Crowded House showcased their familiar hits and familial ties at The Astro amphitheater in La Vista on Friday, providing the ideal soundtrack to a beautiful late-summer evening.
The Australian-New Zealand band, led by the ever-talented Neil Finn, also features fellow original member Nick Seymour on bass, longtime collaborator Mitchell Froom on keyboards, and Finn’s sons, Liam and Elroy, on guitar and drums, respectively—though, like their father, the two really are multi-instrumentalists.
As the opening act, Liam Finn showed off his own talents, playing drums and guitars and singing, too. Neil Finn’s move of putting his boys in the band was a smart one, as Liam’s voice is especially similar to his dad’s and complements it quite well. Both sons also sang lead during Crowded House’s set, giving Finn a chance to rest his voice a bit.
The band, now approaching their 40th anniversary, are still in top form, as evidenced on their latest album, Gravity Stairs. They played five of that album’s 11 songs, including the wistful “Teenage Summer” and the joyful “Oh Hi.” The new songs fit seamlessly among the band’s scores of ’80s and ’90s hits.
To open the concert, they went back to the start, playing “Recurring Dream” followed by “World Where You Live,” from their classic self-titled debut. Mid-set, Finn switched from guitar to piano for a few songs, including “Message to My Girl,” one of two Split Enz covers played during the show. They followed that with “When You Come” and “Private Universe,” which featured an extended outro that added intensity to the already-stunning track.
Elroy Finn moved out from behind the drum kit for “Thirsty,” another track off the new album, and touring percussionist Paul Taylor filled in on drums. Liam Finn also took a turn on lead vocals on “The Howl,” another new song, which was “the most played song in Omaha, Nebraska, tonight,” his father remarked. (He had played it to open the concert, too.)
The show then hit a high point—and it only built from there. Hearing Crowded House perform perhaps their finest song, “Distant Sun,” followed by their biggest hit, “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” can only be described as magical.
They closed the main set with two more hits, “Something So Strong” and “Weather With You,” prompting the crowd to sing along and then cheer for more. They opened the encore with another Split Enz cover, “I Got You,” which the audience members had voted to hear via a QR code. That was followed by “Nails in My Feet,” from the excellent Youth-produced ’90s album Together Alone. They ended the show on a low-key but no less exhilarating note with the ballad “Into Temptation,” which led into a brief version of “Better Be Home Soon.”
Crowded House—with their 23-track set list, witty and quirky between-song banter, and brilliant playing—put on a musical display that won’t soon be forgotten. Followed by a ride down the slides near the venue and a brief moonlit walk, the show made for a perfect evening.
