The Roxy - November 10, 1998
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It wasn't really necessary for Neil Finn to remind me that he is a
brilliant artist and showman, but that is just what he did Wednesday
night at the Roxy. He didn't do it with cocky statements or through
shameless posturing. He did it by stripping his songs down to their
barest elements (acoustic guitar, piano, voice) and putting them on
display for a lucky group of people. Neil Finn took the stage at about 9:30, armed only with an acoustic guitar, and tore into "Last One Standing" from his first solo effort Try Whistling This, setting the energy level in the room to "high". Not to say that his set included nothing but upbeat numbers, on the contrary, some of the best moments of the nights were also the most subtle. An amazing and even more minimal then on the album performance of "Try Whistling This", with Neil on grand piano, was one of the highlights of the evening. The first "friend" to join Neil on Wednesday was former Crowded House-mate Mark Hart who provide guitar, piano and vocals on several songs including "Distant Sun" and a stunning version of "Fall at Your Feet". The later ending with the first of several audience sing-alongs of the evening. One of the greatest moments of the evening came when Neil was joined on stage by Wendy Melvoin (Wendy & Lisa, Girl Bros., ex-Prince & the Revolution) providing electric guitar on "Sinner" and solid, grooving acoustic rhythm guitar on the Finn Brothers tune "Suffer Never", which ended with a five minute Neil Finn guitar "freak-out". Neil's final guest for the evening was none other than Sheryl Crow. Finn and Crow bounced between acoustic guitar and piano, and shared vocal duties on several tunes including "It's Only Natural", "Weather With You", "Souvenir" and a stunning version of Cheryl Crow's "Home" for which Neil supplied piano and vocal harmonies. Finn was joined again by Mark Hart and Sheryl Crow (but unfortunately not Wendy Melvoin) during his two encores and closed the evenings festivities with the obligatory "Don't Dream It's Over". Finn's last words for the cheering audience were, "Thank you Los Angeles. See you next year". Godspeed, Neil Finn. |
Review By:
-Steve Wilson
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