Neil Finn and his merry band of mates are in fine humour tonight, cracking wise and bouncing off one another playfully in the first Melbourne gig of their Crowded House Pop Up Gig tour.
The ever charming and hilarious Neil captures the audience from the start (29 October), declaring that he's "delighted to be in our spiritual home in St Kilda," and reminiscing about earlier gigs that took place in much less glamorous surrounds in the 'hood. Of course, that was way back at the very beginning, when co-founder of the band, the late Paul Hester was still present.
The first set, acoustic and more stripped-back, is opened with 'Too Good For This World', which is followed by a rather dazzling version of 'Silent House', a song that Neil co-wrote with The Chicks.
A joyous and attentive audience was also gifted with the debut of a brand new song, because, as Neil said: "I like to try all my new songs in Melbourne first." Lucky audience members got to wrap their ears around 'It Was A Small Detail', which was luxuriously completed by the wondrous backing vocals of Australia's most beloved sister act Vika and Linda Bull.
There was plenty of good natured bantering back and forth between Neil and the rest of Crowded House on what to call the band tonight; Neil suggests 'Crispy' and then tells son Liam that maybe it should be renamed 'Nepo Band'.
In this opening set, Nick Seymour plays the bass parts of the songs on a bass ukulele, while Liam at one point – before and during 'Pineapple Head' – morphs back and forth into a rather grand and enormously entertaining 'Lord Of The Rings' guitar solo.
It was a fun moment in a night that felt a little like we were all hanging out at a Crowded House rehearsal – intimate and warm, even in this full house. They closed this set of eight songs with the very Melbourne 'Four Seasons In One Day'.
After an intermission and costume change, the band re-emerges in full Crowded House mode, all looking the goods but Nick with the look of the night – a dazzling bright orange suit, which he quips is the rage of the internet: "It has gone viral, Neil."
They then launched into 'Distant Sun' jumping and thrashing about the stage like a bunch of surefooted and much younger players, following up with another 21 of the most treasured and best loved songs ever to grace the radio. There were also a few Split Enz renditions, and the surprise Bee Gees cover of 'New York Mining Disaster 1941'.
'Better Be Home Soon', 'Something So Strong', 'Don't Dream It's Over', 'World Where You Live' and 'Mean To Me', plus the rest of these CH songs each do more than stand the test of time, sounding just as great today as they did when they were first released.
Surely, Crowded House has one of the best back catalogues of any band in music history, steeped in nostalgia and legend, yet still sounding fresh and vibrant. They closed the night with knockout versions of 'Weather With You' and 'Fall At Your Feet'.
In conversations with others at the show, I was surprised to find out that quite a few of us were first timers for a Crowded House gig, including the Kiwi sitting next to me. Although none of us could explain this unfortunate phenomenon, I can assure you that we were all in passionate agreement by the end of the show that it won't be our last.
