Crowded House exquisite in crowded house

Crowded House officially kicked-off their US reunion tour in Northampton Massachusetts last night, and the evening was magic.

The band began the show with Recurring Dream, and performed many songs from the new album, which also provided the elements to the stage set, including, as Nick Seymour explained, "the tree of life." The band seemed in good spirits, jumping from the new albums to various points in their recorded history. They sang, amoung others, When You Come, Private Universe, (for Frank) Not the Girl You Think You Are, Fall At Your Feet and Pineapple Head. Neil Finn urged the crowd to sing the first verse and chorus of "Don't Dream It's Over," and we did, with appreciable volume and energy. Finn demurred a request for "Catherine Wheels" as "impossible, mate" then proceeded to sing most of the song with Mark Hart providing harmony, and atmosphere on the lap steel. Seymour was totally animated throughout the show, bouncing around the stage as effectively in the good old days. Hart was remarkable, and serious. Matt Sherrod proved remarkably able to keep up with this wonderful band, and Elroy Finn kept rhythm on guitar. Neil seemed happy to be singing with the boys again. So happy, in fact, that at one point the band launched into a version of "Rock the Boat" by the Hues Corporation, and dropped a bit of the Kinks, "Sunny Afternoon" into another song.

Although Liam Finn was scheduled to open the show, instead Philip Price and Flora Reed of Winterpills did a beautiful acoustic set, which was well received by the audience.

Crowded House closed the show in the second encore with "Better Be Home Soon," a fitting farewell to the crowd and to Elroy who was heading home to university.