Crowded House Returns to the Opera House Forecourt 20 years After Farewell Gig

Crowded House has announced two encore concerts to be played almost 20 years to the day after the band’s farewell gig.

 

The fabled Farewell to the World concert on November 24, 1996, was the swansong in a stellar career in which the trans-Tasman band sold nearly two million records, had five number-one albums in Australia and reached the number-two position in the US.

More than 100,000 people turned out to see Crowded House play hits from their six studio albums, the first of which was released in 1986.

Despite frontman Neil Finn’s Kiwi heritage, the band had long since been claimed by Australia as our own – and why shouldn’t we, when New Zealand continues to insist it invented the pavlova? It’s only natural, then, that Crowded House should be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. 

 During the same week as the ARIA honours and the encore concerts, the band’s albums – Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, Woodface, Together Alone, Time on Earth and Intriguer plus 1999’s b-sides and rarities compilation Afterglow are being reissued as deluxe editions in all formats including vinyl.

The current Crowded House line-up consists of singer Neil Finn, bassist Nick Seymour, guitarist Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, who takes up where founding drummer, the late Paul Hester, left off on drums. This line-up of the band formed in 2007 and released an album, Time on Earth.

SEE ALSO: Singer Kelis Has Opened a Restaurant – and No, There Won't Be Milkshakes

 

“I am excited to announce two encore performances on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. The shows will mark the 20th anniversary of our break-up concert. ‘Proper order!’ I say, as being at the top of our game, I didn’t want to break up in the first place!” Seymour told AAP.

“I’ve come to realise the ‘top of our game’ is whenever we get together so please join us for… an off-piste jam session, a toast to absent friends and NO RAIN.”