Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,795
Member is Online
|
Post by Brian on Feb 19, 2021 0:00:17 GMT -8
Crowded House just released "To the Island," the first single from the forthcoming album "Dreamers Are Waiting," their first collection of new material in 11 years:
Hey, why are all those people dancing so close -- without masks? They must be in New Zealand. It's lovely to see everybody in the latest iteration of Crowded House together instead of playing on a Zoom split screen: original band members Neil Finn and Nick Seymour, Neil's sons Liam and Elroy, and Mitchell Froom, who produced the early Crowded House albums in the 1980's.
|
|
Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,795
Member is Online
|
Post by Brian on Feb 22, 2021 0:00:55 GMT -8
And now for something completely old -- a live performance by Crowded House in September 1987, when we all were so young and the band had just released their debut album.
I'm in the habit of running searches of my favorite artists on You Tube by upload date so I don't miss anything worthwhile. Crowded House has more cover songs by fans than anybody else I follow -- there are dozens of versions of "Don't Dream It's Over" just in the last few months, no kidding -- so I have to scroll through a lot more with them than Ian Hunter or Chuck Prophet to find the gems.
Somebody just uploaded this performance of the song "Now We're Getting Somewhere" on "Late Night with David Letterman" that was no doubt taped off the air on VHS -- but the quality is excellent:
Behind the original members of Crowded House -- Neil Finn, the late drummer Paul Hester and Nick Seymour with hair -- are some of Paul Shaffer's band. Paul threw a paper airplane in tribute to the "Something So Strong" video, which was big at the time. It struck me because I've seen fans throwing paper airplanes at Neil at every concert in the three decades since to convey their song requests. Was Paul the Wilbur or Orville Wright of this form of aviation?
|
|
anni
Administrator
Administrating Designer
Posts: 1,607
|
Post by anni on Feb 26, 2021 8:33:32 GMT -8
Brian and I are enjoying "Crowded House - Album by Album" on Fangradio, Neil's live streaming service. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. Pacific time, he plays "the best tracks in my opinion" from a different Crowded House album with guests -- this week, the entire band was in the studio after Nick and Mitchell cleared the New Zealand quarantine. Next Wednesday, it's "Woodface," which might be our favorite album, and you can hear it live here: Or listen later when the show is archived alongside the previous live streams:
|
|
Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,795
Member is Online
|
Post by Brian on Apr 13, 2021 23:00:11 GMT -8
Crowded House has rescheduled their U.K. and European tour from June and July 2021 to June and July 2022. This year's dates had been rescheduled from the original tour planned for June and July 2020.
Our friend Martine knows people who bought tickets early last year -- I bet they'll hold onto them for the full two and a half years for the chance to see the band again.
I had assumed that they would play in North America in the late summer or early fall after those planned tours. Now I wonder if Covid restrictions will ease enough to allow them to book some concerts here in 2021, and will the pandemic wane soon enough to reasonably schedule any dates. Doesn't seem likely. But I will dream of a Crowded House show at the Starlight Bowl or Ford Amphitheatre in the meantime.
|
|
anni
Administrator
Administrating Designer
Posts: 1,607
|
Post by anni on Apr 15, 2021 13:42:13 GMT -8
For those who do not know -- including us! -- Tame Impala is a psychedelic music project and touring band that started in Perth, Australia in 2007. Here's what Neil Finn wrote in an e-mail blast last week:
|
|
|
Post by Sharon W on May 31, 2021 17:57:04 GMT -8
|
|
Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,795
Member is Online
|
Post by Brian on Jun 7, 2021 23:00:22 GMT -8
Thank you, Sharon, for posting the link to that Yahoo interview of Neil Finn! And what a great collection of videos they assembled for the rest of the page. I posted the link on Next Exit, a ProBoards forum, and also e-mailed it to our friend Martine in Winnipeg. Martine, my nominee for the best Finn fan, got worldwide circulation for the link. She participated in Montrose Peace Vigils the last time she was here in 2009. The official release date of "Dreamers Are Waiting" was June 4 but I got my CD two weeks earlier because I pre-ordered it from the Crowded House website. I could've saved $11 if I bought it like I usually do from Amoeba online, because they never charge for shipping in the U.S. and they were having one of their 15 percent off sales. But always I buy from the artist directly when I can -- and this time I was rewarded along with them. For what it's worth, here's the songwriting scorecard: Neil has sole credit on half the album, six songs, and Liam sole credit on one song. Neil co-wrote a song with brother Tim (!) and two with Liam. The remaining two songs -- which kick off the album -- are band compositions including Nick and Elroy, although Mitchell only shares credit on one of them. This Saturday, June 12, at 2 p.m. Pacific time, the Crowded House consortium will livestream a beautifully shot, recorded and edited arena show in New Zealand last March, judging by the trailer linked at the bottom of this page: crowdedhousestream.com/?fbclid=IwAR2IgOJGbsWCO_NBXrUuMi4UZ9mQsweFMrcQ-yEB8ckoVPPc3d9SU8QbcgY
|
|
Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,795
Member is Online
|
Post by Brian on Jul 7, 2021 23:00:25 GMT -8
Mojo has a brief review of "Dreamers Are Waiting" in its July issue, giving the album four out of five stars:
|
|
anni
Administrator
Administrating Designer
Posts: 1,607
|
Post by anni on Dec 2, 2021 12:00:34 GMT -8
Just the right thing to lift our hearts and spirits!
|
|
Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,795
Member is Online
|
Post by Brian on Feb 23, 2022 0:00:47 GMT -8
Crowded House has released a new video of "Sweet Tooth" from the latest album. According to an e-mail blast last week, "The video footage was shot in-between shows in NZ and later disintegrated by Liam Finn using a free video filter created by Irish artist David O’Reilly. Neil Finn then reassembled the footage into this swirling, psychedelic sugar rush."
They've added four dates to their Australian tour that starts April 1 and is now extended to the 24th.
|
|