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A full House
23/11/2007
MUSIC: Crowded House, MEN Arena, 29 Nov – FROM Led Zeppelin to The Police and especially the Spice Girls, a great deal of thought and fastidious planning goes into the reformation of a big band.
There’s tour dates, greatest hits packages, tacky merchandise and, most importantly of all, the big wad of cash that awaits everyone when the whole charade is over.
Musical reformations are big business, which makes the reunion of New Zealand group Crowded House a sobering antidote to all that cynical money making. Almost 11 years since they last performed together, Crowded House ‘accidentally’ reformed last year when Neil Finn – the group’s main songwriter – was working on a solo album. Out of the blue, Finn asked some former Crowded House members to accompany him, yet the chemistry was so strong and immediate that the band decided to reform straight away. Crowded House, by pure accident, was reborn.
It was an inspired move. Of course, the focus on these comeback dates will definitely be the band’s imperious back catalogue of classic pop songs, from Don’t Dream It’s Over to Weather With You. But most impressively, they’ve got a new collection to promote, entitled Time on Earth, which easily stands up alongside the band’s earlier work.
Frontman Neil Finn was always a master at hiding minor-key melancholy behind carousing, hook-filled choruses, and his songwriting material has gained a certain tattered nobility in the decade since his band separated.
Special note to fans of The Smiths also – Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is a close friend of Neil Finn’s (the pair have written songs together), and Marr is often fond of making surprise appearances at Finn’s solo shows to perform guest guitar and even play the odd Smiths cover.
Crowded House – a band who certainly know how to reunite with style, flair and integrity.
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