Crowded House

I was thinking about this yesterday and how I didn't update you on my only recent concert experience. We made a pilgrimage to Auckland in early April to see a one-off show with Crowded House. It was in the Auckland Town Hall which is on Queen Street and features a large pipe organ (I mean REALLY large). I'm not sure why they did the show except that they have a new album coming out in June and they were filming a video.

The atmosphere was decidedly cocktail party-like. The main floor was general admission and no seats, just standing room (so it really looked like a cocktail party from where we sat). We sat up on the last row in the balcony, which sounds like far away but in such an intimate hall wasn't really. The hall has a bar and the pre-show atmosphere was equally cocktail party-like except that you were paying $9 for a glass of wine.

Anyway, the show was great! They would play one of their classics followed by one off the new album, and there was much singing and dancing up in our two seats (and all around us). They even played my favorite Split Enz song "Message to my Girl" which I was stoked about. They were filming a concert DVD to be released with the album and everyone had these funny little bear masks that we were instructed to wear at certain points, so I'm sure it will look really odd.

They did lots of the "Crowd Sings Acapella" moments and I have to admit that Kiwi audiences both sing tunefully and are able to keep the beat (Americans are always rushing).

All in all, the most fun I've had at a show in many, many years, and Neil Finn still sounds awesome. It's also amazing to hear how many great songs they have written all over the years.

In my head, this was a much better post. Do you even know who Crowded House is???