As winter weather sets in, it gets to be a bit quiet on the gig front. What better way to ease myself back into the live music scene than a night out at Lizotte’s. I’ve made no secret of my love of this live music experience. Whether at the Central Coast or Newcastle venues, you can always count on delicious food, warm, friendly service, and of course, excellent music.
My Saturday kicked off with Matt Zarb, a singer-songwriter with magical guitar fingers. I had mixed feelings about his set though. While he was a wiz on the acoustic guitar and mandolin, his songwriting felt a little basic and his vocals couldn’t match his musical prowess. His music too was very derivative, with songs virtually imitating “Amazing Grace” and Mark Knopfler’s “Going Home.” There’s nothing wrong with being a cover artist, but if you are you should probably be honest about it rather than pretending to be delivering original material. He had such an infectious personality though; I sat captivated as he recounted stories of the romance between his grandparents and his time abroad. It’s also impossible not to be impressed by a man with a harmonica slung around his neck and a tambourine strapped to his foot.
But the main attraction was Rick Price, making his return to Lizotte’s after time spent in the US of A. It’s always a shame to lose local talent to the bright lights of the States, but it seems the time away has done Rick some good. He always sounds amazing, but there was a little something extra in his performance this time. He shared more of himself that he typically does; the stories I’ve heard accompanying particular tracks were expanded upon. He seemed genuinely thankful to be home, and to be in front of such an appreciative audience.
Rick was spruiking his new acoustic greatest hits album Revisited, but he still found time to treat us to a handful of new songs. These were well received, especially the sexy “It Started With a Kiss.” He might be a grandfather now, but that man still has the power to make the girls in the audience swoon!
Revisited is an album that’s been too long in the making. In the past few years I can’t recall ever seeing Rick without his acoustic guitar in hand. That gentle treatment breathes new energy into the songs that are more than a decade old, and makes us appreciate the raw emotion behind them.
When I fell for Rick as a 13-year-old I was wowed by his long flowing hair and sweet love songs. Years later he’s proved himself to be much more than a pretty boy; he’s grown into one of the greatest singer-songwriters in this country. If you’ve never seen him live, or you’re keen for another fix, you can catch him at the following shows.
Image source: own photos
Just wanted to say that both performances where exceptional, I would love to meet the author of this negative piece of written work. I good journalist only has nice things to say…..this is purely your opinion and quiet frankly no one asked for it! Not sure what you were doing in the audience that night but clearly you are not a music lover, maybe you should write on something like the football where you criticism would be much more welcomed…..who exactly are you and what makes you think you have the right to judge anyone…especially someone’s incredible craft. Its people like you that the arts and music industry just don’t need! Clearly you are extremely untalented and need to put everyone else’s amazing talents down to feel good. Did you mum not tell you that if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say it al all, like I already said no one asked for your opinion anyway. I think you would make a better cleaner than a writer!
I don’t think my article was negative at all. I pointed out a few flaws as I saw them with the support act, but also made note of many other things about him that I did like. I’d say that makes me a pretty balanced commentator, wouldn’t you? No one is going to like everything about everything after all.
I’m just a blogger who’s passionate about the local music industry. To suggest that I’m “not a music lover” shows that you definitely don’t know anything about me. You’re right though, no one asks for my opinions. Plenty of people enjoy reading them though. If you don’t it’s certainly your prerogative to look elsewhere; the internet’s a pretty big place after all.
Perhaps who should heed your own “if you can’t say anything nice” advice. I’d say my comments about Matt Zarb were an awful lot nicer than anything you just levelled at me, wouldn’t you?
Like I said the music industry does not need people like you in it!