Neil Finn's spring tour

[Brian]

After every Neil Finn concert, Anni and I walk out saying that we had just seen his best show ever, and we've seen him in Los Angeles three times in the past seven months.  Neil was accompanied by an amazing harmony singer named Lisa, four young versatile musicians and his wife Sharon.  Seven years ago this month, at the Crowded House reunion show in Pomona, we saw Sharon knitting in the dressing room while the band played.  Now she's playing wonderful bass lines onstage.  I wrote down the setlist for the Orpheum downtown on April 2, 2014:

• Impressions (new solo album)
• Flying in the Face of Love (new solo album)
• One Step Ahead (Split Enz)
• Distant Sun (Crowded House)
• Dizzy Heights (new solo album)
• Into the Sunset (second solo album)
• Sinner (first solo album)
• Better Than TV (new solo album)
• Recluse (new solo album)
• Only Talking Sense (Finn Brothers)
• Golden Child (Pajama Club)
• History Never Repeats (Split Enz)
• Locked Out (Crowded House)
• Wherever You Are (second solo album)
• White Lies and Alibis (new solo album)
• Message to My Girl (Split Enz)
• Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House)
• Fingers of Love (Crowded House)
• Strangest Friends (new solo album)
• She Will Have Her Way (first solo album)

First encore:

• Pony Ride (new solo album)
• I Got You (Split Enz)
• Weather with You (Crowded House)
• Fall at Your Feet (Crowded House)

Second encore:

• Love This Life (Crowded House)

That's what Neil performed Wednesday, not exactly what he put on the stage setlist that I've seen reproduced online.  Instead of presumably rising from the piano after "Message to My Girl" to strap on his guitar for "Fingers of Love," he stayed for a rare keyboard rendition of "Don't Dream It's Over," his biggest hit.  Mark Hart of Crowded House, an L.A. resident, was the surprise guest -- his solo on "Fingers of Love" was phenomenal.  Neil recalled Mark to the stage during the first encore for a mystery song, which Mark guessed when Neil plucked one note on his accoustic guitar.  Because he inserted "Weather with You," Neil omitted a song from the second encore printed on the original setlist, "Lester," a true obscurity about a dead dog.  The only piece of Neil's career not represented in the 25 songs above are the Crowded House reunion albums, unless you count the singalong snippet of "She Called Up" that he played by request at the piano. 

After Saturday night's concert in Toronto, Neil and company have five more shows on the east coast on this ten date North American tour.  The You Tube videos keep rolling in.  I will have more to say.

[anni]

Meanwhile we have stills, from outside the Orpheum:

[Sharon W]

In case you guys missed this in the LA Times: www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-neil-finn-dizzy-heights-20140401,0,959850.story#axzz2yDFfFEkR

[Brian]

Thank you, Sharon, for telling us about that excellent article about Neil Finn in the Los Angeles Times.  Although it was published the day before his concert last week -- under the headline, "Less crowded" -- Neil apparently sat for the interview during his previous visit to L.A. in November.

Unfortunately, the link does not take you to the story.  I discovered last month that the Times had added code to its URL's so that people cannot copy and paste working links to its pages.  (This also applies to the Glendale News Press site.)  To read the piece, click on Sharon's link and type Neil Finn in the search box.  Then click on "Neil Finn strives for new sensations in 'Dizzy Heights'" by Randy Lewis.

[Brian]

So far, the audience concert videos on You Tube mostly suck. I couldn't find anything decent from Los Angeles. Meanwhile, radio stations in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Toronto hosted Neil and various members of his touring band mid-day in their studios, and they've posted these acoustic performances with excellent sound, of course, and multiple cameras.  Like the clip above from KINK in Portland, the only station with a live audience and the only broadcast that included every musician on the tour.  That's "White Lies and Alibis" from the new album.  All of the radio station clips are fantastic.  If I had to choose only one to add, it's this half hour on KEXP in Seattle, with four songs and an interview in the middle, where Neil mentions that he and Tim are writing together again:

[anni]

This is one of my favorite Neil Finn songs. Thought the lyrics were so zen, universal and existential. Come to learn he's singing (also) of his dog that had been hit by a car. The dog survived. The song still reminds us of the fragile nature of life.