I listened to Live May 1992 for the first time in ages recently, I'd neglected it for nearly all the time I've had the set because the clamps on the 2CD case became busted - one of the early single width design failures - and so I'd tried to hold the discs in the case using blu-tack. Yuck. That kind of put me off playing the record for years. However, since I recently got hold of some replacement 2CD cases, so I've fixed that problem. I'm sure you were interested in hearing about that.

On to the music, it's pretty good - just Paul with guitar and harmonica, Acoustic Bob stylee, quite sparse, but also timeless in that regard. It's true that Paul Kelly's voice is not the smoothest, but it's also full of character and versatility, putting in some fine turns, particularly "Everything's Turning To White" which brings to mind Kasey Chambers' great version, and the set's closer "Most Wanted Man". Another advantage of the minimalist format is that the audience response comes through without crowding the mix, nor too much "I recognise that song!" clapping, mainly limited to "To Her Door" which gets a few laughs at the 'fucking loser' ad lib. Another one that appeals in that way is "I Was Hoping You'd Say That", which Paul said had fresh paint on it at the time. It only took him eight years to do a studio version for the Come On Summer EP, and in the end it wasn't a patch on the version here.

In the end, with the stripped back approach, it's probably one for the fans, but of course there's plenty of those. It does show up what a great songwriter Paul Kelly is, and how he manages to nail the universal whilst also getting across a sense of Australianess that isn't tanked up on rustic hokum, a la the vast bulk of the Tamworth clique.