NEIL FINN IN STOCKHOLM 1998
Before the gig, the plan was that the Swedish list members (past,
present and/or future) and their friends should all have dinner
together at a restaurant near the venue. Due to some confusion, we
ended up in two restaurants next to each other... the one I was in
was actually an Australian one which served things such as
"Kangaroo burger", "Pineapple marinated crocodile" and "Emu
skewer". My friend Marja (former and future list member) used the
Antipodean connection to persuade the staff to play the "Finn" CD
while we were eating.
In any case, we were all reunited in the front row when the venue,
Studion, once opened. Studion is a very good place, holds around
300-400 persons and usually has very good sound systems.
Among those in the front row were Jenny and Marja who both were at
Neil's "super secret" showcase gig for media and music industry
people in Stockholm in June. Also in the front row
were Lina, who had sung with Neil on stage in Copenhagen the
previous evening.
THE SUPPORT ACT
New Zealand singer/songwriter Bic Runga was the opening act. I had
heard of her but hadn't heard any of her music and was a bit
worried she would sound like Mariah Carey or some such artist.
Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. Bic Runga performed solo, just
she and an acoustic guitar, and was really great. She has a really
great voice and some great songs too. The crowd really appreciated
her performance, especially a song called "Sorry". I think Neil was
watching her performance from the wings - she glanced sideways a
few times and seemed to smile at someone.
(A few days later, I went out and bought Bic Runga's album "Drive"
which is highly recommended).
NEIL FINN
At around 9.45 p.m., Neil came on stage with an acoustic guitar.
The first song was "Last One Standing" which sounded really great
with just an acoustic, in my opinion it surpassed the album
version. Occasionally when one hears an unplugged rendition of an
album song it can be disappointing, but not this time. Neil's voice
sounded excellent too. Superb versions of "Private Universe" and
"Only Talking Sense" followed, before Neil switched to the piano.
As he sat down by the piano, he commented "Now you'll only be able
to see my face... I haven't exercised for a few months, you
wouldn't want to see the rest of me anyway". A couple of women
behind me called out "Yes, we do!!" :-)
Neil played "Try Whistling This" and "Faster Than Light" on the
piano. He mentioned that he had done an interview and the
journalist had said that "Faster Than Light" was obviously written
about his son. Neil revealed to us he didn't know what the song was
about at the time, but agreed with the journalist that that was
obviously what the song was about.
Neil went back to his acoustic guitar and three Crowded House songs
followed - "Distant Sun", "Fall At Your Feet" and "Pineapple Head".
The crowd seemed to be familiar with the Crowded House tunes, the
enthusiasm level definitely went up for these songs and there was a
fair deal of singing done by the crowd.
Neil introduced Liam on stage. Liam played electric guitar and did
some backing vocals for the next song, "Sinner". For "Suffer
Never", father and son switched guitars. During this song, Neil
messed around with the guitar effect boxes for a few minutes while
Liam kept the song going on his acoustic. Eventually, Neil too
returned to the actual song itself and finished it to a great
reception.
Bic Runga joined the Finns on stage, sitting down behind the piano
and playing maraccas (or something like that) and adding harmonies.
She was on stage for three songs - "Souvenir", "Spirit of the
Stairs" and "King Tide".
"She Will Have Her Way" followed and then Neil and Liam left the
stage to thunderous cheering and clapping. Within a few moments,
Neil returned to the stage and began talking about his tour in the
States with Swedish artist Ebba Forsberg as the support act. He
said they had had a great time during the tour and that two members
of her band was in the audience this evening. Neil then went on to
dedicate the next song, "She Goes On", to Ms Forsberg.
The next track was not on the set list and was an unexpected
selection - Neil played "Play It Strange", an unreleased song by
Phil Judd from circa 1978! It was a nice, weird song, very
"Judd-ish". This was followed by "Four Seasons In One Day", another
crowd favourite. ("Four Seasons" wasn't on the set list either -
according to the set list he should have played "Addicted").
The enthusiastic handclapping by the audience after this song
reminded Neil of the old Kinks' classic "You Really Got Me", so he
spontaneously decided to play that. Liam had returned to the stage
by now, but he didn't participate in this song. Maybe he didn't
know what song it was?
Neil and Liam finished off the first set of encores with an eminent
version of "Fingers Of Love". I was particularly impressed by
Liam's electric guitar playing in this song.
The second set of encores - or the "Dream set" as Neil called it -
started off with "Dream Date". For good measure, they threw in
parts of "Money's No Object" (from one of the UK "It's Only
Natural" CD singles) in it. When Crowded House did their last show
in Sweden in June 1994, they played a full version of "Money's No
Object", but it doesn't seem to be played so often outside
Stockholm for some reason.
The show finished off with Neil solo, performing "Don't Dream It's
Over".
It was a fantastic gig and it's pure heaven to hear these songs in
acoustic versions. "Try Whistling This" hasn't sold particularly
well in Sweden (especially not compared with "Woodface" and
"Together Alone") so before the gig I was worried there wouldn't be
many people at this show. Studion is a very good venue if it is
"sold out", but it can feel very desolate otherwise. Neil actually
got a capacity crowd and we got to hear a great number of songs -
no less than 21 songs! I don't think anyone went home disappointed.
The full set list was:
1. Last One Standing
2. Private Universe
3. Only Talking Sense
4. Try Whistling This
5. Faster Than Light
6. Distant Sun
7. Fall At Your Feet
8. Pineapple Head
9. Sinner
10. Suffer Never
11. Souvenir
12. Spirit Of The Stairs
13. King Tide
14. She Will Have Her Way
encores 1:
15. She Goes On
16. Play It Strange
17. Four Seasons In One Day
18. You Really Got Me
19. Fingers Of Love
encores 2:
20. Dream Date / Money's No Object
21. Don't Dream It's Over
Ah, what a wonderful show! Hopefully Neil will come back to Sweden
on his next tour...
Stefan Warnqvist, 6th
November 1998 (adapted to this site on 9th November 1998)
Back to Music page
Home