DRINKING

“He started up his drinking. Then they started fighting. He took it pretty badly . She took both the kids.”

No other songwriter can evoke the consequences of intoxicated decisions quite like Paul Kelly. Think of the marriage struggles in ‘To Her Door’, the self-loathing larrikinism in ‘King of Fools’, the slapstick globetrotting in ‘Every Fucking City', just to name a few.

Paul recently released a mix-tape style album Drinking, one of a series of his themed records to appear over the past year. In it he draws from his unmatched discography and trove of unreleased recordings to collate a barrel of songs dedicated to the grape and the grain. Now he’s immortalising the project live for the first time with a full band, in two very special shows at the Melbourne Recital Centre for RISING.

Although the show often explores the dark and destructive side of drinking there is much light and shade throughout. As Paul says:

“I’m a drinker. For me it is one of the great pleasures of life. A glass of wine or two with dinner, the first beer after hard physical work or sport, a dark ale and a whisky on a cold night. The beaded bubbles winking at the brim of the glass on the surf club balcony looking out over the sea. A little buzz on. The camaraderie of family and friends. Farewells and welcomes and ceremonies.”

So raise a glass. Or if you’ve passed up the big drink, come armed with all you know.