Crowded House reform for two Encore concerts at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt
IT was one of Sydney Opera House’s biggest concerts and now Crowded House will reform for two Encore shows in the forecourt. Ticket details.
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WHEN Crowded House called it quits with the epic Farewell To The World concert at the Sydney Opera House 20 years ago, more than 100,000 people lined the foreshores to sing and shed a few tears for a band who had meant so much to millions of fans.
That memorable gig can’t be matched but the beloved band led by original members Neil Finn and Nick Seymour will still thrill thousands when they return to the Opera House concert for two Encore concerts on November 25 and 26 to celebrate the anniversary.
The concerts happen just two days after the band are inducted into the Hall Of Fame at the annual ARIA Awards, 30 years after the release of their self-titled debut album.
They will be preceded by a comprehensive reissue campaign of all their six studio records and the 1999 rarities compilation Afterglow.
Finn said the band don’t get that many opportunities to get together these days so wanted to mark the anniversaries with these special concerts,
“Things are different now with health and safety being a big thing in the last 20 years so instead of 150,000 people, we can only have about 5000 for each show,” he said.
“It would be nice if they lined up along the foreshores though, you can still hear us.
“Calling it an Encore, it’s nice way to think of it. We could have gone off and done a whole world tour — there have been offers — but it doesn’t feel the right thing to do right now so we’ll put our heart and soul into these shows.”
Rain forced the postponement of the original Farewell concert and bassist Seymour, who never wanted to breakup the band, is hoping that does not happen again.
“The shows will mark the 20th anniversary of our breakup concert. Proper order!, I say, as being at the top of our game, I didn’t want to break up in the first place!” Seymour said.
“I’ve come to realise ‘the top of our game’ is whenever we get together, so please join us for a f!@k off sing song, an off piste jam session, a toast to absent friends and no rain.”
Any gathering of the Crowded House clan does strike a sad note in the wake of original drummer Paul Hester’s death in 2005; he will be posthumously inducted to the ARIA Hall Of Fame on November 23.
Finn said he would be “in everybody’s mind from the beginning to the end of the experience.”
“We remember him fondly; we owe him a lot and there’s something unresolved about it,” he said.
“That means we will have double the reason to make it a soulful experience, to give it our best.”
Finn is currently in Los Angeles working on songs with his son Liam, who welcomed his first child, a baby boy, into the world about a month ago.
He said working on the reissues had unearthed some early demos he was excited to share with Crowded House fans who have been fiercely loyal to the band and continue to trade in bootlegs and rare recordings.
“There’s an original bit of a demo I made on a cassette player, the first idea I had for Fingers of Love while sitting on a beach in Jamaica watching the sun go down,” he said.
“It’s a really bad recordings; the birds are louder than me — but there’s something about it, hearing the genesis of a song I became so fond of.”
Finn calls those hardcore fans a family, people who have made lifelong connections at their concerts and who have given Crowded House’s incredible legacy of songs new life throughout the years.
Although he’s not sure how he feels about the regular tweets from people informing him they have just heard Weather With You in their supermarket.
“I get tweets from fans saying they can’t go into a shop in Melbourne without hearing Crowded House. I think that is a good thing; the songs still live in the present.”
Tickets for the Sydney Opera House Forecourt concerts go on sale at 10am on September 26.
The Fan Club pre-sale opens at 9am on September 20; Telstra Thanks pre-sale opens at 10am on September 21 and Flight Centre Travel Packages on sale from 1pm on September 23.
For complete tour and ticketing details, visit: www.livenation.com.au
Originally published as Crowded House reform for two Encore concerts at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt
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