Review: Crowded House provide spiritual uplift to Live at the Marquee
Crowded House frontman Neil Finn playing Live at the Marquee in Cork on Monday night. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Fresh from Glastonbury, this stomping, humming, all-embracing joy fest is exactly the spiritual uplift this Marquee crowd needed to inspire thoughts of better times ahead.
For this tightknit family, the immediate future is a local tour of ancestral haunts: "We’re going to Kilmallock, where my mother’s family are from. On the way there, it’s Clonakilty to get a bit of black pudding into us, and maybe visit Ballydehob," says Neil Finn.
And later: "I’d like to dedicate the next one to the Donneraile Massive. You’ll all be out later than the Donneraile donkeys tonight."
Research for comic purposes or are the Finns local lads done good? Read on till the end.
Neil Finn’s voice, like his epic banter, has lost little in the ten years since he last fronted Crowded House, no doubt helped by his stint touring as the lead male vocalist with Fleetwood Mac, standing in for Lindsey Buckingham.
Neil founded the band with bassist Nick Seymour and the late Paul Hester in 1986.
Despite a run of changes in the interim, some of the faces remain familiar. While Neil’s brother Tim is no longer in the band, there is still a Finn family feel to this latest line-up, which includes two of his sons — Liam on guitar and vocals, and Elroy on drums.
Another familiar face is that of Mitchell Froom, who produced many of the band’s early hits and who now plays keyboards in the band.
They all join in the banter.
"Sorry for bringing you down," says Nick Seymour having told a dark tale of the death of Isadora Duncan.
"Yes, you langer," quips Neil to tumultuous applause.
But ultimately, of course, the bedrock that allows Crowded House the freedom to please themselves while entertaining the rest of us is the quality of Neil Finn’s songwriting.
There’s no denying the quality of the hits: 'Distant Sun', 'Fall at your Feet', 'Four Seasons in One Day', 'Weather With You', 'Something So Strong', and the all-time classic 'Don’t Dream It’s Over'.
A personal favourite for me was the great crowd interaction on 'World Where You Live' and the crowd’s monster vocal on a bolt-on coda for 'Fall At Your Feet'.
"You people are really great singers, the loudest we’ve heard. My mother, Mary Mullane, would be proud of you."
The crowd, to be fair, was even joining in with the new songs.
It seems that new or old, all these songs have that timeless classic quality to them.
This is crowd bonding of the highest order. But that’s hardly surprising. Sure aren’t they local lads after all. Enjoy the black pudding, lads, you've earned it.
