Richard Clapton Announces 50th Anniversary Shows

Beloved Australian singer-songwriter, Richard Clapton, has announced two intimate shows to celebrate 50 years in music.

Clapton will host two anniversary concerts at the State Theatre in Sydney on Saturday, 15 April, and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne on Friday, 19 May. Tickets for both shows go on sale at 9 am on Monday, 20 February, through Ticketmaster. 

Known for hits such as Girls On The Avenue, I Am An Island, Goodbye Tiger, Capricorn Dancer, Down In The Lucky Country, Deep Water, High Society, Blue Bay Blues, Glory Road and Angelou, Clapton's music has soundtracked the lives of an entire generation of listeners.

Clapton said about the upcoming tour dates, "I can’t believe it’s 50 years since Prussian Blue. I had one foot in Southern Germany and another foot in Chippendale, and life was so good in the Lucky Country. Gough Whitlam was our Prime Minister and the Sydney Opera House was officially opened. 

"I had been away for several years, but when I returned in 1973 there was an amazing embryonic contemporary music scene busting to get out of its shell and take the world by the tail. The explosion of original Australian creativity, that seemed to happen all of a sudden, was awe inspiring and kickstarted me into a burst of creative energy."

He added, "Since then, I have released over 20 albums and I couldn’t possibly guess at how many gigs I’ve played, but I think I’ve played every square inch of this wide brown land. 

"Fast forward to 2008 when Marc Christowski first presented me at The State Theatre in Sydney. This has become an annual pilgrimage for the fans who come from all over Australia and in fact, the world to be part of Richard Clapton at The State. 

"And what a great ride it’s been! So… welcome to the party that never ends!"

In a review of Clapton's Best Years 1974 - 2014 CD, The Music found that "He’s just always been around – and later tunes like the not really celebratory Down In The Lucky Country, and the kind-of-eponymous Best Years Of Our Lives are part of the landscape. Yeah, good work from the man called Ralph."

50 YEARS OF RICHARD CLAPTON

TOUR DATES & VENUES

Saturday, 15 April - State Theatre, Sydney (Tickets here)

Friday, 19 May - Palais Theatre, Melbourne (Tickets here)