Liverpool Philharmonic – 30/11/22
A cold foggy night in Liverpool and I arrive at the Philharmonic Hall for Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Christmas stocking show. I had seen Rick Wakeman play with the English Rock Ensemble earlier this year, but this is my first time seeing him do a solo show. The stage was adorned with huge Christmas stockings with a huge Christmas tree taking centre stage complete with presents under the tree and a grand piano and a very modest stack of two keyboards. I was really excited, and I didn’t quite know what to expect.
Rick is such a lovely chap and this really comes through when he’s addressing the audience in between songs. He had anecdotes and stories a plenty, he even threw in some trivia and marriage advice, after all, he’s had enough practice! He promised two pieces from his upcoming album, ‘Gallery of the Imagination’ – the first ‘Just a Memory’ is beautiful. Really lovely swells and arpeggios in fact I closed my eyes as he was playing and imagined myself on the balcony of a villa overlooking the Mediterranean! In fact, I might even paint that picture and send it to Rick!!
We had a few more stories from Rick and then he introduces us to a man who’s had even more wives than he’s had! Henry VIII. We get two of the wives, Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard and Rick played these on the keyboards that were set up stage left!
It was a real treat to hear Merlin the Magician from King Arthur played live, I had loved the King Arthur suite when the band played it in March, so to hear this little extract was a special treat.
Another beautiful moment was ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’ which Rick dedicated to his friends John Lorde and Keith Emerson. It was a beautiful swelling piece on the grand piano. A really touching moment as we all remember those we have lost.
Another great who is no longer with us is David Bowie and of course Rick tips his hat to him, playing a duo of Bowie songs on the grand piano. Space Oddity and Life on Mars were both spine tinglingly good and hearing Rick play them was magnificent.
The show was drawing to a close, but we needed a grand finale, and what better finale in Liverpool than to play two Beatles tunes. A very brave thing to do in Liverpool, but Rick blew me away. Help in the style of French composer Saint-Saëns and my favourite of the two, Eleanor Rigby in the style of Prokofiev – yes, I had to Google who they were too! The resulting renditions were amazing! I love it when a musician makes a piece his own and really takes ownership and that was certainly the case here! Amazing.
The show comes to a close, Rick disappears for a brief second only to come back to rapturous applause. He takes a seat at the grand once more for a final piece, Silent Night with a touch of Clare de Lune in the middle and then all too soon, it’s done.
What a brilliant night. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I really hope Rick has a few more Christmas shows in him. He mentioned when he joined me on Radio TFSC for my 100th show that his arthritis was getting bad and he can’t foresee himself doing it forever, but I really hope we have him playing for a few more years, as this is a tradition that I’d love to continue!
As a kid, one of my earliest musical memories was watching Elton John play ‘Candle in the Wind’ at Princess Diana’s funeral and for years after, until I discovered guitar and singing, I wanted to be a concert pianist! Seeing Rick Wakeman in Liverpool gave me that feeling once again, that need to get on the piano once more. It was a truly stunning show, and what a way to start Christmas! Thank you, Rick!
