Rick Price’s Heaven Knows album is one of the first I remember buying with my own money. I was only getting a few dollars a week for chores around the house, so it took months for 12-year-old me to get my hands on it. When I did, I made it count, blasting those radio-friendly pop-rock tunes until my parents were tired of them. So when I heard Rick Price was revisiting that beloved album, in an intimate venue on the Central Coast no less, I snapped up tickets.
Laycock Street Theatre in Gosford is a small venue at the best of times, but its Don Craig room takes intimate to a new level. It holds no more than 100 seats, and its stage is tiny. They don’t allow photos during the performance, but it’s nice to just be in the moment and drink it all in. Give me this over a big arena any day.
Rick promised to play Heaven Knows cover-to-cover, but he made us wait for it. The first half was a kind of musical catch-up session, celebrating highlights of his career after that breakthrough records. Songs like “River of Love” from Tamborine Mountain were charting singles while others, like gospel tracks from his 2015 album Tennessee Sky were less familiar to most people I imagine. But there’s something about seeing an artist in a setting like this, with just an acoustic guitar and an incredible voice, that engages you regardless of whether they’re playing the hits of lesser-known numbers.
After a brief intermission we were back for the major drawcard, the Heaven Knows album cover to cover. I’ve seen Rick play countless times over the years, but what a treat it was to hear many of the songs from that album that don’t make his usual sets, especially in this stripped acoustic mode. They sounded so good on the album, but hearing them without all the studio production was a revelation. Rick peppered the songs with stories about that exciting time in his career, the experiences he had, the inspiration for the music that meant so much not just to him but so many Australians.
It was a special night for Rick, and not just because he was sharing special songs in a venue he clearly loves. His son and granddaughter were there, so it was only fitting that he left us with a song from Tamborine Mountain he wrote for his boy, now a man with a family of his own, “You’re Never Alone.” It’s such a beautiful song, and Rick always does a wonderful rendition, but there was extra emotion behind it, knowing who was in the room this time.
Rick Price is taking his Heaven Knows tour all around the country. If like me, you ever cranked up his songs on the radio, you won’t want to miss this.
20 October 2018 – The Cabaret Club, Ballarat
23 October 2018 – Beerwah Hotel, Sunshine Coast
24 October 2018 – Palmwoods Hotel, Sunshine Coast
25 October 2018 – Brisbane Jazz Club, Brisbane
26 October 2018 – Southport RSL Club, Gold Coast
27 October 2018 – The Exchange Hotel Kilcoy, Kilcoy
28 October 2018 – Westower Tavern, West Ballina
2 November 2018 – The Agrestic Grocer, Orange
3 November 2018 – Smith’s Alternative, Canberra
4 November 2018 – Cronulla Golf, Cronulla
9 November 2018 – Burnie Arts Centre, Burnie
10 November 2018 – Hotel Crown, Victor Harbor
Image source: own photo