Crowded House, Pete Yorn & Liam Finn @ The Greek, 8/28/07

Pete Yorn

Liam Finn

If the criteria for Indie music is complex plots, no big name stars (well, no big egos anyway) and no Hollywood endings, then you could make an argument that Crowded House may have unintentionally been one of the first in the genre. Throw in the lack of commercial success (in America at least) but abundant critical acclaim for later albums and the argument gets stronger. But I’m not even going to front. The main reason I went to see Crowded House was to hear their pop masterpiece “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” It’s one of those perfect pop songs that should be embedded in time capsules sent into outer space. Somewhere there are victims of extra-terrestrial breakups that would appreciate a free download. Not content to rest on their laurels, Crowded House came close to matching this perfection several times in their career, and songs like “Fall at Your Feet,” “Weather with You,” and “Better Be Home Soon” had most of the crowd dancing in unison and singing a capella. The band, reunited after over 10 years, kept a spontaneous feel to the set and both Neil and Mark took turns with solo performances during the night. This spontaneity, as Neil laughed later, was partially due to an old setlist that was taped to his keyboard. The band also inserted into the set a cover of The Turtles “Happy Together” to the delight of the audience. They played the song impromptu earlier that day on Jonesy’s Jukebox. Not to be outdone, opener Pete Yorn performed an inspired and energetic version of Peter Björn and John’s “Young Folks.” There seemed to be a good number of Yorn fans in the crowd that weren’t phased by Pete’s whistlesynching. One of the pleasant surprises of the night was the solo performance of Neil’s son Liam Finn. Liam has been a touring member of Crowded House during this tour and he went on stage prior to Yorn. He played drums, guitar, and theremin on three progressively rocked out songs from his debut album “I’ll Be Lightning.” Lastly, kudos go out to bassist Nick Seymour’s amazing set design, inspired by his own album artwork, which kept on changing throughout the night.

Setlist:

Something So Strong
Say That Again
Don’t Stop
Fall at You Feet
English Trees
(Neil Finn solo song – unknown title)
Walked Her Way Down
Whispers and Moans
Private Universe
(Mark Hart solo – unknown title)
Don’t Dream It’s Over
Happy Together (The Turtles cover)
Pineapple Head
Pour Le Monde
Locked Out
Distant Sun
[encore]
Weather With You
World Where You Live
Mean to Me
Better Be Home Soon