Something ticked off my bucket list....

In the summer of 1987, I went to the Oregon State Fair with my girlfriends Emily and Jen. It was a few months after getting my driver's license and I was the only newly licensed 16 year old that was allowed to drive up the I-5 corridor to Salem just 40 minutes away. The Oregon State Fair is your typical State Fair complete with farm animals, homemade jam and canned goods, amateur arts and crafts, cotton candy, elephant ears and rides that make you barf. While it seems like the State Fair mostly draws country bands these days, back then there were lots of cool acts like John Denver, REO Speedwagon and Pat Benetar. For some odd reason, in the summer of 1987, a little band with New Zealand and Australian origins called Crowded House was performing for free. It was during the time that you could not turn on the radio without hearing this:



I had heard the song and liked it and thought, great! Let's check them out! So, Jen, Emily and I ended up in the 3rd row of the amphitheater. Neil Finn (a New Zealander by birth), Nick Seymour and Paul Hester (Aussies by birth) came out on stage in these ornate costumes:


And it was 95 degrees out. So, after a few witty exchanges with each other in their New Zealand and Australian accents and deciding they were over dressed for the weather, they stripped down to their boxer shorts and started to play their set. And I became a die hard Crowded House and Neil Finn fan from that moment on.

Now, it wasn't the boxer shorts that won me over so quickly but surely it showed how goofy and fun the band was. They loved to joke with each other on stage and had the whole crowd laughing. This is one of the special things about Crowded House and Neil as any fan will tell you. This proved to be true for every one of their tours I have seen over the years. One notable conversation on stage had them talking about playing tennis with their penises (Temple of Low Men Tour, Starry Night Club in Portland, Oregon, 1989).

And then there is his voice. THAT VOICE!!! Neil's voice is like an arrow straight to my heart. I love his voice. Just have a listen:



And though his lyrics are often quirky, I think they are brilliant, poignant, whimsical....poetic. Sigh.... Can you tell that I am in love?

I have seen Crowded House at the (now non-existent) Fox Theater in Portland and the Warfield in San Francisco in 1992 (Woodface tour), the Roseland Theater in Portland in 1994 (Together Alone tour though without Paul who had left the tour by then). Most recently I saw them at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland in 2007 (Time on Earth Tour), sadly minus Paul Hester who committed suicide in 2005 but with the bright addition of Matt Sherrod on drums. I have also seen Neil on his solo gigs (Try Whistling This and One All) at the Roseland in Portland in 1998 and 2002 and The Finn Brothers (Everyone is Here ) at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland in 2004. Crowded House released their album Intriguer last year, not too long after our arrival in New Zealand, which meant that I had to lament missing them at the Edgefield in Portland last August.

If I were to make a "bucket list", one of the top things I would have on that list is living abroad- Tick! Another thing that would be on the list is to see Crowded House or Neil Finn in concert in New Zealand.

And that is exactly what I am going to do this Sunday! Tick!