Now I’ve had the chance to recover from coming home in the early hours of Monday and then getting up again and doing a full day at work, I thought I’d share my thoughts about Tim’s Bush Hall gig.
I never thought I would see Tim perform solo, mainly because his solo gigs are so rare, but also because I have always been unlucky enough to miss the chances. And this time was no different, I missed all the ticket sales and I thought my luck was out, until Lydia advertised two spare tix on the forum. So thank you Lydia.
I genuinely didn't know what to expect, I had never been to Bush Hall before but it's a beautiful space, chandeliers, a beautiful plaster work ceiling, antique mirrors along the walls, great acoustics. I agree with Vicarious, it was stuffy in there, but it's unusual to find a music venue with a floor clean enough that people felt they could sit on it!
Tim was the true star of the night! Although I knew most of the music I didn't know what to expect from Tim, however, I know Tim isn't Neil, I know he does things in his own way. So there was less chat and audience interaction, but nevertheless Tim was gracious, friendly and most importantly he used the music to play the audience.
And what a music extravaganza it was! Starting with the beautiful Winter's Light, Tim used the music to the mix the atmosphere, at times the audience were transfixed by the highly original arrangements of such songs as Subway Dreaming, Many’s the time, Parihaka and a very impressive vocal on Edible Flowers. At other times he turned the atmosphere into a singing, clapping party with rockin’ versions of Persuasion, Six months in a leaky boat, Poor boy, a glorious Stuff and Nonsense and the oddest, funniest and most original piano rock version of WWY.
For a one and a half hour set he packed a lot in, there were a few witty anecdotes and a couple of fun musical cock ups but Tim largely decided to let the music do the talking. The music was an impressive mix, interestingly, he played songs I didn't really like in way that made me like them. Two examples of this were Made my Day and What you've done. Hearing these has made me want to hear more varied versions of Tim materials. I thought the acoustic versions of the songs from Feeding the Gods were particularly enjoyable (and FTG isn't one of my preferred Tim albums).
If anyone has a full set list could they post it please, I was too overwhelmed to keep track.
I left the gig with a renewed and improved respect for Tim and his music. Tim and I have had a bumpy ride, musically, over the years, but now I am pleased I went and consider myself a committed Tim Finn fan
If its going to be a Frenz stacked show, I think he should get a big Frenz welcome!!
