Four Crowded Hours

Yesterday I went with K, my brother J, and K's friend J2 to see Crowded House. It was awesome awesome awesome. The only downside was that I got gastro, and so I sat with dinosaurs tearing up my insides. (Story may have been exaggerated to add dramatic effect).

They were supported by an Irish group called The Walls & Australians Augie March. The Walls were ok, I wasn't really listening. Was kinda trying to sleep during that bit, on account of dinosaurs. Augie March were like how I feel about Augie March cds. I love some songs, and the rest of them aren't great to me. It feels a bit lame to say, but truthfully, the songs I enjoyed the most where the ones everybody knows. But I guess that's why people know them - because they're the most enjoyable. Anyway. Augie March played "There's No Such Place" - which is a beautiful song that I really like - and "One Crowded Hour" - hence the title + Crowded House, and these last two performances were good.

Crowded House came on and the crowd went nuts. I didn't know most of their songs from the latest album, but that was ok. They had cool lighting and after each song, a new image or prop would be added to the background - there was a giant snake eating a man, skyscrapers that came out of the ground, a tree, a caravan, a chandelier and some stuff I can't remember.

Best bits:

• Crowd singalongs. During the really popular songs, the band would stop, or just Neil Finn would play keys or acoustic, while the crowd sang. In such a big place - Rod Laver Arena - it was an awesome sound. They did it for "Fall At Your Feet", "Don't Dream, It's Over", "Weather With You" and "Better Be Home Soon". It was coolness.
• Their keys/backup guitar/backup vocals guy also played the melodica. I love. Mum gave one to me to play when I was a kid.
• When the band went off stage, to milk an encore, a whole group of dogs got released onto the stage. They fetched something and then left. This wasn't really a best bit, but was so weird I though I should mention it.
• During the final song - "Better Be Home Soon" - Neil Finn remarked on how people used to wave lighters and now it's mobile phones. He had all the lights turned down and the whole crowd lit up their lighters or phones and waved them. It looked awesome to see thousands of lights in darkness while everybody sang.

It was a fun night, and I really enjoyed seeing some good music. I even forgot about the raptors in my intestines for a while.