Review: Crowded House's To the Island Tour hard to fault

At 62, Finn's voice is in fine shape. Photo / Paul Taylor

Crowded House
To the Island Tour
Regent on Broadway
Thursday, March 25
Reviewed by Roger Buchanan

I've always felt a bit sorry for so-called warm-up acts preceding a main event. Punters tend to have lowish expectations and frequently will them off the stage to make way for the band they've paid money to see.

San Francisco-born, Christchurch-raised and now Auckland-domiciled Reb Fountain was Palmerston North's warm-up act and proved herself to be a worthy filler of the time slot.

Occasionally reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, at other times of Kate Bush, Fountain's unique creative style was strangely engaging and often entrancing, with lashings of theatre in the presentation.

From her logo projected on the rear screen to her moody mix of musical genres, this was almost neo-psychedelic, but in slow motion. Fountain is vocally very agile and is carving herself an assured place in the tapestry of New Zealand music.

A 15-minute break to allow the roadies to reset for the main act had the capacity crowd of 1400 waiting in anticipation. From the entrance of Neil Finn and his talented band it was immediately obvious this was going to be something special.

Finn is a consummate musician and nothing short of a national treasure. Music is his first language, his skills in songwriting and performing evident in equal measure. Classics like Weather With You, Don't Dream It's Over and Better Be Home Soon were interspersed with new creations from the band's forthcoming album which leaves me eager for its release.

The other members of the re-formed Crowded House band include Finn's insanely talented sons Liam (guitar/vocals) and Elroy (drums), US keyboardist Mitchell Froom and founding bassist Nick Seymour. There was also a percussionist in several numbers hiding at the back of the stage skilfully playing the tambourine and various other pots and pans.

At 62, Finn's voice is in fine shape (and the bugger's still got a damn fine head of hair, but I'm not at all jealous) and the superbly blended vocal harmonies were a stand-out - as good as anything I've heard from earlier iterations of the band. Easy to see why Fleetwood Mac headhunted him - a gain for both parties.

Robo-LED lighting and rear projection are a normal part of concerts and theatre these days. Sometimes designed to distract from mediocre performances, in this instance their use supported and enhanced the experience. Hard to fault this special evening's entertainment.