Crowded House review at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, April 5 2022

It was a dream come true for the crowd in Adelaide when Crowded House returned to the stage at the Entertainment Centre after such a long hiatus, writes Nathan Davies.

CROWDED HOUSE

With The Middle Kids

Adelaide Entertainment Centre

April 5

Neil Finn is one of the most skilled purveyors of melody in pop music since Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson, a songwriter’s songwriter, and a trans-Tasman treasure.

With Crowded House Finn has, over several decades, written the soundtrack to many of our lives, and if the crowd at the Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night was anything to go by made music that cuts across generations.

And while Finn’s travelling companions have changed over the years – sons Liam and Elroy are now permanent members and founding drummer Paul Hester is sadly no longer with us – the spirit of Crowded House remains unchanged.

Crowded House perform at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on April 5, 2022. Picture: Michael Owen-Brown

There’s a commitment to the purity of pop, the marriage of lyric and chord to create something close to perfect.

The band opened with a triple banger – Weather With You, Mean To Me and World Where You Live – and it was clear from the get go that they were genuinely happy to be back on stage after such a long and forced hiatus.

Not that they dodged the dreaded ’rona themselves, with bassist Nick Seymour – resplendent in a fine kilt – remarking he was “a bit puffed” after Mean To Me, telling the crowd he’d picked up the virus six weeks ago and was still struggling a little.

Not that you could tell, with the 63-year-old bouncing around like a man half his age.

Neil Finn of Crowded House performs at Spark Arena on March 19, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. Picture: Dave Simpson/WireImage

Finn too seems to have a curious case of Benjamin Button syndrome, putting everything into the more energetic numbers and hitting every single note with effortless precision. The man is ageless.

Son and offsider Liam is a gun guitarist, switching effortlessly between Maton12-string, Fender Telecaster and a bunch more axes throughout the night, but it’s as a vocalist that he truly shines.

There’s a concept in country music known as blood harmony which describes the almost freakish way people in the same family can often sing with each other, a sixth sense of the musical kind, and Neil and Liam demonstrate this perfectly.

Support act The Middle Kids were brought onstage for To The Island and Playing With Fire, before Fall at Your Feet had the Entertainment Centre singing along.

Crowded House performing in New Zealand this year. Picture: Aaron Lee

Pineapple Head showed the Crowdies at their Beatle-esque best (with a bonus nod to The Kinks thanks to a few bars of Sunny Afternoon), and then Adelaide was treated to the live debut of the beautiful Show Me The Way from last year’s Dreamers are Waiting.

If the show’s opening was a triple banger then the last third of the show truly showed just how deep the band’s catalogue is. When You Come – the most “rock” moment of the night thanks to a scorching guitar solo from Liam – was followed by the sublime Private Universe, Four Seasons In One Day, the jaunty Sister Madly, another live debut in Love Isn’t Hard At All, Don’t Dream It’s Over, Locked Out and Distant Sun.

The show proper was over in what seemed like no time at all, but there was always going to be a call for an encore – even on a rainy Tuesday night in Hindmarsh.

Crowded House live in New Zealand, 2022 . Picture: Aaron Lee

Something So Strong was mixed with Split Enz classic I Got You, before a cover of David Bowie’s Changes had the crowd up out of their seats.

Liam took the mic on Goodnight Everyone, before Elephants and – of course – Better Be Home Soon finished the night.

Crowded House is part of the Australian psyche, a generator of memories that spans generations. For me they’re the soundtrack of driving a clapped out Datsun from Adelaide to Byron Bay with my brother, but everyone in the stadium for the opening show of the Aussie tour was playing their own movie in their head.

And it’s so important, with everything the world’s been through and is currently going through, to acknowledge the healing power of beautifully crafted music like Neil Finn’s.

“Things are going to get better,” he said as he left the stage, and everyone believed him.

Set list

Weather With You

Mean to Me

World Where You Live

To the Island

Playing with Fire

Fall at Your Feet

Pineapple Head

Show Me the Way

Don’t Stop Now

Whatever You Want

When You Come

Private Universe

Four Seasons In One Day

Sister Madly

Love Isn’t Hard At All

Don’t Dream It’s Over

Locked Out

Distant Sun

ENCORE

Something So Strong

Changes

Goodnight Everyone

Elephants

Better Be Home Soon