Crowded House kicked off the UK leg of their Gravity Stairs Tour in Manchester on Tuesday night as they swooned at a packed Co-op Live Arena.
The antipodean rock band has played for multiple generations since first forming in Melbourne in 1985.
Since then, the group have sold over 15 million records worldwide and earned 13 ARIA Awards from 36 nominations.
The band will be touring Glasgow, London, Brighton, Dublin, Bournemouth and Birmingham before departing for Europe.
As I am Australian, this band was one I’ve been wanting to see for over two decades and hadn’t had much of a chance since they conducted their ‘Farewell To The World’ tour back in 1996 while I was still going through puberty.
Crowded House was one of the bands of my childhood as both of my parents and several of my siblings were big fans so I was looking forward to this opportunity to see them live.
Frontman, New Zealander Neil Finn was joined by the band’s current lineup featuring bassist Nick Seymour, keyboardist Mitchell Froom plus his sons Liam and Elroy Finn.
Neil’s talented oldest son Liam warmed the crowd up by himself as he played several instruments to produce songs while being assisted by a loop pedal.
Applause amplified throughout the arena as the band took to the stage and promptly broke into their 1992 classic, ‘Weather With You’.
Crowded House were joined throughout the evening on several songs by Elias Dendias on his Greek instrument the bouzouki, and Tryfon Baitsis on guitar.
Fans were encouraged by Neil to ‘get up and dance’ (much to the dismay of security) with the veteran musician engaging with the crowd throughout the show.
This included a humorous exchange where fans were trying to use paper planes to get song requests onto the stage with many failing miserably.
Tracks played during the show came from across Crowded House’s repertoire which showcased different eras of their music.
Recent releases such as ‘To The Island’ (2021) were complemented by the band’s more well-known, older songs including ‘It’s Only Natural’, ‘Fall At Your Feet’ and ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’.
Unfortunately for the crowd and me – at some point, we had to wake up from this dreamy journey down memory lane which had provided a pleasant respite from everyday life.
But the good news was that ‘It’s Only Natural’ was not the last song played before Crowded House moved on to Glasgow.
A four-song encore including the hits ‘Something So Strong’ and ‘Better Be Home Soon’ left fans feeling satisfied before the large crowd left the house empty as they poured out into the night air.
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A wonderful gig My first time seeing Crowded House. Audience sing-a-longs can sometimes sound a bit ropey. Not tonight though, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up during ‘Better Be Home Soon’. A word on the new COOP arena. Plenty of things to gripe about pricewise etc, all well documented … but the acoustics really are AMAZING.. no pillars or large mixing desks to muddy up the sound. Mid tier at the back sounded just wonderful.
To Nial Finn;
Wailed for 15 years to see CH; best concert of my life; thank you and the band so much !
Before the crowd left empty ? Come on..if I was reading that I would assume we left ’empty of joy’ or say when the crowd had emptied.. .reword please..as it was one of my top 3 gigs of 20 this year..
Really enjoyed the concert. Liam was excellent on all the instruments with a touch of comedy thrown on for good measure. The blend of old and new was perfect. The crowd loved it and my 12 year old daughter sang louder than anyone at her first concert.
I don’t know why this writer states that Don’t Dream It’s Over was the last song of the regular set, it was played mid performance. It’s Only Natural was the last regular
Thanks, Peter, we’ve changed this.