Crowded House and the Michigander at Fallsview

Australian rock band Crowded House recently came out with their 8th studio effort called ‘Gravity Stairs’ back in May. The band is currently on tour in support of the album.

It isn’t often that Crowded House tours North America, so when they had a gig booked at the OLG Stage in Niagara Falls, Ontario, it was a must-see. Opening the show was a band from Michigan called Michigander.

Michigander is really centered around the multi-instrumentalist Jason Singer. He was accompanied only by Jake LeMond, as they just performed as a two-piece outfit. They played a 30-minute set that included “Things Will Get Better, “Stay Out of It,” and “High Hopes,” to name a few. They had great comradery between them. They cracked jokes and came off very endearing to the audience.

Headlining the set was Crowded House. The group still consists of original members Neil Finn on vocals, keys, and guitar and Nick Seymour on bass and backing vocals.

They surrounded themselves with Mitchell Froom on keyboards and Neil Finn’s sons in Liam Finn on lead guitar and Elroy Finn on drums. The band played a whopping 23 tracks, including 3 tracks off the new album. What should be noted is that the band played a few tracks that have never been performed live in “Four Seasons in One Day” and “Hole in the River.” Elroy Finn came up to the front to play brushes on a snare drum for “Four Seasons in One Day.” They had an audience request for “Nails in My Feet,” which they did a fantastic job on too. They even dusted off the hidden track of “Too Good for This World” off the ‘Dreamers Are Waiting’ album.

Finn asked where people came in the audience and said that his room had a beautiful view of the falls. He even asked if anyone came from Buffalo. He said he is familiar with Buffalo as he recorded his solo record 'Dizzy Heights' in Fredonia, NY, back in 2014.

Throughout the show, both Finn and Seymour were out front, joking around in between some tracks. Neil Finn played mini piano for a few tracks, including “Black Water, White Circle.” They had some fun incorporating some Devo snippets at the end of the set.

They exited the stage and returned to big fanfare for the 3 encores they did.

It was my first time seeing Crowded House, and I have to say, I was impressed. They changed the setlist and kept it fresh for the audience. Finn’s voice still has held true to form after all these years. Let’s hope that the band will remain active, and we will see them back sooner than later.