Paul Kelly Returns To Kings Cross For Special One-Off Show At The Potts Point Hotel

Few places loom larger in the mythology of Paul Kelly than Kings Cross.

For decades, Sydney’s most storied neighbourhood has echoed through Kelly’s songs and stories – a place of late-night cafés, tiny live rooms, unforgettable characters and the beautiful contradictions that have long inspired one of Australia’s greatest songwriters. It was in Kings Cross and the neighbouring suburbs that Kelly honed his craft, observing the lives unfolding around him and finding the people and places that would become part of the rich Australian tapestry woven throughout his music.

Now, Paul Kelly is returning.

Today, Kelly announces Seventy (Deluxe Edition), celebrating the critically acclaimed album hailed as one of the finest Australian releases of the year. The Deluxe Edition, featuring the new single Stardust, additional photos and liner notes by Paul himself, will be released on August 28. To mark the occasion, Kelly will perform a special one-off show at The Potts Point Hotel on Sunday 30 August – just metres from where some of his earliest Sydney performances first helped shape the artist he would become.

Fans can secure their chance to attend by pre-ordering from the Seventy (Deluxe Edition) range via Paul Kelly’s official store, and entering an exclusive ballot to win tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime performance. Click here to enter the ballot.

The event also celebrates the recently completed Scottie Marsh mural honouring Paul Kelly on the exterior wall of The Potts Point Hotel. In a generous show of support for Australian music and public art, the hotel donated the wall for the artwork, which forms the second chapter of Marsh’s celebrated Paul Kelly mural series following the iconic mural on Melbourne’s Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda. Together, the works pay tribute to two cities that have profoundly shaped Kelly’s extraordinary career.

Reflecting on his return to Kings Cross, Paul Kelly said:

“I haven’t played in Kings Cross for many years. In the mid to late eighties we played the Kardomah Café and The Manzil Room quite a few times. The Manzil Room was in the laneway behind The Potts Point Hotel. A wee hours sticky-carpet venue, attracting all the denizens of the night – street workers, bohemians, drug dealers, desperadoes, off work musicians. We’d play three sets, starting around 1am. The painter Brett Whitely sometimes dropped in to hear us. He had some expansive dance moves. My sister Anne, a Loreto nun, dutifully came to see us there once. Now that’s commitment! Maybe she came twice, I don’t remember. There’s a lot I don’t remember, though I do remember staggering out into the dawn light many a time after the last set to head up Darlinghurst Road for bacon and eggs at Una’s Café.

Una’s still there but The Manzil is long gone. It’s a block of apartments, now. I wonder if the residents sometimes hear our chattering ghosts, the faint distant throb of our music.”

Originally released in 2025 as Kelly entered his seventieth year, Seventy became another landmark in a catalogue that continues to define Australian songwriting. Debuting at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, the album was embraced by critics and audiences alike for its warmth, humanity and quietly profound reflections on life, memory and ageing.

The album also produced one of Kelly’s most talked-about songs in years, Rita Wrote A Letter, a moving and funny companion piece to the beloved Christmas classic “How To Make Gravy.” Decades after first introducing audiences to Joe and Dan, Kelly once again demonstrated his remarkable ability to create characters that feel woven into Australia’s cultural fabric. Watch the video featuring beloved Australian actress Justine Clarke as Rita here.

Critics hailed Seventy as one of the defining Australian albums of the year. The Music described it as “arguably one of the year’s finest records”, while The Guardian praised its warmth, generosity and effortless songwriting, noting that Kelly continues to write with the same curiosity and emotional precision that has made him one of Australia’s most treasured artists.

The release follows an extraordinary run for Kelly, whose first-ever Australian arena tour saw tens of thousands of fans celebrate a catalogue spanning more than five decades. Universally acclaimed, the shows reaffirmed Kelly’s place at the heart of Australian music, with Check Check describing him as “one of Australia’s finest live performers,” while The Age observed that “our unofficial folk laureate sings our collective memories.” More than forty years into his career, Kelly continues to connect across generations, with audiences embracing both timeless classics and new material with equal enthusiasm.

Returning to Kings Cross for one unforgettable show feels like another chapter in a story that has always belonged there.

Pre-order Seventy (Deluxe Edition) here now for your chance to win tickets to this exclusive Kings Cross performance.

Additionally, to mark the 40th anniversary of Paul Kelly’s landmark double album Gossip, originally released in 1986, a special 2LP anniversary edition is now available to pre-order. Pressed on blue and yellow vinyl, every copy includes one randomly selected replica handwritten lyric sheet, celebrating the album that established Kelly as one of Australia’s most acclaimed songwriters.

Pre-order here now.