Live Review: Crowded House at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park in Atlanta, 8/30/24

Neil Finn has asserted that, “The gravity stairs are symbolic of the struggle to ascend, acknowledging the opposing forces of weight on the mechanics of living. It’s an act of will everyday.” He concedes his aging but chooses to evolve creatively. Such is the spirit of the new release Gravity Stairs. To say Neil Finn, through all his musical iterations, has enriched my life is an understatement. I did appreciate Split Enz but had yet to dive in headfirst. Then came that fortuitous 1987 phone call to KY-102 for free tickets for a Bruce Hornsby and the Range show. The opener that night was three blokes from down under, Neil Finn, Paul Hester, and Nick Seymour, also known as Crowded House. I was blown away by the songwriting, harmonies, musicianship, and especially the camaraderie and banter. Finn and Hester had been late additions to the Enz and after that group called it quits in 1984, Finn recruited Seymour on bass and formed The Mullanes (taken from Finn’s middle name). They acquired a record deal with Capitol Records, who requested a name change, as they often do. Their new moniker alluded to the lack of space in the tiny Hollywood Hills house they shared while recording the debut album. 

I met my bride-to-be later that year who has shared my love for the trio. This became our band. Chapters in my life, the ups and downs, and specific memories are linked to a soundtrack for the ages. Crowded House inhabits many of those events. Some 37 years later, we find ourselves at yet another brilliant evening with the band touring their latest release, Gravity Stairs. Getting into this album was a slow burn for me, with its mostly low-key approach. There may not be any giant radio hits, but Crowdies aren’t here for that but present for the Neil Finn songwriting, superb guitar, that voice, and simply the man himself.

Promoting the band’s eighth studio album has illustrated that famous Finn passion for entertaining and connecting with fans. For almost four decades, this evolving group of musicians has created some of pop music’s most lasting memories and there appears to be plenty of fuel left in that creative tank. As has been the case for the last couple of tours, Liam Finn opened the show with a fiery set of his originals, starting it off with “Lead Balloon,” from his 2007 debut I’ll Be Lightning. He exhibited a skillful panache as he recorded loops on his guitar before mounting the drum kit and taking off like a rocket. Check out an earlier live version HERE. Liam officially joined Crowded House, along with younger brother Elroy, for the 2021 release Dreamers Are Waiting. Producer-musician Mitchell Froom joined on keys, and original bassist Nick Seymour has been there since the beginning.

As the nine o’clock hour neared, the band took to the stage and lit into what I consider to be their greatest non-album track, “Recurring Dream.” It was formally released on the 1999 compilation Afterglow, consisting of B-sides, outtakes, and rarities. And the first for me hearing it live. Spectacular. The evening’s set list was a treat for fans with hits and deeper cuts from nearly all their releases. Several tracks from Gravity were performed including “Oh Hi,” “Teenage Summer,” and Liam’s own “The Howl.”

Neil announced, “We come from an island. Actually three islands,” referring to the band’s makeup of the two New Zealand isles plus Australia as they launched into “To The Island” from the last album (“The world is beyond us / It’s too enormous / But oh, the island is just right / It’s the perfect size”). As expected, the show was peppered with singalongs, and the fans did their job. Some of the most memorable moments occurred when Neil would gaze over at one or both of his sons with a father’s pride, almost an awe. Elroy has become a very good drummer and offers backup vocals, as well. Liam has been in this game for quite sometime, though. When the bride and I saw Neil’s first solo tour back in 1998, there was 14-year-old Liam onstage playing guitar with the old man. The kid (now 40) can play everything, is always turned up to 11, and clearly possesses zero stage fright.

During the wildly awesome “Sister Madly,” from 1988’s Temple of Low Men, Seymour broke into the seventies hit “Love Is In The Air” by fellow Aussie John Paul Young. Refreshing and seemingly unplanned, the crowd joined in. That classic was reprised by Neil to start the next song “Either Side Of The World,” a forgotten beauty from 2010’s Intriguer. As mentioned, the band played something from every release, with the exception of Time On Earth. Especially exciting were the Split Enz covers including the wonderful “Message To My Girl.”

For the encore, Neil announced that they’d posted a poll for fans to choose a song to play at each venue on the tour, “You know, those QR code things that are everywhere these days.” That song was “I Got You,” his 1980 hit with Split Enz. Talk about your singalongs…everyone with a voice shouting, “I don’t know why sometimes I get frightened!” After, the Finns chatted up the infamous and medieval “hard curfew” for all Chastain shows at 11:00 sharp. Neil announced, “We’re gonna go deep now, let’s go deep, shall we” and launched “Fingers Of Love.” Liam then exclaimed, “We’ve got six minutes I reckon we can squeeze two songs in real quick!” Neil then says, “Two songs, yeah!”

The group lit into another Enz cover, the pre-Neil tune “Sweet Dreams,” Before the closer “Better Be Home Soon,” As the clock struck eleven, the plug was pulled. Following a short shout of “boos!” from the audience, Neil continued singing and we all joined him with the final, “And that’s why I tell you, you’d better be home soon.” It was and ending filled with emotion and joy.

For more info on Crowded House tour dates, visit their site. See setlist below along with the Spotify playlist to match that setlist.