Crowded House (December 2nd, The Forum)

After my recent list of great support acts, I have to add Anika Moa to the list. She was a fantastic warm up to Crowded House, despite confessing nerves at preceding such a group of legends. Her music was a little like the Indigo Girls- there were tinges of reggae, rock and country and her voice was beautiful. I was very impressed. Check her out here.

Likewise, I was impressed with Crowded House. Neil Finn never fails to please. He is an energetic performer who has obviously improved with experience. It's great hearing the banter between him and Nick Seymour (who threw in little asides about Melbourne icons and his childhood). The set list started with Locked Out and World Where You Live then skipped into the newer material, some of which is so recent it hasn't been recorded yet. Highlights from this included Lucky Lola, a beautiful track dedicated to one of the band member's newborn daughters. There were plenty of classics including Pineapple Head, Chocolate Cake, Love You Til the Day I Die, When You Come, It's Only Natural, Fall At Your Feet, Not the Girl You Think You Are, Whispers and Moans, Fingers of Love and Weather With You, a suitable closer to their second encore. There were songs from Time On Earth including People Are Like Suns, but I still don't know this material well enough to name any others.

There were many special moments that made me glad I withstood the pain of standing for an almost three hour set. The band not only appreciate audiences, they nurture them. They passed around a microphone during the set and allowed one fan the opportunity to sing Private Universe with members of his band on guitar, plus some random audience musicians. What an opportunity that would have been. Plus, Neil took the audience's suggestion to finish off with Better Be Home Soon. There was also plenty of audience participation in the predictable places, plus improvised additions to songs like the inclusion of the Kinks' Lola and the Beatles The End within other songs. They also covered Throw Your Arms Around Me, one they've almost made their own.

Crowded House are a great live band and judging from my two recent experiences, it is always worth seeing them perform live. There were some classics missing from their set list, but really, who could begrudge them leaving out Don't Dream It's Over? Next time though, they must play Mean To Me.