Neil Finn at Sydney Opera House for Vivid Live
Some artists are connected to their stages. In 1996 Crowded House bid farewell to the world and played what would be in some ways, their last ever show on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. In 2016, Neil Finn and co found their way back in modern carnation to play the songs Australians, New Zealanders and everyone in between love to hear on the very same hallowed ground. In 2018, Neil Finn is back once more only this time to perform his incredible solo offering, Out of Silence, with his orchestra.
A female led orchestra begins to weave the beautiful and intrinsic sounds of Neil Finn. His music like his voice is recognisable from afar, every note stained with his sound. Love is Emotional opens the night. It’s a family affair as his wife Sharon joins the onstage choir supporting Neil whilst his sons Liam and Elroy switch instruments as part of the supporting band.
This is the most quiet and engaged crowd I have experienced in years. It might be the demographic, but you could hear a pin drop as Neil chats comfortably with the audience like you’ve just joined him at the family dinner table. I always wonder what a Finn Christmas would be like and if you’d get kicked out for requesting Weather With You, but I digress. Neil and his orchestra of family and friends tear through the album which was recorded live online in just four hours. It’s becomes hard not to notice his sons as they really start to stand out. Liam Finn, a musician in his own right wows on percussion and even takes on the role interpretive dancer for the evening. Neil, after a performance comes to a close, gestures to his son Liam proclaiming, “Sharon, we made that!”
Sure, no one really knows the words to these new songs, but we’re all intently focused. I am only once broken from my trance when a baby begins to cry in which Neil quite calmly claims his biggest critic. It’s an evening of ease and laughter as Out of Silence draws to a close.
Neil thanks the room for spending their evening with him instead of at Vivid or what he refers to as “lights going crazy out there”. Neil and Liam perform a few of their own tracks with Where’s My Room and Hold Her Close
before sliding into the songs we all know like the linings of our very own soul. Four Seasons in One Day aches in my chest for all the reasons it meant so much to me at seventeen, much like the very intimate rendition of Private Universe.
The real hero for me is the homage to Split Enz with a stirring version of One Step Ahead which I think tops my list. Doused in red lights, Neil delivers the performance of the night before warming the rooms hearts with Don’t Dream It’s Over.
The former Crowded House frontman and his band return for a keen encore, and improvise a jam of Whole Lotta Love before diving straight into the last song of the night, another Split Enz favourite Message to My Girl.
The audience sing every word along with their frontman of many generations. It has been a perfect experience of something old, something new and something which at its heart was an evening with a very talented family.
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Find out more about Vivid Live here: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/vivid-live
Review by Samantha Dickson. Photo by Prudence Upton
