The following is a brief and completely arbitrary review.
Crowded House put on an inspiring and sometimes surprising performance at Washington, D.C.'s 930 Club on Friday, May 2.
The band delved deeply into their back catalog early, making "World Where You Live" the second song of their 2-hour set. Mixed in with older material were some compelling new songs the band is trying out on tour, including "789" and the moody pop of "Isolation." Saying the band felt free to try out the new numbers "among friends," frontman Neil Finn cautioned the band was still tinkering with the new numbers and they "may sound completely different next time."
Absent from the show were any songs from the band's 2007 reunion album, "Time on Earth."
A transcendent "Distant Sun" was a highlight of the first half of the show, with second-year drummer Matt Sherrod seeming blissed-out while driving the song from its casual opening to its propulsive close.
While each of the foursome -- joined by opening act Don McGlashan on many numbers -- sounded in fine form, Sherrod was particularly strong, showing a strong presence throughout. The sound quality was a bit fuzzy at times, but that may have just been because I was tucked into the crowd just a few feet away from the stage-left speakers.
Sherrod's drumming brought the lengthy encore to another frakkin' plane during "Private Universe." The song never used to be among my favorite CH tracks; now, I cannot comprehend what the hell I was thinking. As Sherrod brought his own flavor to the Maori-inspired rhythms of the close and Mark Hart provided sizzling pedal steel guitar lines, the music utterly blasted my ass out.
Objection O' The Night: Audience participation. Yeah, crowd-singing on "Weather with You" is a Crowded House tradition, but let's draw the line there. I don't go to shows to hear asshat Aussies or any other audience members warble along to "Whispers and Moans" or, god help us, literally oohing and aahing while Finn improvises a tune.
UPDATE: Yes, they DID play "English Trees."
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