Me again

Neil Finn, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway cover The Beatles during intimate London gig


Neil Finn teamed up with Radiohead members Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway and Wilco's Glenn Kotche and John Stirratt last night (August 11) during a gig at intimate Camden venue Dingwalls.

The collective had brought their 7 Worlds Collide project to London to perform a 16-song set that saw them air tracks from their forthcoming album 'The Sun Came Out' (released on August 31), as well as a cover of The Beatles' 'Something'.

With bandmembers swapping instruments accordingly throughout the set, the makeshift group aired tracks written by other 7 Worlds Collide members including Johnny Marr and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.

Before playing the Marr and Tweedy-penned 'Too Blue', Finn paid tribute to his fellow musicians, saying: "It's a huge, huge privilege to be up here playing with these guys tonight."

The gig also saw Radiohead's Phil Selway sing two songs – 'The Ties That Bind Us' and 'The Witching Hour'. Selway was in confident mood as he took to the front of the stage, receiving one of the biggest crowd reactions of the night as he stepped up to sing 'The Ties That Bind Us'.

The buoyant mood of the gig was sealed when the band broke off from performing tracks from 'The Sun Came Out' to play a celebratory cover of The Beatles' 'Something', followed by Crowded House hits 'Don’t Dream It's Over' and 'Weather With You'.

Before playing the latter, Finn instructed the audience to join in with the singing, saying: "Let's have some harmonies."

Speaking to NME.COM after the gig, Finn hailed the intimate venue.

"It was really sweaty out there, but that's exactly what you want from this sort of event. It covers a lot of the cracks and it gets people involved," he said.

O'Brien was equally enthusiastic, despite telling NME.COM that the band had barely rehearsed for the gig.

"I enjoyed it – it was kind of flying by the seat of your pants, but it was good! There was no rehearsal at all…well, there was a bit last week with acoustic guitars, next to the pool, that's it," he said. "The thing is, is to carry on playing with these people. The first time [7 Worlds Collide was started by Finn in 2001] it was slightly different, and for me [this time] to be playing with Wilco was a real treat. It's always nice to make music with good people and to try and make good music."

Finn added that he wants to get all the other artists involved in 7 Worlds Collide all on one stage together in the near future.

He said: "At some point I do hope that we can gather the whole ensemble and do the 7 Worlds thing, whether it's twice, or three times, or for two or three weeks – we're looking for a window of opportunity and we'll gather again. It's a community now, really. We're good friends. If we can do that [the Dingwalls gig] with an afternoon's rehearsal...if we had two days rehearsal we could probably do something amazing!"

Meanwhile, both O'Brien and Finn paid tribute to Oxfam, who are receiving profits from the 7 Worlds Collide album.

"I think it's good for the spirit of things. You know, all the publishing from the songs goes to Oxfam, so it's all done the right way. It's organic," O'Brien said.

"They're political, they're on they're ground, but they're non-religious [which] is a really big part of it for me," added Finn. "I think they're not pushing god on anybody, and there's a humanity at the heart of it."

Finn Brings 7 Worlds Collide To London Stage


Eight years ago, the original incarnation of 7 Worlds Collide played a string of five gigs in Auckland, New Zealand, with Crowded House's Neil Finn hosting the likes of Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway, the Smiths' Johnny Marr and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

On Tuesday night, it was the turn of 7 Worlds Collide Mark II to take to the stage on the other side of the world in London's Camden Town, with some of the lineup that played New Zealand in January of this year -- and also recorded an album.

Finn fronted a five-piece band which numbered Selway and O'Brien and Wilco's Glenn Kotche and John Stirratt, a fraction of the many-headed ensemble which recorded 'The Sun Came Out' over a Kiwi summer at the beginning of the year.

A densely-packed Dingwalls saw the five-strong 7 Worlds Collide play a glorious set, with Finn kicking things off with Crowded House classic 'Distant Sun' before launching into 'Too Blue,' a track co-written with Johnny Marr.

Finn and co could probably have filled a venue three or four times the size of the relatively-cosy Dingwalls -- after all, Wilco and Radiohead aren't without the odd fan or two, and Finn's fanbase is remarkably loyal. But the intimate atmosphere suited the evening's loose-limbed charm."Whatever happens we can go back to our day jobs. They're pretty good day jobs," Finn joked at one point.

The show's peaks included Phil Selway taking to the mic for not one but two songs featured on the record -- 'The Witching Hour' and 'The Ties That Bind Us.' The latter was a haunting, downbeat entreat that showed just what a fine singer the Radiohead drummer is.

The evening's most energetic track, 'All Comedians Suffer', saw O'Brien stab frenetically at his guitar, giving the song a hint of the discordant menace of Radiohead. And the Finn-led trawl through 'You Never Know', a song Wilco recorded for the album and then also released on their recent LP, was superb, an irresistible shuffle bedecked with angelic harmonies.

Musical guests included the husband of 7 Worlds Collide-collaborator K T Tunstall and film director Garth Jennings ('The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' 'Son of Rambow'), who played ukulele on a version of the Beatles' 'Something'.

Jennings told Spinner he'd been given the instrument as a present and had been taught the song by O'Brien and Finn on a recent holiday -- and had been persuaded to get up on stage to play it. In an evening of warm, big-hearted musical collaboration, it made perfect sense.

Finngirl - you have been busy - thanks!

Just PM'd a Frenz member to comment that to me last night felt like a bunch of mates playing for their friends down the pub! Brilliant evening.....and hopefully as Neil mentioned in the NME article, it'll get repeated at some stage soon so more Frenz get to experience it.

- excellent review from the Telegraph here :-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cul...ingwalls-review.html

What a gig! The thing that struck me most was the size of the venue - hadn't expected it to be so tiny! SO intimate! I was able to wonder around and there seemed to be a great view wherever I stood. Spent most of the gig next to the front/side of stage, on a raised bit of walkway, you could hear the actual sound of the guitars and drums separate from the PA mix, and you could examine close up how the musicians played their instruments.

Just a couple of personal hi-lights:

- Neil's perfect accompaniment on Phil's songs - harmonies and understated guitar/piano, giving the choruses a perfect lift. Spellbinding watching Neil playing keys, observing his touch and feel for the instrument close up

- A rip roaring version of Private Universe, utterly tribal, more or less two drum kits were on stage so a lot of the arrangements had a real kick and texture

- The rocking song Liam wrote (can't remember the name). It kicked ass!

- A beautiful version of 'Something' by The Beatles.

- The general feel that the musicians greatly respected each other and were visibly thrilled to be performing together.

Neil and Phil were even on the hotel telly this morning at ten to nine on BBC News 24 as we were having breakfast, talking about last nights gig and the project in general. They looked about as tired as I felt.

A superb night. Camden was groovy too. Also managed to squeeze in an interesting visit to David Byrne's 'Playing The Building' installation at the Roundhouse.

Oh man, that was worth all the effort to get there even though my effort was dwarfed by the efforts of others.
I finally (or is that Finnaly) got to meet another Frenz. So hello Battylad.
I loved it all but the highlight for me was I Got You as i have never heard it performed live before, or at least i dont think i have. Eitehr way, superb.
Can i just say that Wilco are going to have another fan from now on. Totally top fella's in my opinion. It cant be easy to be the main drummer of the night with Phil Selway stood a few feet away but Glenn Kotche is amazing. Loads of energy and a great attitude.
Another wow moment was Ed and Neil doing some offbeat, syncopated weird guita riffing together on All Comedians Suffer. At least i think it was that.

I had one of the most amazing Finn related nights of my life and now i have to loose a few driends as i go on and on and on about it. Well, why would'nt i ?

Stoat

hey all
have got a review written but haven't got time to upload it yet,
amazing night, was stood pretty much in front of neil, got some amazing pictures
new songs rule..
best night of my life.
V

In addition to what everyone else has said - such as Neil was amazing, the night was fantastic etc, i would just like to say a massive hello to phil selway - he blew me away last night. I have never been into Radiohead and not interested in their live performances but i will certainly be youtubing them now thanks to him. The guy rocked! He almost out did the Moari drummers on the Together Alone concerts back in the 90s and the 2 times that he sang were amazing. Also John Stirrat reminded me of Brian Wilson and the Liam song was amazing - i cannot wait for the Cd.

It was one of the best Finn events ever!

quote:

by Wise Enough

I would like to say Live Nation employees, specifically the stupid cow in the box office, YOU SUCK. Was nearly worthy of missing the concert just to jump in there and bitch slap her. Everyone with a ticket streaming past while she text messaged. Then accused ME of being rude. Pot kettle black bitch.

This forum is not the place for a pathetic attack on the box office staff. Your language is a disgrace and I am shocked someone on this forum stoops to this level. The woman in the box office had obviously had this situation dumped upon her and was trying her best to sort it out, whether it be calls, texts etc. My brother and I NEVER received our tickets and they were not there on her list to be collected. But she let us in, how many people would do that? By the sounds of your vent, I'm not surprised if she thought you rude.

The chap on the door was very apologetic about the long queue and admitted if they had the staff they could really do with getting the ticket holders out of the queue (where we'd spent about 20 needless minutes waiting). He was friendly enough though and we exchanged banter on the way out. Guess it's all about attitude.

On another note I did suggest to the Oxfam lads inside that it was a shame Ticketmaster couldn't contribute some of their outrageous fees to Oxfam - they were shocked when I told them how much!

Hehe....

Avoid stress/hassle of collection queue = pay for delivery?

Let me just sat Nothing wrong with you that there is something wrong with you. Seriously. Hey, your the one who made it personal.

There was ABOSLUTELY no reason they couldn't have worked their way through the list and stamped people earlier. She sat in that booth for AN HOUR doing nothing till the doors opened. I had no beef with security, they were great, and totally independant of Live Nation ticketing.

I didn't sit out in the sun for hours only to have every man and their dog that arrived hours after me get in front of me. I have vision problems and like to be at the front. It was poorly managed.

I didn't make it personal, purely saying what I thought of your quote. You don't know the woman so why call her? Anyway, boring...back to discussing the show...

We don't need to resort to name calling here, please keep this about the topic at hand, which I believe was about the excellent gig. Also, let's watch the language.

Just to finish off on the venue, I thought Dingwalls was excellent - polite, friendly staff, decent bar prices......


back on topic, given the songs we had last night at Dingwalls, and the personnel involved as a band, do we think London has potentially had the better show?

I would have loved to have heard 'Hazel Black', 'Black Silk Ribbon' etc but are the likes of 'All Comedians Suffer' going to get an airing in LA? Who (other than KT, Bic and Lisa) is appearing at that show?

Just back home after a great time in London. The gig was excellent, I felt so privileged to be at such a small gathering with these great and talented musicians...and if I was any closer to the stage I would have been on it... LOL! To top the night off I managed to get a set list signed by all of the guys.

I have posted a couple of clips on youtube....quality and sound are not great but you get some of the atmosphere of Dingwalls. A link has already been posted for 'Something'.....here's a link to 'Too Blue' with a bit of banter before and after....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=channel_page

(Videos were taken by my neice who stood further back in the room... I didn't want to view the show behind a camera. there are more clips to follow when she uploads them for me.)

Vee - excellent - i cant thank you enough for this!

quote:

Originally posted by BART:
back on topic, given the songs we had last night at Dingwalls, and the personnel involved as a band, do we think London has potentially had the better show?

I would have loved to have heard 'Hazel Black', 'Black Silk Ribbon' etc but are the likes of 'All Comedians Suffer' going to get an airing in LA? Who (other than KT, Bic and Lisa) is appearing at that show?

Hmmmm...if I had to guess, L.A. locals Jon Brion, Mark Hart, Matt Sherrod and maybe Nick (if they are mastering the new Crowdies CD in LA)! But I agree that London DEFINITELY will have the better "7 Worlds Collide" show but LA will also get two solo Neil show's which is quite a good consolation prize! So we are all winners in the end, I reckon!

quote:

Originally posted by BART:

I would have loved to have heard 'Hazel Black', 'Black Silk Ribbon' etc but are the likes of 'All Comedians Suffer' going to get an airing in LA? Who (other than KT, Bic and Lisa) is appearing at that show?

According to the BBC interview, Elroy's going to be on drums.

Excellent clip of Don't Dream It's Over on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF6ZOI4ghVo