This is a bit different. Last time I saw Crowded House was on the steps of the Sydney Opera House last December. Tonight here we are at these intimate pop up shows and I can’t wait hear these classic songs in this environment.
The band take the stage as Neil raises his guitar and “the opening act” now called ‘Strangely Hot’ kick off this acoustic set with ‘Too Good For This World’ and his voice is just pristine. An early bass solo from Nick gets things going and then after some early banter we lead into ‘Silent House’ which is a cover of a song by The Chicks that Neil wrote with them. This is great. Time for a new one making its live debut called ‘In My Own Shell’ which was nice and I’m sure will become a staple in the set. Oh yeah, Neil sits down at the piano and as those opening notes of ‘Message to my Girl’ hits and the crowd recognises it they’re happy. Hearing it played like this is just perfect. Another debut of a song now called ‘At The Station’ which was interesting and I look forward to hearing the version when it’s released. We keep the new ones going with ‘Last Summer’ which was a vibe. OK back to one we know, with the absolute classic ‘Four Seasons in One Day’ and what a song. That ends the acoustic set and now we await the main act! Crowded House.
After a longish intermission the curtain lifts and the full stage set up is revealed before they go straight into ‘Nails In My Feet’ and it’s smooth as butter. It even lets Neil take to the front of the stage and solo for us. ‘Recurring Dream’ has such a great groove that you can’t help but get into. We head ‘To the Island’ which musically rocked things up before one of my favourite songs of the band ‘Fall At Your Feet’ and that was just perfect. The harmonies were sublime. So glad that was in the set tonight and after an extended outro and crowd singalong you realise how much everyone else here loves it. ‘Whispers and Moans’ keeps things rockin’ again, followed by ‘World Where You Live’ which is another classic and still sounds as good today as it did back then. ‘Teenage Summer’ is next and that was great. What a song. Neil starts ‘Private Universe’ on an acoustic before the band join him with almost tribal drums keeping the beat. That was really awesome. ‘When You Come’ is up next and it’s these classics that really get people going. That big ending really sold it as Liam shredded making that huge.
‘Not The Girl You Think You Are’ slows things down. Then the acoustic goes away and ‘The Howl’ turns the volume back up as Liam takes lead vocals on this one and hearing the Finn’s harmonise is a treat. What a great song!! That might be close to my favourite of the night. The rock vibes stay up with ‘Black And White Boy’ and then we get to the part of the night where the big ones are coming. ‘Distant Sun’ gets everyone up and those poor people in the front row now have everyone run down the front and having a ball. This version is outstanding. Neil rocks out a solo and this band is on fire. Keeping them up and dancing we get the Split Enz classic ‘I Got You’ and in this room tonight was perfect. That crowd singalong was something else and just shows how much love these songs have. Speaking of classics, some ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ was thrown in with some ‘I’m Too Sexy’ and I have no idea what’s going on and it’s hilarious, oh this I know. It’s time for ‘Chocolate Cake’ and I can honestly say I’ve never seen someone get on stage during a Crowded House set but now I can as that was the friendliest stage invader I’ve ever seen ha ha. Now a security guard has taken to the keys and this is mayhem ha ha.
Back to some normalcy with the masterpiece known as ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ and I’ll fight anyone that says this isn’t one of the best songs ever written. Live it just takes it to that next level. We stay back in the 80’s with ‘Something So Strong’ and it is still a banger to this day. The set list has gone out the window as they just keep the big ones coming as ‘Weather With You’ fits in perfectly this late in the set. This was great and the crowd have got some chops, never have I heard a crowd sing so well in tune! Closing the show with ‘Better Be Home Soon’ and I mean it’s the only way to finish a show and they did it so well. The band take their applause as they stay to high five and greet the fans down front and you can see they had a great night, as did we.
They may have thought there were no reviewers here tonight but hello, there was at least one. And while I can say I wasn’t familiar with every song, what the band gave us was a masterful set of perfect musicianship and amazingly crafted songs. What a band. What a show.
Essential Information:
Venue: The State Theatre – Sydney
Date: October 22, 2025
Website: www.crowdedhouse.com
Set list:
Too Good For This World
Silent House
In My Own Shell
Message To My Girl
At The Station
Last Summer
Four Seasons In One Day
Nails In My Feet
Recurring Dream
To The Island
Fall At Your Feet
Whispers And Moans
World Where You Live
Teenage Summer
Private Universe
When You Come
Not The Girl You Think You Are
The Howl
Black And White Boy
Distant Sun
I Got You
Chocolate Cake
Don’t Dream It’s Over
Something So Strong
Weather With You
Better Be Home Soon
