played an exceptional two-hour set Thursday night to a relatively older, just over half-capacity crowd. Two other hot shows ( and ) were happening down the street, so perhaps thatap where the younger music fans were.
Still, itap hard to catch the attention of some hip, younger fans if you’ve committed the Cardinal sin of having had a hit single from the ’80s and are over 40 years-old (lead singer Neil Finn is 52). Crowded House’s set did anything but serve up nostalgia, though. The additions of former Beck drummer Mark Sherrod and Mark Hart on keyboard, lap steel and vocals have revitalized Crowded House’s live shows.
After more than a year together on the road and in the studio, CH 2.0 now plays considerably tighter; their sound is far broader and altogether more forceful than last year’s Denver show (the sound at the Fillmore was outstanding, among the best I’ve heard there). The well-paced set list seamlessly mixed gems from the band’s first incarnation with several songs from the band’s two recent albums, especially the well-received “Intriguer,” released this past spring.
The audience at the Fillmore, for the most part, enthusiastically applauded the newer songs, unlike some older acts whose new songs often inspire even their hardcore fans to hit the beer line or take a bathroom break. Older songs like “Nails In My Feet” sounded newer and better. The few extended instrumental passages weren’t too far from sounding like Radiohead, My Morning Jacket or even like some neo-psych bands, depending on the song’s point of departure. Crowded House has always sounded great on record, and the ability for CH 2.0 to re-interpret their catalog only adds to their appeal.
The set closer, “When You Come” was a tour-de-force; the band turning an already-great song from 1988 into something that, as played live on Thursday night, could slip comfortably on the radio between other baroque pop acts like Arcade Fire and Death Cab For Cutie.
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Mike Long is a Longmont-based writer and comedian and a regular contributor to Reverb.
John DiTirro is a Denver-based photographer and a Digital Ad Trafficker at The Denver Post. Check out .
