After a long time in the shadows, reading the reviews of the other concerts has given me the impetus to sign up and write something about last night's show in Vienna.

First thing to say is that it was a small venue - crowd 300-400, I would guess. This made us feel very privileged to see the guys so close-up but also left us a bit sad regarding thier profile over here ... Cherry Ghost were a good support act who are well worth dragging yourself out of the bar for.

Crowded House came on stage just before 9.30, dressed smartly and looking pleased to be there. The sound was rockier than I remember with Matt playing the drums powerfully and all of the band singing along with gusto.

I was really pleased that the guys gave plenty of banter - I had feared that they might worry about any language barrier but the Austrians are pretty good at English as a rule. Topics I can remember them covering were the exact colour of Matt's shirt ("cobalt with a hint of cucumber" according to Nick), Nick's past as a member of the Seymour family singers (he gave us a rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan songs), the Vienna boys' choir, and their excellent meal in Vienna (schnitzel, of course, and tiramisu).

I thought the band played really well and they all looked they were having a ball - as we did! The fifth member, Davey Lane, played great - guitar, keyboards and sung his heart out.

Setlist:

There goes god
World where you live
I'm too sexy!
Say that again
Fall at your feet
Heaven that I'm making
Transit lounge
When you come
Hole in the river
People are like suns
Silent house
Don't dream it's over
Pineapple head
Don't stop now
Distant sun
-------
Locked out
?????
Weather with you
-------
Not the girl you think you are
Private universe (song of the night for me!)
Into temptation
Something so strong

Hope all of you seeing them later in the tour have as good a time as we did!

I was in Vienna yesterday too. For now just a short review and I will give detailed information later on in the evening.

It was my first concert ever and obviously also the first crowded house concert. It was unbelievable. I was really nervous the previous days and could not wait to hear them. When they came on stage at about 9.20 (I guess) it was great, great, great. I just can't explain it in words. My girlfriend and I were in the first row on the left side, and had an excellent look at all of them, especially Mark and Neil.

I will try to write about my feelings later on...

A bit dissappointing was that I didn't meet them after the show. I really wanted to meet them and shake their hands. Actually, I found the crew and band bus and waited there with my girlfriend and only few other fans (just about 10 others). Crew members told us that they will come out in about half an hour, so we waited and waited and then, all of a sudden, another crew member told us that they had already left in a taxi and will stay in a hotel before leaving Vienna tommorrow. I phoned about 20 hotels in Vienna, but had no chance finding the right one where they stay.
Well, bad luck. I hope I can meet them the next time when they come to vienna. Neil said they will come back on the next world tour, so let's hope that's true.

I am still so impressed, please forgive me any writing mistakes.

Quite liking that setlist thankyou Linz.
Better luck next time Benedikt.
So lucky with a small venue.

It appears to have been a great show. Love that setlist too!

Your first concert ever--pretty cool for it to be Crowded House I have to say!

Lorrie

I'm back home, so now I'll attempt to record here what I can remember of the gig

For me it was completely surreal to travel 4 hours to a Crowded House concert. Every time I'd seen Neil before, I either had to travel overnight or hop on a plane, so now it felt like they were playing in my own back yard! As it is, there is a vast difference seeing the band in the UK, where they have a solid fanbase, and in Vienna.

This could be plainly seen from the venue. Contrary to its name, the Arena isn't an arena at all, but a converted slaughterhouse! Complete with all the necessary smaller buildings and yard. The whole thing looked like it was taken by squatters and decorated with graffiti. It held about 500 people mostly standing. Neil commented early on how “functional” the venue was – it had walls... a floor... and a stage too.

Before the gig, Nick came in a minivan, walked off, and came back again, shirts in tow, to hold a 15-minute conversation with a fan he knew (and us), mostly about Vietnamese cuisine. He was completely relaxed and now I know a lot more about exotic cooking than I did before He was also probably the only one who liked the venue.

Cherry Ghost was the support band; it was their first night apparently. Nick said he'd only heard their songs on Myspace! They were good, but the sound wasn't. Luckily CH has good sound guys, because they sounded beautiful and crisp, even from the first row.

They came on at 9:20, and played a great set. During World Where You Live, Neil tried to get the crowd to sing, but they were very reluctant. I could actually hear my own voice and a handful of others while the band was listening... How embarrassing! Neil's comment was: ”Well, some people are willing...”
I was really hoping to hear Hole in the River, it was the coolest song of the night for me. Loved it to bits.

People are Like Suns was dedicated to Neil's mother Mary. Before Silent House Neil commented that the Dixie Chicks apparently don't mention him when they play this song live...
Pineapple Head was complete with an improvised part, where Neil got the audience clapping really well.
Don't Stop Now really got the people going, it was good to hear a new song being appreciated!

Before WWY we got to hear a new(?) song – or it was a cover, nobody knew. Neil played acoustic on it, and the lyrics mentioned a “tribal dance”. It was lovely!

Matt went crazy on the drums on Private Universe! He was also singing backing vocals throughout the show.

Overall, a very good show. Shame that the crowd was so subdued, but they're just not that big over here. We are lucky they even made it this far to Central Europe. But we were very loud down in front of Neil, and felt somewhat silly

There was some funny banter, involving Nick, a catwalk, and Neil demonstrating how Nick was strutting his stuff That also prompted an impro, Nick going back to his “disco roots”, and Neil singing that “He's too sexy for his undies”... Neil also mentioned that his mum (and also Nick's sister) used to weep while listening to the Vienna Boys Choir... which then led to Nick demonstrating his opera-singing skills.

Stay tuned for pics!

Thanks for the reviews! It's good to hear that the guys are still in fine form.

quote:

Originally posted by AndiB:
Before Silent House Neil commented that the Dixie Chicks apparently don't mention him when they play this song live...

mmm... did someone tell him this, or does Neil REALLY read this forum that often?

More of our pics here (also some personal ones):
http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/560933445fAZtbn

Thank you Exiled in Linz, Benedikt, AndiB... nice pics too.

quote:

Originally posted by lamb:
Thanks for the reviews! It's good to hear that the guys are still in fine form.

quote:

Originally posted by AndiB:
Before Silent House Neil commented that the Dixie Chicks apparently don't mention him when they play this song live...

mmm... did someone tell him this, or does Neil REALLY read this forum that often?

Was about to ask the same..But I´m sure they have a look on this forum every now and then.

They look very dressy..and again a huge thank you for the great reviews and pics

And a big thankyou from me too for all the pics and reviews, great work guys

Into Temptation ? ? ! ! !

Oh!! SOMEone's been rehearsing! LOL..

Some more comments...

As someone said before, the venue was not really nice, but I think it was a good decision playing in the arena instead of playing in the stadthalle or somewhere else. There was a really great, familiar atmosphere.
Before the concert, I was worrying that the venue would not be sold out or crowded to a certain extent. Actually, I don’t no whether it was sold out or not, but at least it was well visited.
As AndiB said, Neil tried a sing along with World Where You Live, but it didn’t really work.(I hope they were not kind of disappointed). There were only few people singing. What a shame. The longer the concert went on, the better and the more enthusiastic the crowd became. During DDIO, the crowd was quite loud, but he didn’t tried another sing along. Finally, there was a short one during WWY which was quite ok, not overwhelming, but ok. I think its always more or less difficult in such small venues with just some hundreds of people. Hopefully, it will work better the next time.

During the band's conversations and jokes, the crowd went along quite well. As (most of) the audience was at the age of 30 to, I don’t know, 50 and 60, there were nearly no language barriers. I am really glad that the band did not only play those amazing songs but also talked a lot to the audience.

I think a had goose bumps the entire time. I tried to put my feelings in words when the band came on stage the first time. It was just amazing and unbelievable. They sounded so great and powerful and nearly all songs sounded different to the album versions, which is I think just wow. They are live even better than on the albums. It's with more power, and the additional instrumental passages are amazing.
My girlfriend (she likes some songs, but isn't really into crowded house like I am) was impressed of the sound, the songs and the band too and liked it a lot...
My personnel highlights (it's hard to pick just a few) were the opener there goes god, fall at your feet (getting teary eyed), distant sun, don't stop now (again, it was much more better than the album version), private universe, into temptation (realising that it's soon over) and the last one, something so strong. I would have loved to hear better be home soon as the last song too, but something so strong was an excellent alternative and I think its a good idea closing the concert with a more powerful song. Otherwise, I would have been even more sad ...
The whole setlist was (great) like I would have wished it to be.

AndiB, thanks for posting these great pics. And wow, that you have talked to neil for such a long time.

quote:

Originally posted by Benedikt:
AndiB, thanks for posting these great pics. And wow, that you have talked to neil for such a long time.

It was my pleasure to post the pics
I would have loved to talk to Neil (hopefully that'll happen soon too), but it was Nick who was so gracious with his time. Cool guy.

Excellent.
Thank You for the reviews and excellent photo's of the gig.
Quite a set list.
So C.H. would have been on stage for nearly 2 hours ?.

Hey Andi B! It was funny reading your post, and looking at your photos, my suspicions were confirmed. My two friends and I were standing directly behind you and your two friends. I remember you getting really enthusiastic when recognising “People Are Like Suns” after the first two seconds of the intro. It’s a song I love very much, too.
Benedikt, I agree with your description of the atmosphere.
I have been a fan of Crowded House for more than 10 years, and I was thrilled to see that the TOE tour would lead them to Vienna! I must have been one of the first people to buy tickets for the show, just to make sure I`d really get to be there.
As Andi B stated in her post, the Crowdies are not well known in Austria. Usually everyone knows “Weather With You” and “Don`t Dream It`s Over” from the radio, but mentioning Crowded House, I almost always receive blank stares.
My friends only knew a few songs, but were thrilled by the show ,and agreed it was the best concert, they have ever been to. All members of the band struck us as being genuine, relaxed and very likeable.
CH proved their scope sounding, rocky, funky, emotional, subtle and at times just out of this world. From the first song on I got carried away, and had no choice, but singing along, really liking the live versions.
BTW, Neil sang something, I believe to be an Irish folksong. Does anyone know what it was?
Yeay! I`ve finally seen CH live and it`s a good thing they are back together.

Thanks to Andi B, Benedikt & Kitkat for stirring the memories of Wednesday night. "Tribal dance" (?!) was the song I didn't recognise from the first encore.
Kitkat, I think the Irish folk song Neil slipped into is called "Parting Glass". I'm sure someone else on the board will know more about it than me.
I quite liked the rough and ready nature of the venue although I'm glad I didn't know at the time that it had been a slaughterhouse

I saw a short report on the concert on ORF1 (Austrian equivalent to BBC1) last night on a programme called "Szene". I was so shocked to hear the name Crowded House mentioned on Austrian TV that I almost fell off the couch! The journalist's main point was that some of the songs are known here but the band's name isn't. He confirmed this when interviewing two people going to the concert. He asked these two girls to sing something by Crowded House and what did they go and sing? Our House by Madness ... Cue me falling off the couch again
Still, they did have an interview with Neil and a very brief excerpt from the show. All publicity is good publicity!

quote:

I saw a short report on the concert on ORF1 (Austrian equivalent to BBC1) last night on a programme called "Szene".
Still, they did have an interview with Neil and a very brief excerpt from the show. All publicity is good publicity!

I wish I'd seen that! Are these shows archived? Do they have a website? I'd die for even a 2-second clip of the show... Wonder if it was the cameraman with the big light that Neil singled out?

I saw that report about the concert and crowded house too. Indeed, it was a very short one, but better than nothing. It's sad but true, here in austria many people know their songs, but don't know the band. Beside this really shocking answer of those two girls, it was quite a good report and if now some more people know crowded house, it was worth showing it.

quote:

Originally posted by KITKAT:
Hey Andi B! It was funny reading your post, and looking at your photos, my suspicions were confirmed. My two friends and I were standing directly behind you and your two friends. I remember you getting really enthusiastic when recognising “People Are Like Suns” after the first two seconds of the intro.

Yes, well, what can I say, I'm a naturally enthusiastic person... It did feel silly a bit in that Silent Crooowd!
Plus the last show I went to was Hyde Park, which was somewhat crazy too.