Review: Crowded House at A Day on the Green, Sirromet Wines
Crowded House have triple the Finn factor as their Covid-delayed latest tour finally hits South East Queensland.
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Meet Neil Finn… his boy Elroy… and his other boy Liam!
Yes, the house is now crowded with Finns, breaking the previous record of two, set when Neil’s brother and former Split Enz bandmate Tim briefly joined three decades ago.
And rounding out the line-up of Crowded House: The Next Generation are the band’s co-founder Nick Seymour and new recruit, esteemed US producer Mitchell Froom. Paul Taylor provides extra percussion on tour.
This was the Dreamers Are Waiting tour, and fans had been waiting… and waiting… after the band had to reschedule when Neil contracted Covid-19 early this year.
While they played a handful of tracks from the latest album of the same name, including rhythmic highlight To the Island, the emphasis – and audience attention – was on the classics.
“Brisbane, we made it! It’s so good to be here,” Neil enthused before a sellout crowd at the first of two nights at A Day on the Green at Sirromet Wines.
And the intermittent drizzle wasn’t enough to dampen the audience’s enthusiasm.
With his shock-atoo of grey hair, Neil seemed to change guitar every song, keeping Marcus the tech busy.
“To think, 10 minutes ago Nick was ironing his shirt,” he said.
“Half an hour ago Liam had no pants on and wanted to go on stage like that!”
As it was, Liam was resplendent in maroon lounge suit, and Seymour – nowadays an Irish resident – was decked out in a kilt.
Ever the trickster, he mischievously pranced around the stage, whipping up the audience, taking the band off script with Locked Out and even managing to work a version of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love into Sister Madly (which saw Elroy front and centre with snare and brush, and Neil slip in the line, “Somewhere like Queensland on a Saturday night.”)
The deviation from the setlist inspired a rendition of I Got You, Neil’s breakthrough single with Split Enz back in the day.
And Neil Finn and Seymour re-enacted the music video for Something So Strong, playing guitar back-to-back in front of drummer Elroy, who has taken the place of the late Paul Hester.
Meanwhile, Froom resembled a scientist as he deftly and dutifully worked the keyboards in the background.
Liam provided lead vocals for new song Goodnight Everyone, and Uncle-Tim-esque harmonies for Fall at Your Feet.
And Neil revealed how as a delirious eight-year-old Liam had inspired the opening lines for the song Pineapple Head.
“We’re still arguing about the copyright,” he quipped.
Their breakthrough megahit Don’t Dream It’s Over had the punters standing, swaying, waving phone screens and singing.
And Crowded House were joined onstage by support act Maistrato, who Neil discovered while in Greece and who have been touring with the band ever since.
Their string arrangements lent a Mediterranean flavour to songs such as Four Seasons in One Day, Weather With You and customary closer Better Be Home Soon.
Neil opened the encore with a solo piano rendition of his Split Enz hit Message to My Girl, before the piano was moved centre stage for Chocolate Cake, which built to a crescendo with Neil slapping the keys and urging yet another audience singalong.
And while earlier in the week in the Far North they’d covered Seymour’s brother’s band’s Throw Your Arms Around Me, they mixed it up with a version of David Bowie’s Heroes – allowing Neil a rare opportunity to stroll the stage with a mike, unencumbered by an instrument.
Setlist: Distant Sun, It’s Only Natural, World Where You Live, To the Island, Don’t Stop Now, Fall at Your Feet, Pineapple Head, Show Me the Way, Goodnight Everyone, When You Come, Maistrato interlude, Private Universe, Four Seasons in One Day, Sister Madly/Whole Lotta Love, Locked Out, I Got You, Don’t Dream It’s Over, Mean to Me, Something So Strong. Encore: Message to My Girl, Chocolate Cake, Heroes, Weather With You, Better Be Home Soon.
Crowded House play A Day on the Green again on Sunday, with The Teskey Brothers and The Waifs. Tickets here
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