Attending this gig was a last minute thing, after receiving a ticket from a generous unwell friend. Liam is always good value and I've never seen him play a full set. Previously I have seen him being all the members of Led Zeppelin at once at Sound Relief and playing the guitar parts for absent Radiohead and Wilco members at 7 Worlds Collide. He was accompanied by the excellent Eliza Jane on various tuned and untuned percussion instruments. Too bad his set was wounded by the terrible sound problems at the Corner Hotel. I hope they fix the lead microphone cable in time for Jen Cloher tonight, and also the mysterious squawks that appeared whenever a high pitched guitar or vocal was performed. In Liam Finn's sets, that happens quite often and even he grumbled quietly (and politely) about the strange gremlins in the sound system.
Liam is great value mostly for his stage presence, perhaps Split Enz inspired. He dashes from guitar to drum kit and back to the guitar and propels himself across the stage like a man possessed by the music. His voice has a quality more similar to his uncle's than his father's and his repertoire is quite varied, from poppy rock to more soulful vocal harmonies.
The set contained a large chunk of material from I'll Be Lightning including Better to Be, Energy Spent, Remember When, Wise Man, This Place is Killing Me and the title track. He also played, after a request, Red Wine Bottle, the richly layered track from The Sun Came Out. He and EJ have a new EP out and they played a track (or possibly several) from that too. At the end of the set we saw Second Chance, a popular crowd favourite and Gather to the Chapel. Later on, Elroy Finn appeared to help out with I'm Only Sleeping and another song. You wonder if one day Elroy and Liam will mirror the efforts of their father and uncle with more collaborative musical efforts.
Too bad about the sound, but even that couldn't dampen the enthusiasm and energy of a talented musician.
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