Paul Kelly polishes hidden gems to a brilliant shine Paul Kelly is "familiar, thoroughly satisfying, and ... astonishing." Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Paul Kelly City Recital Hall, August 13 It's stating the bleeding obvious to say that a night of Paul Kelly songs where only 40 of the 130 minutes on stage involved brand-new material, will be familiar, thoroughly satisfying, and in its own way astonishing. Astonishing because at the end you realise he could probably do another hour easy without running out of stuff you know and love. It's slightly less obvious, but still not hugely revelatory, to run through some of the less renowned songs and spell out the quality to match the famous fare: the vigorous pop of Forty Miles To Saturday Night and the country flair of Foggy Fields of France offering as much lyrically and musically as the pop cream of To Her Door, the rock energy of Dumb Things and the tenderness of When I First Met Your Ma. So let's look instead at that first 40 minutes and at the people around Kelly, for both are indicative of the creative restlessness and open-mindedness which has characterised Kelly's 21st-century career. The song cycle of Spring and Fall, expanded on the deliberately narrow palette of the recorded version: playing up the moment of Italian folk, playing down the foreboding behind seemingly innocuous lines; offering a sunny pop beginning when hope reigns supreme and sneaking in some ribbed guitar to emphasise contradictions before that hope begins crumbling. Making it work (and then taking those older favourites a bit further later on) was another of Kelly's very fine bands. Dan Kelly on guitar has been a regular for nearly a decade now and he has grown in subtlety while never losing the ability to cut in sharply. Subtlety has always been the forte of J. Walker, who played both guitar and keyboards, but he punched in some soul and sass this time, too. Standing out though was a rhythm section which was as flexible as it was fluid. The always impressive Bree Van Reyk loved the rare chance to pound the floor tom as much as flick the jaw harp or set up counter rhythms which only lightly touched the ground. She was matched by the depth and rhythmic ease of bass player Zoe Hauptmann who quietly stole the show for me. That the band could also join Kelly for two all-around-the microphone moments of hushed pleasure (From the 16th Floor done as neo doo wop; and the now regular gospel take on Meet Me in the Middle of the Air) only emphasised how lucky we, and not just Paul Kelly, were. Paul Kelly plays at the City Recital Hall on Wednesday night.