The very best gigs for me are the intimate ones. So many people get excited when acts that debut at the top of the charts play the nation’s arenas, but music loses a little of its magic for me in a space so large. And while a loud show with a full band can be thrilling, I’m usually more moved seeing a performer stripping their songs back so you can appreciate the nuances of their lyrics. That’s why seeing Rick Price at Hardys Bay Club on Saturday night is one of the best gigs I’ve attended all year.
I fell for this tiny Central Coast venue when I saw Bob Evans there earlier in the year, and I was thrilled to return. It’s one of the most intimate live music venues around. There’s no pretension about it, a modest stage with tables and chairs in the middle and couches around the side. It’s the kind of space that breaks down the traditional barriers between performer and audience. Rick’s always been the kind of artist who shared himself and the stories behind the songs with his audience, but he was a little chattier and more amusing than usual.
He also sounded superb, despite struggling through a case of the man flu. As the old saying goes, the show must go on. And go on it did, with a superb set drawing from his entire career. I was taken back to my childhood with hits like “Not a Day Goes By” and “Walk Away Renee” and relished the opportunity to hear new tracks from his recently released album Tennessee Sky. I actually didn’t think I was going to take any photos, because I didn’t want to break the spell cast over the room by snapping away. If not for an up tempo song, I wouldn’t have reached for the camera at all, because in those ballads I just couldn’t look away. Without a band in tow, Rick did most of the heavy lifting at this show, but his friend Belinda Ling showed she could do more than delivering cups of lemon water when she joined him for a couple of numbers. What an incredible voice she has. She brought something new to one of my favourite songs from Rick’s debut album, “Fragile.”
Rick Price’s Brought to Life a Dead Man Walking tour won’t be the one that gets the media outlets buzzing, but these shows are guaranteed to make a big impression on you. Here are all the remaining dates:
26 October 2017 – Brisbane Jazz Club, Woolloongabba
27 October 2017 – Bison Bar, Nambour
28 October 2017 – Park Ridge Tavern, Park Ridge
29 October 2017 – Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta
2 November 2017 – The Oxley, Cowra
3 November 2017 – Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
4 November 2017 – Harmonie German Club, Narrabundah
Image source: Stephen Katulka
My poor credit card isn’t thanking me, but I seem to be buying concert tickets like they’re going out of style this week. Monday already saw me participating in presales for Red Hot Summer at Cockatoo Island and New Power Generation at the Enmore, and I’ve just bought tickets for 
Pottsville Beach on New South Wales’ Far North Coast isn’t exactly a place the rest of the nation thinks of as a hive of musical talent, but it has birthed at least one Aussie act worth noticing: 
