of those songs, save for ‘Bradman’, made last night’s cut, but I’ll venture to say the song that stole the show was ‘Rita Wrote a Letter’, the follow-up to ‘How to Make Gravy’, co-written with his nephew, guitarist Dan Kelly, and released only three weeks ago. In the song, Joe’s out of prison, now six feet under. Not sure how he’s able to tell us a story, circumstances being what they are, he says, ‘The laws of nature forbid it, but I was never good with rules anyway.’

He sings of the letter he carried to his grave, written by the long-suffering Rita, saying she’s sorry but she’s with Dan now, and she and the kids are great with a new baby on the way. ‘But Dan, I don’t forgive you,’ the song goes, then the familiar words from ‘Gravy’: ‘Oh, I didn’t mean to say that / It’s just my mind it plays up / Multiplies each matter.’

The crowd lapped it up, and rightfully so because the song is more than a joke; it’s another quintessential Kelly song, and by that I mean it follows his distinctive folksy, narrative, simple-yet-emotional feel, which the set list – spanning decades – reflected as well. Even his version of Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 18’ hit the Kelly-consistency mark.

Enormous respect to Jess Hitchcock and her amazing accompanying vocals. Kelly gave her a wide range and she carried her weight with courage, grace and might. I happened to see her in Rockwiz Live 2023, where she blew everyone away at Her Majesty’s Theatre. She’s phenomenal and her energy is value-adding.

Thanks for another celebration, Paul. We’ll see you next year.