CROWDED HOUSE – Brighton Centre, October 12, 2024

The evolving satellite that is Crowded House beamed down into Brighton on Saturday night, parking two luxury coaches and a pair of giant trucks at the rear of the town’s big seafront venue and entertaining a packed, mostly standing, audience to two hours and, by my count, 26 songs, two of which seemed like impromptu jams. The bulk of the setlist, however, was a deftly chosen selection of five tracks from their new album Gravity Stairs, the remainder a delightful excursion through their past, a deep well of wonder wherein lie heaps of crowd favourites going all the way back to Split Enz. 

        There is something gorgeously uplifting about a Crowded House show: how their songs of yearning are delivered with the utmost sincerity yet, at the same time, how they banter amongst themselves, occasionally bickering or taking the mickey; how they encourage crowd participation of a higher standard that at most gigs, at least last night; and, perhaps most of all, how they react with one another, looking like they’re having so much fun while playing and singing flawlessly. It’s infectious. They’re a great pop band, always have been, and no mistake.

        This latest edition of CH numbers eight, with Neil Finn front and centre, the principal singer and writer, without whom CH would not exist. He’s looking a tad older these days, his head of bushy hair now grey, his sports jacket an antidote to fashion, and he’s content nowadays to leave the lion’s share of the tricky guitar work, the solos and fills, to his son Liam who stands on his right and rises reliably to the role. For most of the set Neil plays acoustic, 6- and 12-strings, and permits himself only the odd solo on electric, and his singing voice, that yearning tenor, shows no signs of deterioration through age. 

        On the other side of the stage there’s bass player Nick Seymour, white Fender Precision worn low, lurking around in baggy check trousers and playing deft lines high and low of his four strings. Nick is also showing signs of age but, as bass players go, he has a higher profile than most, as befitting his long service alongside Neil, and he likes to go walkabout on stage, striding purposefully behind Neil to the other side of Liam and back, letting us all know that he enjoys his job and is as crucial to the CH ambience as all the Finns, now numbering three with Neil’s younger son, Elroy, on drums behind his dad. 

        On keyboards at the back is Mitchell Froom, distinguished producer of records by CH and many others. Determinedly anti-fashion, with a receding hairline and wearing what looks like discount-store spectacles, his appearance suggests a harried state-school geography teacher, and he maintains the lowest profile of anyone while offering the organ wash and piano flourishes that underpin so many of CH’s best songs. To his left, after Elroy, we have another percussionist, Paul Taylor, who takes over the main kit when Elroy plays occasional guitar, and, perhaps surprisingly, two Greek musicians, Tryfon Baitsis on acoustic guitar and Elias Dendias playing a frequently prominent bouzouki which sounds a bit like a mandolin. Most, if not all, of these musicians sing, offering up a choir of unusual depth and scope. 

        Crowded House, all eight of them, arrived in the dark carrying lanterns, puzzling everyone, and when the lights came up we beheld a stage decorated with frond-like tentacles, some arcing over the musicians, all of which made the stage look a bit like an undersea painting. They hit the right note immediately: ‘Weather With You’, one of their best-known songs and one most bands might choose to save for their encore. It set the tone for the evening. They were here to please and for the first half hour there were no introductions, no messing about, as they slid through ‘Teenage Summer’, from the new album, ‘World Where You Live’, ‘Something So Strong, ‘Fall At Your Feet’ and another new one, ‘Oh Hi’. The old favourites were greeted like friends arriving at a house party. 

        There was characteristic CH banter before ‘To The Island’, from their 2021 album Dreamers Are Waiting, with Nick claiming for no particular reason that his bass lines were what most fans came to CH shows to hear, with Neil disagreeing, and it continued after ‘Black And White Boys’ when a roadie brought on a small piano for Neil to play and sing another new song, ‘Black Water, White Circle’. This involved a warm-hearted appreciation for his crew, which, if I remember rightly, contrasted sharply with the last CH show I saw when he and a roadie got into a furious – but probably staged – argument about his guitar being out of tune. Neil continued to play the small piano for ‘Whispers And Moans’, ‘Either Side Of The World, from Intriguer, and a lovely, warm-hearted ‘Message To My Girl’, the starry-eyed late-period Split Enz song. 

        By now CH’s professionalism, fluency and easy-on-the-ears songs had won over an already sympathetic crowd and they followed up with two more gilt-edged winners: ‘Fingers Of Love’ and ‘Private Universe’, the latter offering Elroy a chance to excel on his kit and the whole band to stretch out on an extended coda. In concert, CH are a meatier proposition than on record, and though no one grandstands in the manner of instrumentalists who solo endlessly, the depth of their individual skills was as evident as it was understated. 

        When the ovation died down, Neil introduced the two Greek musicians who entertained us with some traditional dance music, the kind of thing that often accompanies the smashing of plates in restaurants that serve taramasalata and souvlaki, washed down with Retsina. This served as a prelude to ‘When You Come’ which, pardon the pun, reached a shattering climax, and brought to mind CH’s fondness for songs with loosely erotic undertones, three of which – ‘Whispers And Moans’, ‘Fingers Of Love’ and this one – they chose to play tonight. I wouldn’t have minded hearing the fourth in this sub-genre, ‘Into Temptation’, which is suggestive of adultery, but it was not to be.

Finn brothers Liam (left) and Elroy, with Mitchell Froom in the background. 

        ‘Thirsty’, another new one, featured the three Finns, father and sons, in a line on guitars at the front, Neil and Elroy on acoustic and Liam on Telecaster, whereupon Elroy reassumed the kit and CH delighted everyone with ‘Four Seasons In One Day’, a mass singalong, then moved into the closing stretch with ‘Pineapple Head’, ‘The Howl’, from Gravity Stairs, a fast and furious ‘Locked Out’, the superb ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, their first hit, which I mistakenly assumed was the show closer, and the equally splendid ‘Distant Sun’. 

        There was a break before the encores: ‘It’s Only Natural’ – preceded by an impromptu groove, ‘Saturday Night In Brighton’, made up on the spot by Liam – followed by ‘Some Greater Plan (For Claire)’, the loveliest song on the new album, and a concluding ‘Better Be Home Soon’, inspiring yet more singing from the appreciative audience. Neil was the last to leave the stage, gracefully acknowledging the applause and had the lights not come up I’m pretty sure the crowd would have welcomed plenty more from his private musical universe.