Reviewed on Saturday May 31
A saxophonist is playing ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ on the footpath while thousands of people stroll the traffic-emptied lanes of George Street, ogling the distant reflections of the Vivid festival lights in skyscraper windows. Buskers were tipped like it was Christmastime; Angel Place festooned in warm lights and empty birdcages. No better atmosphere to revisit one of the great songwriters in the middle age of a career that has spanned Split Enz, Finn Brothers and Crowded House; the latter to such enduring acclaim it’s very difficult to imagine a world without them.
When Neil Finn wanders onto the stage, he looks just like everyone’s favourite daggy uncle. Hair unkempt, shirt ruffled. He has just turned 57, but from the moment Finn launches into ‘When You Come’, you’re hearing a voice that age has somehow overlooked. The man can bloom from a whisper to a wail with the same confidence and clarity as on any recording from his early days, and while this is showcased across the breadth of his performance, there are nevertheless instances when tonight’s orchestral arrangements do not quite hit the mark.
At the evening’s peak the stage is shared with 13 other musicians – a guest appearance from members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. On the whole they instil a sense of wonder and expectancy to the set, most evident in the riveting highlight, ‘Private Universe’, where as the strings fade you find yourself stunned out from a trance. ‘One Step Ahead’ is similarly splendid. Yet there are occasions where it seems the arrangement and the song are running on parallel tracks, crossing paths only by chance and never complementary. ‘In My Blood’ is one such instance, as is the falsetto ‘Divebomber’, sung in higher register almost as though Finn is trying to recapture the small frightened boy who gave the song its genesis. I’m not certain it works, though even when the night does tarry, you cannot help but be impressed at the scale of his aspirations.
It is hard, too, not to be swept away in the communal nostalgia that Finn’s voice seems to conjure – and frankly, why would you want to resist? There are two instances when he encourages the audience to join in song – ‘Catherine Wheel’ and ‘Gentle Hum’ – and stirring as these moments are, most people have been singing all evening anyhow. Performed solo, ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ has the hall enraptured, but the true treat comes at the encore. ‘Distant Sun’, ‘Better Be Home Soon’, and almost as an afterthought, stopping at the Steinway as he goes to leave the stage, ‘Fall At Your Feet’.
A soaring, spellbinding performance by one of the greats. And then once more into the night, into the lanes of linked arms and wide eyes, drawn back towards the colours and the sea.
