It's been a long time since Crowded House split. In that time Neil Finn has released a couple of solo albums and one with his older brother Tim. All three have been competent but none have quite had the magic of his work with the band. Sadly Paul Hester, the original drummer, commited suicide a couple of years ago. Although he'd already left the band before they split the first time.
Either way you look at it there has been a lot of water under the bridge since I last saw Crowded House live on their Together Alone tour. There's also an album of slightly dissappointing new material to go along with the reformation.
However when the lights go down and the band kick in to 'Private Universe' it's clear that there's plenty of enthusiasm for being back together and there's plenty of sparky banter between Neil and bassist Nick Seymour just like in the old days. There's little in the way of gimmick. Neil is amongst the finest song writers of his generation and on stage there's plenty of punch and power that really allow the songs to shine.
It's a good set list with a smattering of new material in amongst the hits and even a few rarerties and album tracks. The new material sounded better live than on record benefitting from the extra volume and rawness. Personally I'd loved to have heard 'Hole in the River' but otherwise I was very happy with the song selection. Overall it was great gig.
They've recorded several of teh shows and a selection of live albums where available to purchase at the venue. I bought the Glasgow show so I'll let you know what I think.
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