And we don't mean musically, we got squashed and hit by crowd surfers who were watching the band Living End prior to the Finn Brothers set! One of us even fell and got hit by a glass bottle that really should not have been there!! Luckily it was decided we should just get out of the way of the Living End fans - they needed space to go off and we didn't want to get damaged - the Finns needed us in good health for their set.

We had spent two hours slowly moving towards the front of the stage to be at the barrier - no mean feat in a crowd of some thousands, almost made it and then had to leave our precious spots, because we felt we might not get out alive...
But we managed to squeeze back in during the break before the Finns set started and more or less regained our positions.

And when our boys came on, all was forgotten and the world was a happy place again.

The set list was more or less the same as Thursday at Enmore, except a bit shorter as they only had án hour and a half onstage.
They played (this is not in order):
Weather With You
Six Months in A Leaky Boat
Dont Dream It's Over
Mean to Me
Nothing Wrong with You
Disembodied Voices
Anything Can Happen
Distant Sun
Edible Flowers
Poor Boy
It's only Natural
History Never Repeats
Everyone is Here
I See Red
I Got You
Dirty Creature
Four Seasons in one Day
They played a range of their best loved songs from Split Enz, Crowded House and the Finn Brothers material. A large proportion of the crowd were under the age of 25 (probably all except for us, haha!), but they knew the words to all the CH and most of the SE songs, and were clearly grooving along to the Finn Bros stuff. The whole crowd sang along to the entire show, which was filmed by Australian cable network Channel V (co-sponsor of the Homebake event). A large screen broadcast the performance to the massive crowd (and we were filmed! More details later).

Neil asked us to lead WWYL in memory of Paul. He was clearly delighted by the loud and passionate response by the crowd as we sang our hearts out. Nick complimented us all on a great job!

The atmosphere at a festival is very different to the intimacy of the smaller venues, and took a bit of getting used to. It was exciting to see the response of those people in the audience who obviously weren't as familiar with the Finns repertoire as we are. But we are so proud we were there and could show the boys our enthusiasm!

They talked about fruit bats for a while, at another time Neil mentioned he was in the park that day and dedicated Won't Give In to people who had got married that day. They also talked about how pleased they were to be there, it was a great end to their year and thanked us for the invitation(!).

There were lots of fun moments in the show, they were very playful, a bit of mock fighting, Timmy pulling Neil's hair.

Aside from it being a difficult day in terms of comfort and personal safety prior to the arrival of the Finns (some of us had been there since midday or earlier, and the Finns weren't onstage until 9.30) it was an amazing way to round off a traumatic, emotional, bittersweet and wonderful year. An unforgettable night in many ways, and a big thank you to the guys for the comfort and inspiration they have given us this year.

Posted from Sydney by Reanne, Annie, Annie May, Nat, Margaret, Ally and Suzanne

This message has been edited. Last edited by: suzanne,

Hey Suzanne, thanx so much for that report...I for one am eternally greatful for it! Altho the crowd surfers & the glass bottle sounds a bit scary...Yiiikes!

It really feels good to live vicariously thru your experiences, & I can only hope to be so lucky as to see the Finns/Neil again one day in concert...

Sounds like a great day nonetheless

My thanks too suzanne.

Thankfully "our" folks know how to behave properly at an event like that And well done for not letting one little incident interfere with a fabulous review of what was obviously a fabulous event

Well worth your trip to this side of the world, I bet

quote:

And we don't mean musically, we got squashed and hit by crowd surfers who were watching the band Living End prior to the Finn Brothers set! One of us even fell and got hit by a glass bottle that really should not have been there!! Luckily it was decided we should just get out of the way of the Living End fans - they needed space to go off and we didn't want to get damaged - the Finns needed us in good health for their set.

We had spent two hours slowly moving towards the front of the stage to be at the barrier - no mean feat in a crowd of some thousands, almost made it and then had to leave our precious spots, because we felt we might not get out alive...
But we managed to squeeze back in during the break before the Finns set started and more or less regained our positions.

Yes, an excellent effort by all Frenz to survive The Living End mosh for the Finns!!! I was one of the ones who was at Homebake for the ful day and I also did the two to three hour "wiggle my way to the front" strategy. I attempted to hold out in the mosh pit for the Finns, but had to get out after about 3 minutes for fear of having to watch the Finns from the first aid booth. Although I wasn't front row as at the Enmore, I still had a great view, and it was a brilliant show, despite the discomfort. The crowd was young but very enthusiastic (and often more than a little tippled, which no doubt added to the excitement), and it was a good vibe overall.

You *almost* got the set list entirely in order, Suzanne. I managed to pry some elbow room to scribble it out during the show:

Weather With You
Six Months in A Leaky Boat
Dont Dream It's Over
Mean to Me
Nothing Wrong with You
Disembodied Voices
Dirty Creature
Anything Can Happen
Distant Sun (with a preamble from Tim about how you can tell a star from a planet because planets don't twinkle. Neil said this song was about "being up there. Being right up there!", pointing out the stars...
Edible Flowers
Poor Boy
It's only Natural (with Neil jumping on the piano with Eddie during the intro)
History Never Repeats
Won't Give In
I Got You
I See Red
World Where You Live (first verse and chorus)
Four Seasons in one Day

Also glad to see that you guys caught some of the banter. I was standing with Alita (sorry if I spelled your name wrong!!) and we caught short bits of it, like, "We'd like to dedicate this song to...whaa whaa whaa." You know, the banter would dissolve into noise like when the adults are talking in the Charlie Brown cartoons.

It was a good experience, not sure if it's one I'd like to repeat, but it had to be done.

Did anyone hang outside the exit around back to catch the Finns as they left? I intended to, but when I was kindly offered a lift back to my hotel (thanks again, Alita!!), I took advantage of it. After being bodily squished, toes stomped on, spilled on (water, beer, vodka), and opening a gash on my big toe amongst the litter in the darkness of the park, I pretty much had it for the day.

Nice to meet everyone there and maybe I'll see you all again in a few months!

Sounds excellent, waiting on Penny and 7 Worlds to report in too. Seany musta been a killer hearing them from your sis's place.

Look, i don't want to talk about it. (winces in pain)
Suffice to say that in my next life, i want to come back as a fruitbat! Glad that the Finn's music crosses not only generations, but species as well!

Glad you all had a great time. I'm probably getting to old for the "mosh pit" anyway.

Hope you all have safe trips back home. No doubt you will have lots of stories to tell upon your return. Happy trails all, & thanks for the revues.

You're a crack up Seany.
Reminds me of the days we had the caravan
at Tally on the Gold Coast and were only couple of hundred metres away from the Playroom, listened to the Enz many times, Midnight Oil, Riptides, alas I was underage and couldn't go, until I sneaked in kinda for the Enz With a Bang tour. ;o)

Fantastic that you all had such a great time - sounds a bit hairy though! I'm with Seany, too old and scaredycat for the mosh pit, so in heaps of admiration for those who made it through!

Suzanne, have a good and safe trip back to (cold and snowy) Europe What a pleasure it's been reading your reviews and enthusiasm!

Bet the Finns feel good about ending up a magnificient 18 months (mostly magnificient anyway ) on such a high.

Now for Reunienz!

Firstly, I want to say a HUGE!!! thank you to my wonderful husband, who risked life and limb to pull Mrs HP and I out of the mosh pit. He fought his way in to get us out, and not a moment too soon. It was a very scary experience! Thank you Hunny! I love you!!!

Now, on to the Finns! Fantastic!! Wonderful!! Sublime!! Amazing!! There are other adjectives, but I think those will do for now

It was so good to see Neil in good spirits. His smile almost made the mosh pit experience worth while. Almost.

Timmy was amazing. I love to watch him dance. It's almost hypnotic (hehe. you all know what I mean.).

It was a great show. Already, I'm crying out for more!!! Two just isn't enough!! The PFD will kick in soon, but I'm gonna ride the wave from FINNtopia until it does.


I, too, say bring on The Enz tour! I started saving today. My aim is to be able to afford to get to EVERY show!!!

Wow, what a night. The living end thing was sooooo scary!!!!! I thought I'd be flying home today in a wooden box in the cargo hold. It was great that we were all so concerned about each other and the text messages checking up on each other were flying thick and fast......true Finnship!!! Thanks guys for a great night.

The show was amazing, they went off!!! You could see that they were having such a great time even though it was emotional when they paid tribute to Paul and also when Neil thanked Tim and they had a hug.

I was initally with "the pack" but my feet were killing me as I had been on them since 10am, (it was 5pm by this time and much of that time was spent dancing, I decided that I didn't want to be in the mosh during the Living End (having previous experience) so made my room down the right hand barrier where they weren't allowing moshing and slowly during the Living End's set as people were leaving battered from the mosh edged my way forward along the barrier, only choosing to stop when I got the perfect view of the keyboard/piano, as I'm a big fan of one Mr. Eddie Rayner.

The set was awesome, truly arewome, this is the first time I've seen the Finns in a venue that was a)outdoors and b)with a crowd larger than a few thousand. The atmosphere was very different and I really enjoyed it, as much as I loved the intimate nature of the Enmore, being surrounded by that many people who knew every word to every song was extraordinary and it was so nice to find that I'm not the only young Finn fan, the Finns also appear to have gained quite a few new fans through thier performance, I was asked by several young girls (recognising that I was a fan because I was wearing a Finn t-shirt and had been talking about the Enmore gig after someone asked) about which album a certian song was on (Distant Sun and I Got You were unsuprisingly popular) and when they were going to tour again, it was great!

I think the set list was perfect for the event, except maybe Bold As Brass in place of, well I don't know what but Bold as Brass totally goes off live, it would have really worked at Homebake.

And agree with you Penny, BRING ON SPLIT ENZ!!!

I'm sorry Tally, but were you with us? I don't remember seeing you!
I can't take sole credit for this review guys, it was a group effort by the Pack! And I'm sorry to say that we all have gone our seperate ways now, MagBolt and I are still in Sydney but the rest have gone home.. We miss you guys!
Fingers crossed that we'll see eachother soon for the Split Enz Tour!

Guy, we seem to have lost you in the chaos.. I hope you got home alright! I'll PM you later on...

SIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHH ... ah, guys, what great reviews. What a night it must have been! It sounds like you were in the trenches there during The Living End, crikey!

If only the Enz could be persuaded to fit in a European gig ... I certainly can't afford to travel to Oz next year. On the plus side: Tim and Neil are both planning solo albums, so ... something else to look forward to.

[Yeah, I'm just trying to cheer myself up for having missed the Enmore AND Homebake AND for not travelling to Oz for the Enz shows ...]

What a weekend.

First of all and most importantly, a HUGE thank you to Mr Penny who in all seriousness really did save our arses last night. Whoever had the stupid idea to put a band like The Living End on before the Finns, after such mellowness from Ben Lee (how good was he people?) and Something for Kate, should be shot. The Living End don't belong anywhere near the Finns. Aside from the fact that, along with Penny and 7 Worlds, I had visions of arriving home in a casket, a band that has such contempt for their fans that they would address them so coarsely - and I'm no prude - those of you who were there will know what I'm talking about - have no place being anywhere near the Finns. So thanks to The Living End for marring such an otherwise amazing event.

Not to mention all the crap on the Homebake website about no moshing or crowd surfing - strictly prohibited, blah blah blah. Nicely policed, you idiots, I'm sure all those girls who were dragged off into the first aid tent are really impressed by your so-called "safe event".

At the end of the day of course it was all about our boys. The emotion of having Nick and Eddie play with Neil and Tim, the singing for Hessie under the night sky...sigh. Who cares about a few bung notes or a dropped drumstick, doesn't Neil fluff the lyrics all the time and we still love him? These shows weren't about technical perfection, they were about heart.

Big hugs and thank you to Nat, Suzanne, Ally, Anniemay, Margaret, Reanne and Penny (and once again a round of applause for the fabulous Mr Penny) for a few days I'll never forget.

And of course thank you to Neil, Tim, Nick, Eddie and Joey (bless him) for the music, heart and soul. Love you guys.

Ditto 2 fold Mrs HP....the night definately had it's scary moments and I still have no idea how I made it out of the pit...it was head down and butt up, At the time I thought it was only me being a princess!!! We all got out ok and the care and concern shown for each other by the text messages was great. It's a shame that our night was spoiled by drunken yobbos with no concern about their safety or that of others. I have to agree with you that the living end certainly contributed to the dangerous situation with their language and the way they hyped up a very drunk crowd.....Maybe that is something the organisers need to take on board for next time...along with the throwing of inflatable toys into the crowd that the yobbo's jumped on and tried to crowd surf. One of them nearly landed on my head and it wasn't a nice moment.

It was definately about our boys and they certainly didn't let us down....they were having a blast and so did we!!!! Thanks heaps guys for a great night. I managed to get a couple of good photo's, but the rest have heads and hands in them and are shocking.

Mrs. Horse Pants, you voiced all our opinions perfectly! When one of the mentioned inflated toys landed on my head, including a very drunk man, I felt very threatened and tried to get out, which wasn't easy. I even ended up at the First Aid tent because I felt like I was going to pass out.. I really do NOT understand why the security guards just stood there and did nothing at all...

But like you said, at the end it was all about our boys. It was so lovely to be there under the stars, smelling the ocean (I might have imagined that!), the grass (and I mean the stuff that grows on the ground ), the Sydney skyline.. it was a night I will remember for a long time....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: suzanne,

I, like so many other Frenz yesterday, seriously feared for my life while at Homebake yesterday. Somehow, I managed to get out .....I still don't know how. What frightens me most is that one of US actually fell in the middle of the mosh pit and if it wasn't for one stranger's arm going out......I dread to think what would have happened. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever gone through. Luckily after numerous text messages amongst Frenz - everyone was found dazed but safe and well.

We then gathered up our courage and made our way back into the crowd as NOTHING was going to keep us from showing our support for the boys. We didn't come all this way to be driven away...

The show was nothing short of amazing. Everyone appeared in a jovial, playful, celebratory mood. The set list was well chosen. And yes, while not technically perfect or lyrically correct ( Neil!) nothing can compare with the sound of 20,000 voices in unison.....and there's just something special about being under the stars too...

I am so glad that I went - it was an unforgettable night. Tim was in FINE form! Beautiful, fitting tributes for Paul brought tears to my eyes again....thank you Penny and Annie...you know what you did! Above all, it was great to see Nick again - you could just see that he was having the time of his life! Actually seeing the comraderie between Neil and Nick after all these years was priceless.

And last but not least, thank you - Annie, Ally, Suzanne, Margaret, Penny, AnnieMay and Reanne for an AMAZING few days! What an experience! Can't wait until our next FINN adventure!.........Oooooh! Did someone say Enz tour?

I agree with everyone here - I left the pit long before the Living End, because I felt a bit claustrophobic - what a shame the Living End spoiled things.

Anyway, the guys put on a great show, and Neil was looking very happy.

Highlights - singing along to WWY, counting to 8 during "Mean To Me' (and 'Whatya know, whatya you know), dedicating 'Won't Give In ' to the weddings they saw on the Domain and Neil thanking Tim for being his brother. Eddie, Nick and Joey were having fun too.

So, worth going to and bring on the Enz!

quote:

Originally posted by suzanne:
I'm sorry Tally, but were you with us? I don't remember seeing you!
I can't take sole credit for this review guys, it was a group effort by the Pack! And I'm sorry to say that we all have gone our seperate ways now, MagBolt and I are still in Sydney but the rest have gone home.. We miss you guys!
Fingers crossed that we'll see eachother soon for the Split Enz Tour!

Guy, we seem to have lost you in the chaos.. I hope you got home alright! I'll PM you later on...

Yep, I was mostly with you earlier on in the day, I was gone by 5:30pm, my feet couldn't take standing that long. I said hello to you all when you first arrived, then went off to another performance, caught back up when moving to the front during Ben Lee and then I thought better of it, a seemingly good move considering your experience in the mosh, having being there before I know it's not pretty.

Thank you so much for letting us know how it all went. So sorry that a lot of frenz had such scary experiences. Once ended up with cracked ribs and getting dragged over a barrier once. Feeling that you might possibly die at a gig is no laughing matter. Shame on the security

It has been an amazing 18 months and amongst it I have had the biggest Finn highs and the deepest of lows.

Wish I could have been there with you all