Bradford - it’s grim up North. It’s a cold night when we hit the edges of Bradford, on our way to see the Finn Brothers. I normally associate Bradford with curries and - well - grimy buildings - oh - and the National Museum Of Film Photography and television, which is - it has to be said - a beacon of interest in an otherwise quite depressing city. Sorry if you are from Bradford - but most people I know who live or work in Bradford would concur.
However - when we get into the venue,St Georges Hall, we’re transported back to the days of varieties - with beautiful gilded architecture stretching skywards. I’m blown away with the beauty.
Squeezing my way to the front to get some photos of Minnie Driver (the support act!) everyone is quietly excited. The crowd comprises mostly couples and obvious long term fans of the Finns with assorted tour t-shirts. There’s even some whole families there - kids in tow.
Minnie arrives - with a full band. Initially I had been sceptical of how she would perform - but having seen her the previous week on Jonathan Ross I knew I was in for a good show.
She has a fantastic voice and a set of well crafted pop/ country/folk songs. Her voice reminds me of Natalie Merchant - it’s rich and strong and holds the songs together. The band are well seasoned session players I suspect - the guitar player having produced the album. It’s all down home stuff - her own songs, "Invisible Girl" and "Home" are great stuff and her reworking of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" is breathtaking and earns rapturous applause.
She has a good rapport with the audience - talking about filming in the area in the past and introducing "Invisible Girl" with a monologue about walking home the morning after the night before -making us warm even more to her.
I’m a fan of female singers anyway - and I suspect the most of my top twenty of 2004 will consist of such music - there’s been so much great stuff in the genre released this year. Minnie's will definitely be part of it.
During the intermission we bump into a couple of friends - expectant parents - all full of hope for the coming months. It occurs to me that hope is the thread that runs through the Finn’s songs - both in Crowded House and solo - that looking to the future full of expectation sums up the feeling it generates. Their songs evoke those feelings, both in terms of lyrical content and melody.
The Finns hit the stage - the audience is on their side from the start. We are treated over the coming hour or two to what amounts to an amazing back catalogue, consisting of songs from Split Enz, Crowded House and solo stuff, and what a collection of songs they have to draw from.
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There is the obvious brotherly chemistry (lacking in so many combos like this - Oasis, The Kinks and The Everly Brothers (who they remind me of with their close vocal harmonies take note) - if you didn’t get on sharing a bedroom as kids, for God's sake don’t get on a tour bus with them!
"Wont Give In" from the new album "Everyone Is Here" is a fantastic song, as are the other new songs such as "Disembodied Voices" (about sharing a bedroom as kid brothers), "All The Colours" and several others brought out from the album.
However it’s the Crowded house stuff that really packs a punch, sounding every bit as beautiful and rich as it does on record. "Four Seasons In One Day", "Weather With You" and all the others are played out, Woodface being particularly well represented.
Crowded House are one of those bands that are often critically underrated and commercially not as successful as they deserve, yet while CH have obviously had their share of both, I feel that they ought to receive far more kudos.
There are so many highlights of the concert - mostly centred around the interweaving of Neil and Tim’s voices and a tight band behind them. They communicate well with the audience - creating an atmosphere of Antipodean bonhomie. During one song Tim decides to give it a bit of the old Jaggeresque dance moves, however - as my wife pointed out he actually looked more like Ollie Reed in that famous 'how many has he had' dance routine from Aspel. Sad - just don’t mate - concentrate on fantastic songs and leave such dancing to drunken dads at weddings the world over.
After the gig I put all their albums I have on my iPod and listen to it in the car on a long journey: my love of them refreshed by hearing them live. I recommend you catch them in concert, or it you can’t, go out and buy their stuff. It stands up against all the pop greats - Beatles included!
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