Solo at the Seymour centre 2010

It IS on Spotify! Thanks for the heads up, about to listen now.

Remarkable that there's a bootleg of this same show where the taper managed to hit record before the start of the concert! "Only Talking Sense (excerpt)" on an official release? Really?? The sound quality sounds really good in the previews though the artwork positively screams bootleg, and namechecks the sound engineer. This is not the first curious release to have cropped up like this - without any mention from official channels. Is this legit? Who exactly are "Black Box Records"? It doesn't seem like something Neil would be giving a priority to currently, yet is indicates copyright Neil Finn 2020? 
If I'm barking up the wrong tree, all I can say is standards have dropped!

There must be something weird with rights or something that this album is released. It doesn't look like something official. Looks more like that Split Enz live in America that's also available for streaming, with horrendous artwork. 

There was a similar release of the Philadelphia show from the first Crowded House tour in 1987 which was clearly ripped off from the Bill Graham archives at Wolfgang's Vault:

https://www.discogs.com/Crowde...a-87/release/9317597

Odd artwork, odd record company, zero official acknowledgement.

Just popped up on Amazon 

Solo at the Seymour Centre, 2010 by Neil Finn on Amazon Music

https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08J41HCHV

More information here:

https://www.australianroadcrew...-seymour-centre-2010

The tapes are straight out of the mixing desk and made by a member of the road crew. In this case it was by Angus Davidson who did front-of-house sound for Neil Finn and Crowded House.

The series was created by ARCA to raise funds and resources for Support Act’s Roadies Fund to provide financial, health, counselling and well being services for crews.

The tapes are released on the association’s Black Box Records through MGM Distribution and on all major streaming services.

Thanx for the cover artwork by Nprint, the mastering by Phil Dracoulis, and Neil Finn for his support of crew.

"ARCA and The Desk Tape Series is a small way we can help our mates get some self-worth and recognition for their contribution to the Aussie music industry and help if they are in crisis. It is a great honor for us to be able to present these memories to all."

Nice to know it is for a good cause. Neil always willing to help out.

Thanks for the heads up, also available to purchase on iTunes (New Zealand anyway).

Available in the US as well. 

This release was approved by Neil to benefit Support Act’s Roadies Fund, as mentioned above. ARCA and I edited the recording to fit it all into a good listening experience, aiming for a single CD if such a release happens further down the track. All the songs are there, but some of the dialogue was trimmed.

The beginning of "Only Talking Sense" wasn't recorded, unfortunately, but it's such an important opener for the concert that we decided to leave it in. 

The look of the cover art is tied to their series. It is busier than Neil's core catalogue artwork, but less so than the original design they submitted.

Thanks Jaffaman! This is a great listen. 

All hail roadies and crew!

I will say that opening the release with a half-recorded track is a terrible idea. It makes the release sound like a bad bootleg. And it's ironic considering that the cover art goes out of the way to credit the sound engineer (even if that person isn't responsible for hitting the record button).

Otherwise it's a splendid release and I'm happy to support the cause. But they needed to let "Only Talking Sense" go. 

I don't know where to post this...   But if anyone has a radio recording of Neil at Park West in Chicago, Summer 2002 I would love to acquire a legal copy!

It was a tricky decision about "Only Talking Sense". Yes, it will confuse or frustrate some people, but hopefully the remainder of the concert will set minds at rest. Leaving the song off would have meant starting the concert with "Spirit of the Stairs" which we felt wouldn't work as a concert opener, and I didn't want to shuffle the song order.

It's possible that the first verse of the song was missed due to other technical problems rather than forgetting to press record.

You can keep all Finn fans happy most of the time, but it's impossible to keep all happy all of the time! personally I would rather have an incomplete recording than none, and if so inclined, one could graft the awesome solo version of Only Talking Sense from Neil's Auckland 2015 aired on RNZ. I don;'t think it's on RNZ anymore but it's around and not too hard to find.

No worries, I knew there'd be debate about both the missing verse and the cover art, and fair enough. That 2015 concert is still there on RNZ by the way. I momentarily thought of editing a different performance of the song onto the Seymour Centre recording, but finding one that matched tonally would have been very unlikely.

@Jaffaman posted:

No worries, I knew there'd be debate about both the missing verse and the cover art, and fair enough.

You made the right call, Spirit of the Stairs doesn’t work to open, and even partially, it’s a very good Only Talking Sense. 

Thanks for this one, Jeremy!

I was fortunate to see Neil in 2011 do a similar sort of show - it was amazing and unforgettable. He did a lot of these little shows around that time.

I've hoped for a release of one of those shows for a long time. This is more than worth the wait. I understand the issue of Only Talking Sense being partially recorded but think even partially being there is a better starting track perhaps. Maybe a clean full version from another show could be shared at some point?

I think its a super gesture for those support workers, sound engineers and road crew who are missing work any where due to COVID.

Very happy to pay again for an official CD or Vinyl of this should one of these be released too. I think this show was the 17th November 2010 - was the show on the 18th recorded as well - would be happy to buy that too!!

It was a a super treat to see that on iTunes yesterday morning and the biggest thanks to Neil, Jaff and all those involved in letting  /making this release happen :-)

An unauthorised and mismatched edit. It shows why we didn’t do the same. I do wish we had a recording of the following night though. Two songs were published on video, but no sign yet of a full recording. 

Whilst I understand someone would do this privately for own use, it’s not a good move to publish on YouTube and especially using the official artwork. Hopefully someone can reach out to the uploaded, and ask to remove. 

where are the two songs published on video available? 

Very thankful for this recording. And what a great cause! Thanks @Jaffaman and all involved. For aMelbournian this was a heaven sent 👍 

Holy cow, this is wonderful!  Thanks so much, Jaffaman!  

@sinner62 posted:

where are the two songs published on video available? 

From the second night:

I like that is is as it was and I am so so in love with the fact that this has been released.. We begged and begged at the time as knew these shows were just magical and special  (I know Neil is always that but these really were). One of my favorite all time gigs and now I can hear it over and over. Jaffaman you mean there is no soundboard recording like the 1st night or you havent located it?

The recording of the first night was given to ARCA by Angus, I think, and then passed onto me for editing. It was only afterwards that I realised there had been a second night, as captured on those two videos. Have asked if there's a recording of the rest of the show but haven't heard back yet.

Oh that was I was thinking, you were wondering about . Fingers crossed that there is! 

If there is a soundboard recording of the second night and its allowed to be released as well, I'd be more than happy to pay for a second night - its all going to a good cause... and the more that could be raised for the road crew the better... :-)

The 1st night is a wonderful show - I think the second night (looking at the setlist site) has quite a different set of songs.