Live Review: Neil Finn with Ebba Forsberg at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, 7/19/98

With comparisons to Lennon and/or McCartney, Neil Finn may be the most underappreciated singer/songwriter (and guitarist!) in the history of the underrated. After pulling Split Enz into the hitsville mainstream kicking and screaming, Finn moved on to the short-lived band The Mullanes (from his middle name), then onto Crowded House. That name came from the extremely crowded conditions of the apartment in the U.S. in which the singer was crammed togther with drummer Paul Hester and bassist Nick Seymour. 

Finn created a commercial and critical beauty on his solo debut album Try Whistling This. The pure power pop masterpiece underscores his seemingly limitless talent and boundless imagination when discovering songs and music in that noggin. Nearly the entire album was interwoven into the set (with the exception of “Astro”), among Crowded House and Split Enz faves, including one magnificent Finn Brothers tune “Suffer Never.” Neil explains the song on his website, “I wrote that in Auckland with Tim. It’s a love song about not wishing ill of women, wishing them strength and comfort and recognising they are the great earth mother. But that’s over-explaining things.”

Joining Neil onstage was his 14-year-old son Liam, who took up the guitar on a few and drums on others, making the old man proud. Speaking of family, I was with my bride who was about five months along with our first child. That night counts as his first rock concert, I don’t care what anyone says. NOTE: four years later, we attended a very hot and loud outdoor show with Cheap Trick. Same rule applies. Incidentally, the gorgeous album art was done by none other than Finn’s youngest son, Elroy, who was around eight or nine at the time.

Finn powered through the night, entertaining fans musically, as well as with his famous between-songs banter. He’s a storyteller in every sense of the word with a sense of humor that never quits. Whistling was considered experimental and diverse by some, as the singer ventured outside the lines of pop-rock. It’s a moody and complex album, making it a departure from his hooky, straight forward pop arrangements of Crowded House. Pump the breaks on that, because the single “She Will Have Her Way” is one of the poppiest things he’s ever made. It’s a real beauty.

Among the night’s other musical selections were a couple of Split Enz classics (aren’t they all?), including “One Step Ahead” and “I Got You” (both written by Neil shortly after joining the prog/art rock crew at 19. Plenty of Crowded House tunes were shared with “Private Universe,” “Mean To Me,” and “Four Seasons In One Day” among others. But it’s the new stuff from Whistling that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. For example, “Sinner” jumps into your veins with a jazzy, funky sound that simultaneously comes at you from left field but remains a Finn thing. “Twisty Bass” is like nothing he’s done. On the night’s beautiful and ethereal closer “Addicted,” Finn sings, “And you say I was addicted to the drug / Now I know when I’ve had enough / Could curl up and sleep on the floor / But now I’m riding the train a hundred miles an hour.” The song translates as an incantation, a piece of sorcery, surely. What else could make us all feel this way?

Opener Ebba Forsberg was along for the ride supporting her solo debut Been There. That album’s single “Hold Me,” enjoyed extensive popularity. The pop singer’s more mellow sound provided the perfect equilibrium to Finn’s set.

For more fantastic happenings on all things Finn, check out his website.