Crowded House
Dunedin Town Hall, New Zealand
Meanwhile, back in the real world…
It takes a certain kind of confidence to drop the music to a whisper and let the audience take over the singing during the first song, but when the band is Crowded House, the song is Weather With You and the venue is packed in the way venues used to be, there’s very little risk of the ploy not paying off. As support act Reb Fountain (a truly beguiling mix of Stevie Nicks and Lana Del Rey) says: “This is probably the biggest show in the world right now.”
In 2021 Crowded House are not so much a band as a dynasty, with two junior Finns (brothers Liam and Elroy) joining dad Neil on stage, and new keyboard player Mitchell Froom – who produced the band’s first three albums – plus founding bassist Nick Seymour providing a degree of historical authenticity, for those who care about such things.
What really matters, though, is the songs, and Crowded House have plenty top-drawer ones. The harmonies on Pineapple Head are gorgeous, and a brief detour into The Kinks classic Sunny Afternoon is a spot-the-join fit. Private Universe veers off on a giddy tangent towards psychedelia, while Four Seasons In One Day is simply lovely. Neil Finn dedicates the wonderful Don’t Dream It’s Over to “those keeping New Zealand safe”, everyone sings along (again), joy is unconfined, and there’s barely a dry eye in the house.