It’s quite irrational, but I wanted to listen to something special for the 20,000th entry in my “first time listening” list. I received some suggestions, including the only major Mozart opera I had never heard, but chance brought a solution. I’ve written elsewhere about my long-term love affair with the New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. The only important Crowded House item missing from my collection was their farewell concert in Sydney Opera House. Thanks to a reader (who wishes to remain anonymous) I finally acquired this wonderful recording.
We’ve all heard lame live albums where a good studio band limps through sloppy versions of their own songs. Crowded House’s studio work was superb, but their live performances were even better. It was a band that loved to be with its audience (who loved to be with them). The band had just broken up (not rancorously). After this was announced, they played a farewell charity concert for Sydney Children’s Hospital, on November 24 of 1996. It is said to be one of the biggest live performances in Australian history, drawing a crowd of roughly 160,000. Neil Finn’s brother Tim, from their Split Enz days, made a guest appearance. This was obviously an electrifying concert, with the audience swept up in the magic.
They may have been tired of the grind, but this was by no means the work of a worn-out band. The songs, covering every period from their career, were performed in sometimes startlingly new ways. Neil Finn’s famous banter and interaction with the crowd was as sparkling as ever. New twists on “Sister Madly”, “Better Be Home Soon”, “Private Universe”, “Something So Strong”, “Pineapple Head”, didn’t undermine the originals, but showed the inner strength of the songs. Ending, of course, on “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, the concert must have left the audience exhausted with pleasure. I wish I had been there.
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