Expect nights of classic songs, wry banter and emotional power with the folk rock legend.
Legendary Irish troubadour Damien Rice returns to Australia to play theatre dates around the country this May.
The beloved singer-songwriter, whose emotionally wrought songs defined a generation of 21st-century heartache, is riding high on a sold-out international tour and will make his Sydney Opera House debut on Friday 12 May. Rice then takes his sublime solo performance through Melbourne’s Hamer Hall, Geelong’s Costa Hall, Hobart’s Odeon Theatre, QPAC Concert Hall in Brisbane, and winding up at HOTA Theatre on the Gold Coast.
Damien Rice Australian tour 2023
- May 12 – Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Sydney
- May 16 – Hamer Hall, Melbourne
- May 18 – Costa Hall, Geelong
- May 20 – Odeon Theatre, Hobart
- May 22 – Concert Hall QPAC, Brisbane
- May 24 – HOTA Theatre, Gold Coast
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Having the unconventional tendency to prefer walking on stage with no setlist, Damien Rice commands complete attention as soon as he enters the room. A favourite of fans, critics and artists alike, Rice has garnered a reputation for his powerful live shows – tough and tender performances that have seen him develop an intimate rapport with fans.
Rocketing to stardom on the strength of his 2002 debut O, and its enduring favourites ‘The Blower’s Daughter’, ‘Volcano’ and ‘Cannonball’, the Dublin-born multi-instrumentalist quickly cracked Top Ten in the UK, collecting multi-platinum status and earning him the Shortlist Music Prize.
Rice’s follow-up, 2006’s 9, yielded the global smash ‘9 Crimes’ while his self-imposed absence following 2014’s No.1 Rick Rubin-produced My Favourite Faded Fantasy
– his most recent album to date – only added to the anticipation among fans for his return.
As his recent performances in the UK attest, Rice has lost none of his cathartic power or stage presence. If anything, his combination of raw melodrama and masterful dynamics has grown more accomplished, sprinkled with a newfound sense of personal zen and laced, as ever, with Rice’s wonderfully self-deprecating sense of humour.
It all goes down at Costa Hall in Geelong on May 18. Tickets go on sale to the general public from February 16, grab them when they’re available by heading here.
