The new Tim Finn thread

[Brian]

Last year, Martine and I started a thread on this message board celebrating the new album by Tim Finn, New Zealand's greatest songwriter and singer (although Martine would say that about his brother Neil). Here's the link to our videos, photos and ruminations, with the latest news on the second page:

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk4&action=display&thread=55

This is where I'll write about Tim's concert at the Troubadour next Monday, Aug. 2. Tim's only doing two shows in the U.S. -- West Hollywood and New York, before doing one more in London -- on the same nights Neil's band Crowded House plays in Nashville and Austin during their six-week North American tour. The first two weeks have been magical from everything I've read, heard and seen on the Internets, and there's an incredible amount of coverage by Finn standards. But I spent a long time searching for anything recent on Tim and came up blank, except for events listings and his ill tended My Space and Facebook sites, which say he's still creating and recording even without a U.S. label deal.

L.A., N.Y. and London are the crumbling capitals of the music industry. Tim's back to doing showcases.

[martine]

Apparently, people seeing Tim in New York ... at a Winery...are able to purchase a bottle of commemerative wine (for $50.00 a pop) chosen by Tim (or something like that) with either his name or likeness on the bottle (or something like that) Tim fans, hearing about this exciting piece of collectibility, excitedly wanted to purchase said bottle of wine and have it shipped. When they found out it was from a not highly recommended Californian winery, people soon lost interest. Ah well. People can be so fickle...and discerning.

Speculation on the interwebs regarding these scant few shows have people wondering what the purpose of this is...why bother if it's just 3 cities. Yes, admittedly, the wear and tear on the person themself is relatively slight but it's not really getting one's name/music out there is it.

Not sure what Tim's motives are regarding this super mini tour but I'm sure you and Anni are in for a lovely treat of an evening. Fingers crossed for a phantom recorder amongst the throng at the Troubadour.

Brian, someone at FF posted some incredible black & white vintage photo's from SE's 1977 tour recently. I believe they were taken San Francisco if my memory serves. They are excellent quality. Can I give you the link here or in an email? I didn't want to forget this.

[Brian]

Jul 30, 2010 19:38:46 GMT -8 martine said:

Speculation on the interwebs regarding these scant few shows have people wondering what the purpose of this is...why bother if it's just 3 cities. Yes, admittedly, the wear and tear on the person themself is relatively slight but it's not really getting one's name/music out there is it.

Not sure what Tim's motives are regarding this super mini tour but I'm sure you and Anni are in for a lovely treat of an evening.

Tim's long-time champion at EMI Records walked out of the Capitol Records building for the last time sometime between the "Imaginary Kingdom" album, which came out Down Under late in 2006 but didn't get released in the U.S. until the next spring, and his also brilliant "The Conversation," which came out in late 2008 on EMI in Australia but never got released here. Since then, Tim has recorded some great new songs. He comes to the Troub tonight to shop for a label deal at an old fashioned showcase. That's my intuition. Here you can play his new single, the title song to an upcoming Australian movie in which he also acts -- so I guess it's also possible that he's going to L.A., New York and London to promote that as well:

www.amplifier.co.nz/release/59703/predicament-single.html

The intro and the lazy horns later recall a scratchy U Roy single from Jamaica circa 1977. Or maybe it's the bad Internet mix. I like Tim Finn's latest New Zealand reggae song but can't count it among his best, like "Parihaka." Then there's "Light Years Away," which just freaking blows me away, on his My Space page:

www.myspace.com/timfinnmusic

Will he have a real band tonight to realize his visions? Will there be titles I cannot identify for my setlist?

Brian, someone at Frenz Forum posted some incredible black & white vintage photo's from SE's 1977 tour recently. I believe they were taken San Francisco if my memory serves. They are excellent quality. Can I give you the link here or in an email? I didn't want to forget this.

Are you kidding me? I saw them here a few days later. Please post the link, dear Martine!

[Brian]

More nervous than I've seen him onstage since February 1977, Tim Finn nonetheless took full-throated (if flop-sweated) command of a full house of old friends, aging fans and industry types at the Troubadour in West Hollywood last night, fronting an inspired and well rehearsed four-piece band that included Brett Adams, who's been touring with Tim since 2007. Tim sang nothing new and played no piano -- but he and his band have rearranged most of the songs in this setlist covering most of his career:

• Poor Boy
  
• Straw to Gold
  
• Dead Man
  
• Stuff and Nonsense
  
• Charlie
  
• Persuasion (with Richard Thompson!)
  
• Many's the Time
  
• Couldn't Be Done
  
• My Mistake
  
• I Hope I Never
  
• Dirty Creature
  
• So Deep
  
• Luckiest Man Alive
  
• Six Months in a Leaky Boat
  First encore:
  
• Unsinkable
  
• It's Only Natural
  Second encore:
  
• History Never Repeats
  
• Snowbound
  
• Forever Thursday
  

I copied Tim's setlist after the roadie taped it down. Originally, he was supposed to play "Straw to Gold" before "Poor Boy." The only addition was "History Never Repeats," which Tim dedicated to his "little bro" Neil. Eight of the 19 songs were by Split Enz, which achieved some success in the U.S. between 1980-84 before Tim went solo, joined Neil's Crowded House for one amazing album and occasionally played with him as the Finn Brothers. Only two songs can be considered live rarities, "So Deep" and "Dead Man."

Looks like Tim's selling himself as an opening act for some huge band from the 1980's to play arenas.

[martine]

First off, thanks so much for the review and set list. No one else has done this. I was wondering if I could steal your setlist and post it on FF because I know there are people who want to know.

That said--you say he "rearranged" the songs--do you mean he didn't remain true to the way he normally sings these?

I noticed a few video's pop up on Facebook this morning but Steve's friend has not put them on youtube, just her FB account. I tagged a few to Anni, not sure if they went anywhere though

While it does ... sound to me.... almost....that this was an industry showcase...I find it very hard to believe that Tim would actually...put himself in the position of being second banana to Spandau Ballet or Haircut 100 for a quick dash across Europe (or wherever) as an opening act.

Far better to appear in front of 75 worshipful word perfect fans in a small venue even in the middle of Butte Montana.....no?

He seems to have so many interesting projects etc going on all over the place, surely he doesn't need the money that he would receive for agreeing to open for 80s bands?

That said, the setlist looks fabulous--You got "Unsinkable"--the one song I ached for back in 2008 and didn't get. You got It's Only Natural--which sounded...lonesome to me without Neil's bottom end. "Unmistakeable" Ok..this one has me stumped...is it new?

History Repeats is a very strange thing for him to do when his time on stage is so obviously limited. Let's look at some quick thinking person's telephone video capture:



Luckiest Man Alive I could have lived without I think...but fabulous setlist. It'll be interesting to see if it varies for the Wednesday evening NYC gig.

As promised, your old Split Enz photos:

www.mypixrock.com/index.php?category=gallery/classic/splitenz&start=0

Oh...and you guys might want to make sure your computer is off at night. I notice your cat has been....busy lately...

;D

[anni]

Thanks to the brilliant review from Brian and the mah-ve-lous ruminations from Martine, I offer most modest visual aids and promise to take my camera, next time.






This one shows 3/4 of the band. I missed Tim's amazing guitarist, Brett Adams.

[martine]

If you didn't photograph these Anni, where'd they come from EH???

[anni]

my humble cellular phone....I need to read the instructions, set up the phone to take better pictures. In liu of nothing, they'll do.

[Brian]

Aug 3, 2010 16:19:16 GMT -8 martine said:

...you say he "rearranged" the songs--do you mean he didn't remain true to the way he normally sings these?

Have you ever heard Tim (or even Neil) perform "Stuff and Nonsense" without a piano? I don't remember another time. It's the first thing I look for when I enter a room he's playing since I first heard "Time for a Change" 33 years ago. The Troub had a baby grand set up the last time he was there. Monday, the club had one of them long, flat electric keyboards propped up in back, teasing me, but it never came down.

Almost all of the songs were arranged for the inventive and powerful bass player and drummer -- who hit the cymbals with a tambourine -- with Tim on a variety of acoustic guitars and Brett mostly strapping on the electric and often rocking out on the finales. The greatest rework was "So Deep" from the discoesque "Big Canoe" album in 1986. "Couldn't Be Done" was faster with a much sharper edge. However, "Persuasion" was stripped down to just Tim and surprise guest Richard Thompson onstage, smiling broadly and harmonizing sweetly. When was the last time he appeared with Tim in L.A.? That Crowded House show he opened in 1990 at the Universal Amphitheatre? I don't know, but I cried hearing them play the song they wrote together and feeling Richard's love of being with Tim again.

While it does ... sound to me.... almost....that this was an industry showcase...I find it very hard to believe that Tim would actually...put himself in the position of being second banana to Spandau Ballet or Haircut 100 for a quick dash across Europe (or wherever) as an opening act.

Far better to appear in front of 75 worshipful word perfect fans in a small venue even in the middle of Butte Montana.....no?

He seems to have so many interesting projects etc going on all over the place, surely he doesn't need the money that he would receive for agreeing to open for 80s bands?

I'd hoped that he'd do some of the new songs I'd heard or read about because that would mean Tim was shopping for another label deal. But these days, there's no money in CD sales -- nor mounting U.S. tours like he did the last three times at small venues. He filled but did not sell out the Troubadour. Based on economic reality -- and the band's cohesion -- I'm sticking with my guess that he wants to retrieve his legacy, and perhaps revive his catalog, by presenting himself as a supporting band for arenas. (The turnout in September 2008 at the El Rey, a refurbished movie theater in L.A., was embarrassing.)

As promised, your old Split Enz photos:

www.mypixrock.com/index.php?category=gallery/classic/splitenz&start=0

Geez, Martine -- those black and whites are incredible, although Tim's absent from all but two of them.

[Brian]

Just a few more observations about Tim Finn's concert at the Troubadour last week before I get back to soaking my head in Crowded House's "Intriguer" CD and DVD in anticipation of their appearances at Amoeba Records and the Nokia downtown next week.

The message board peaked as a medium for reading fan reviews around 2007 and You Tube for finding amateur show videos about a year ago. Most Finn brothers devotees are on Facebook now. Still, I found setlists for his New York stop, copied from the page onstage, and from a blogger in London who writes down the songs like I do. Tim dropped "Snowbound" after fretting that the subject matter was too alien to us in L.A. and went on to play longer sets, adding these songs, only one of which is solo:

• Won't Give In
  
• Invisible
  
• I Got You
  
• Chocolate Cake
  
• Shark Attack
  

Three folks at last Sunday's London concert posted several clips on You Tube, showing Tim much more relaxed and engaged with the audience, but those shot near the stage sound horrible as usual. I'll just keep playing this video of "Persuasion" featuring Richard Thompson at the Troubadour. I still believe.