Just in. Fabulous night, and good time had by all IMHO.

Songs in totally incorrect order . . .

There Goes God
Mean To Me
Don't Stop Now
Fall At Your Feet
Walked Her Way Down
Whispers & Moans
[Liam loops]
Don't Dream It's Over
She Called Up
Silent House
Locked Out
Heaven That I'm Making
Baby Please Don't Go - Mark on vocal
Pinapple Head
Distant Sun
When You Come
Weather With You
Something So Strong
Message To My Girl
Pour Le Monde
Italian Plastic
Better Be Home Soon

Bunch o' us lined up starting 2:45 p.m. or so for the gate-openning time which occurred at approx 5:40 p.m. . . . Well worth the wait. Good conversation and cheer under Stanley Park trees.

The Malkin Bowl itself is a bit of a retro venus in Stanley Park, and not exactly the Orpheum theatre, . . . but even though it rained until the last encore, it was still good times. I think the band was surprised at how enthusiastic we were despite the weather / change of venues / general garbage silliness.

And yes, "Message to My Girl" was played completely, will untruncated instrumental bit in the middle. A nice surprise. I was looking forward to the new version of "Recurring Dream," but "Message To My Girl" more than made up for that.

Pete Yorn was a bit of a snooze fest, mostly because his backing band (other than the drummer) just looked BORED BORED BORED and TOO KOOL to be bothered to look like they were glad that we showed up in the rain for them to attempt to entertain us. Nothing against Mr. Yorn.

Oh. And Neil was looking very fine tonight. Good hair. Definitely good hair.

Yes, in good Vancouver fashion, the heavens opened up on those of us waiting in line at about 4:30 and carried right on through until the end of the show at 10. Not a heavy rain but a persistent rain a little, clear a little, rain a little more, clear a little, rain again. . .and again. . . and again. After a while I didn't even bother trying to keep my hood on. But you know, it didn't matter. Neil seemed gratified that so many of us ventured out into the inclement weather (or as Nick described it, "a fine Scottish mist") just to see them and a grin rarely left his face.

Another curfew meant that Liam's set had to be skipped - too bad! Hope to see him in Edmonton.

I see gph posted the set list. Comments:

She Called Up - started with the "la la la las, Neil sheepish/resigned - "what are you going to do?" i.e. so you might as well just embrace them

Baby Please Don't Go - an old blues song with Mark on vocals, apparently the song he was singing as he "sashayed down the aisle" - per Neil - of the tour bus at 5 a.m. that morning

Locked Out - went pogo happy on that one - one of the advantages of being at a general admission venue.

Italian Plastic - after reminiscing about a show where Paul came out in the buff

***Message To my Girl!!!! - holy crap, we got Message to My Girl (Neil alone on the piano)

Nice to see some friendly faces from Pomona, to see Kathleen, to meet FinnGirl (glad you made it after all), Half-Full and Glen (what's your handle Glen?).

A great night, even if I am still trying to warm up.

Anna

quote:

Originally posted by amble:
Glen (what's your handle Glen?).

A great night, even if I am still trying to warm up.

Anna

Glen = gph

gph = Glen

Not much to add, sadly...just got back from a kahlua and coffee at the Four Seasons downtown--a little nightcap to warm up the fingers & toes!

About Pete Yorn: I thought his set was really good. He seems like a really cool guy and he and his band do seem to enjoy Crowded House a lot. But yes, with the exception of Pete, his drummer and the keyboard/guitar player who looks like Clinton Kelly, the band does look a little on the bored/jaded side (especially the bass player). But enough of that.

When You Come was pretty powerful. Mark's work on that song just gets more fantastic. Also, this is the best version of Something So Strong I've seen thus far.

One time they wanted to see how "black" Vancouver could get...so they had all the lights turned down and then they all started singing spooky sounds joined by the audience...pretty surreal moment.

When he started Pineapple Head, Neil was playing acoustic but was doing "air guitar" and singing the guitar part (like making guitar noises with his mouth; I would demonstrate if you were here but it's kinda like "neer neer neer neer, neer neer neer neer neeeeeeeer...."). It was WAY too funny and pretty much spot on with the way most audience members sing with that song in the comfort and privacy of our own homes.

Overall a really wet night that seemed to start a little slow but really rocked by the time the rain stopped in the encores.

Wow! That sounds freakin' awesome!!! Message To My Girl!?!??!?!?!??! WOW!!! That's a rare treat! Setlist looked AWESOME! Glad to hear the Malkin Bowl/GA show was still a hit for you all!!! See you tomorrow in Calgary!

Sounds like a very fun show! Great set list and how lucky you all were to hear Message to my Girl. That must have been amazing!

Yeow. Message to My Girl. Makes me cry. I had a secret hope to hear that in PDX, but thought it was impossible...Matt said afterwards he hadn't learned *any* Enz, so I figured "o.k., that explains that" but I hadn't thought about Neil doing it himself!

If you guys were chilly, did they seem cold up on stage? That can limit one's ability to shred, as Neil is known to do on occasion.

You guys got Message???? That's fantastic. And performed solo on the piano? - even better! I must buy this recording too.

Lester II said:

quote:

If you guys were chilly, did they seem cold up on stage? That can limit one's ability to shred, as Neil is known to do on occasion.

Regarding chilliness and attire, Nick and Mark kept their suitcoats on for the entire show, and Neil took his suitcoat off around the 4th song to reveal the black sequined shirt (yay-again!). There was a bit of discussion down front about the sequined shirt before the Vancouver show, and Demon and I are both firmly in the pro-sequin contingent. Nick commented that he was wearing thermal underwear and even gave the audience a little peek at the undies under his shirt.

I couldn't see Mark very well from my vantage point last night, but I believe he was wearing the same dark suit. Nick was wearing white jeans and the suitcoat with a dark striped shirt and a tie. Matt was wearing a white shirt and tie and a great big smile.

It is always a pleasure to hear Message to My Girl, and I loved When You Come and Weather With You, especially considering the precipitation last night. The mood was cheery and definitely not dampened by the weather. It was really cool to be front and center with about 30-35 hardcore fans, many of which I've seen/met at other shows this tour. I'm actually a bit glad that the show wound up being general admission so I didn't have to feel sheepish about standing, dancing or singing along.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the North American tour!

wouldn't you know, the sun is shining in Vancouver today! oh well, it was still a magical (if soggy) night.

hi g(len)ph!

Anna

This is my first post on the forum and I'd just like to say that the Vancouver gig (I'm a Brit, but have lived here for almost two years) had me grinning from ear to ear for the duration.

As has been noted elsewhere, they really seem to have rediscovered the joy of playing together.

Long may it continue!

what a terrific weekend! three days, three Crowded House shows... was it raining last night? I hardly noticed. I thought the guys looked a bit tired (understandably) during the first few songs, but then they came alive and rocked the park. they played the most rockin' version of Locked Out that I've ever witnessed. Message to My Girl was a lovely surprise. met some new frenz in the lineup outside the venue: Shauna (Half-Full), Glen (whom I now know is gph), treegirl (can't recall her real name), Martine (Martine!), the woman who'd just flown in from England (I am blanking on your name but I remember that you are from Kent...I enjoyed talking with you!) all lovely people with excellent taste in music, as we know...

as my friend Don and I left the venue after the show, we saw a CBC reporter and cameraman filming something outside (near the pavillion/restaurant). we got to Don's house and caught the story on the 11pm news. it basically was a non-story re: the civic strike and the change of venue for the Crowdies concert was the hook on which this non-story was hung. a brief snippet of the band performing Mean to Me from the show was shown; the reporter commented that "even Crowded House had an opinion on the strike" and then footage of Neil saying whatever he said about it last night (something along the lines of "we don't know anything about the strike") was shown

Wow, that sounded like really magical night. It's great to haer they're just getting better and better each night...
And "Message to My Girl"--you lucky, lucky dogs, you. C;mon, Neil, break it out again in Minneapolis!

Message To My Girl--yes that is lucky!

So glad I saw Neil perform it in San Francisco in 2005 or I would be insanely jealous!

Lorrie

PS I love Vancouver--used to go up there all the time while living in Bremerton, WA. And dontcha just love the rain????

I attended the show, which I agree was fantastic, but I have a BIG issue with Ticketmaster and the information that was circulated about the venue change and the facilities at the venue.

The email from Ticketmaster with the FAQ about Malkin Bowl did not specify what, if any, seating there was in the "general admission seating". I phoned Ticketmaster the Thursday before the show and asked specifically if there were to be chairs in the "general admission" area (the map just showed a big green blob). I was assured that there were, and I asked how this was going to be accomplished when Malkin Bowl has at best half the seating capacity of the Orpheum. I was told that there would be chairs and that "there would be a seat for every ticket holder". The FAQ that accompanied the message also specified NO blankets, NO lawnchairs, NO umbrellas, etc., which made it seem like there would be seating.

On the evening of the show, since it had been raining all day, I decided to take some garbage bags and a blanket with a waterproof backing, since any chairs that had been outside all day would be soaking, and take my chances with security. Imagine my surprise and annoyance when we got into Malkin Bowl and discovered that there was NO seating provided of any kind. Thankfully security at the show was being pretty generous about letting people through with rainproof gear that was on the prohibited list.....however, there were also plenty of annoyed people who had clearly paid attention to the prohibited list and as a consequence were wandering around getting soaked and miserable, with nowhere to sit and nothing dry to sit on.

This is really inexcusable. I realize that the venue had to be changed on short notice, and that the weather wasn't really anybody's fault, but Ticketmaster had the email addresses of at least some of the ticketholders; if a change was made in seating arrangements and/or what was permitted inside the venue, another email could have been sent with that information. And at least I am able to sit on the ground for a show that length; what about concertgoers who expected or needed a chair? What were they supposed to do?

I'm writing to Ticketmaster to complain about this, and I hope if anyone here was inconvenienced they will too. And if anyone from the band or the band's management sees this, I hope they will take this up with whoever was responsible for the misinformation.

Any photos from the event?

Counting down, L II

A You-Tuber has up a very rough but ever-so-charming video of Neil doing "Message to My Girl"--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3b16KgFOs

Still his best song - ever.

You lucky, lucky people. We were spoiled last year at the Split Enz concerts so I'm so glad you got to see this. Hope he does it again.

I saw a few Frenz up front taking pictures, but I didn't bring my camera to this show. Hopefully, those with piccies will post when they are able to get online!