Lovely Crowded House's Last Lovely Concert

[schmacko]

Farewell to the World.

The DVD and CD come out today. I am going directly to my favorite independant record store straightways after work. I know I have a few DD/CH fans around here somewhere!



*Also, for note, drummer Paul Hester is no longer with us; he committed suicide two years ago. *sniff* - he looks so happy here at the end of the song!

[taylorsmom]

I always liked Crowded House.. But never bought any of their cds..

I'll look into buying it for myself..

Thanx for the heads up..

[schmacko]

If you want to get their under-rated masterpiece, IMHO, it's their second CD Temple of Low Men.

[Peter Griffin]

I had a chance to meet them back in 92... They all were really cool and signed a promo cd for me. I even got them to sign my Split Endz album.

[schmacko]

*jealous!*

Ahh, that would be great!

[cath]

Oh, Crowded House... such a fantastic band. The only band I really regret not seeing when they played a concert here in Stockholm...

[kiwifan]

Great song. Can't help but feel sad when I hear Crowded House now. So sad that Paul Hester is no longer with us.

[Deleted]

I've had both the cd and DVD for awhile now........love the cd! I've watched all the extras on the DVD I just haven't gotten around to watching the actual concert. *puts on to-do list*

There are also clips at www.farewelltotheworld.com/

[schmacko]

A few things I’ve noticed after watching everything last night

- It seems they ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to mention the suicide or to pay a memoriam to Paul in the current documentaries and interviews. Strange. They mention drummer Paul Hester a lot, but there is no sense of what happened to him – once, it is mentioned that he is dead.

- During the current Neil/Nick interviews, for much of the time, bassist Nick Seymour seems unwilling to engage. Instead he is looking to the side away from Neil and NOT LOOKING HAPPY. Only late does he engage a little, and he’s critical. Then he goes back into looking at the side and scowling more.

- One music critic stated that Crowded House was the band most people would want to run away with. They seemed genial guys, and they looked like they were having fun. The image from the outside was that joining Crowded House was the more convivial version of running away to join the circus. However, their image as a happy-go-lucky band gets a bit destroyed here.

- Also, it is very, very clear that this was Neil’s band to keep going or to stop. It is obvious that he wrote all but a handful of the songs, and that he was the major musical force. Which makes one wonder why he went with a band after Split Enz and not solo until years later. It’s as if he wanted to create a surrogate family, and after Paul left, Neil clearly decided that that family was divorced – that Crowded House would be no more.

- It makes one wonder about the different nature of bands. With DD, it’s clear one of them brings something to the table and all band members have a go at shaping it in one way or another. In the Beatles, there were Paul songs, John songs, a few George song, and Ringo screwing around mostly. In Crowded House, except for literally 4 songs, they were all Neil’s. Paul did the artwork and was the goof. Why didn’t Neil go solo? I think there is a clue in that Neil seems to have thought of the band also as an itinerate family.

- Which brings us to Nick Seymour. He admits then and now that he felt there was one more great album in them. He says over and over – then and now – that he was downright shocked and surprised that both Paul and Neil admitted they didn’t want to be the best band in the world – that both Paul (who was starting to sink into depression) and Neil were sick of touring and wanted a private life. I think this devastated Nick. I believe he saw his job in the band to be one of the greatest champions of Neil’s musical genius, and he was flabbergasted that Neil himself wouldn’t go for it.

- Which brings us to Tim, who joined them for one album: Woodface. Obviously, he and his younger brother Neil wrote brilliant songs for the album Woodface. But that on stage, he was “just up there shaking a tambourine.” Here, Neil’s talent had so permeated the band by that third album that Tim – himself a founding member of Split Enz and the champion of Neil’s early career – found he was never going to creatively be equal to the stuff his little brother had already done. Imagine being a talented musician and a mentor, and then having your little brother so overshadow you talent-wise and media-wise like that. That’s why he left the bad – with no major hard feelings – half-way through the Woodface tour.

- Which brings us to kayboardish/guitarist Mark Hart, who joined them for their last two albums. I think he always saw himself as a hired gun. I also think he knew he’d never have as great a job as Crowded House, and that he wanted to BECOME a part of the band, that he – like Nick – felt they left the game too early and that there was still one great album in them.

- So much revolved around Neil’s talent and Paul’s outgoing stage antics and artwork. How hard it must’ve been that Neil can be so insular. And then when Paul’s depression would start to rear its angry head, it must’ve been devastating.

- All this may kill the image of Crowded House as a genial, fun-loving band. But I still think a large part of that image was true.

- Neil was supposed to tell the world on stage in June 1996 that the band was over, but he just couldn’t. He said, “We are all looking forward to the future with relish.” That was it. If he thought of them as a family, then this breakup must’ve been too hard to admit in public.

- Which gave the possibility for this one great concert in front of 120,000+ fans in their home country. It could’ve been seen as maudlin or even gauche, but I think it was a lovely celebration of 10 years of amazing music. It’s really worth that after you know the entire back story. How heart-breaking it is to hear Hole in the River (the song about Neil's aunt's suicide) on-stage and live, knowing that 9 years later drummer Paul would kill himself. How amazing Don't Dream it's Over is as a final song of the final concert. It just makes it even more incredible. Maybe Crowded House was on the cusp of U2-like or REM-like greatness. Who can say? We’ll never know.

[Deleted]

schmacko ~ great synopsis on the DVD.

Just wanted to add a couple of things. There is an interesting interview at True Believers (a fan site for the band Hunters & Collectors) with Nick Seymour and Mark Seymour. The article touches on issues with Crowded House and the sibling rivalry between the Seymour brothers.

Article: www.humanfrailty.com.au/media/two_of_us.htm

Also if you look at the Crowded House artwork it is actually Nick that is responsible for it.

Link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Seymour

There is also a website for Tarmac Adam a band that Nick and Paul Hester had formed after Crowded House

Link: www.tarmacadam.com.au