Crowded House at Birmingham Utilita Arena

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Posted 2022-06-08 by Andy Coleman ⇒ follow

Tue 14 Jun 2022

Crowded House will unveil their new line-up to Birmingham fans when they perform at the city's Utilita Arena on June 14, 2022.The band now features founding members Neil Finn and Nick Seymour , along with producer and keyboardist Mitchell Froom, and Neil's sons, guitarist and singer Liam Finn and drummer Elroy Finn.

The show had to be rescheduled because of the pandemic but the delay has given fans the chance to become acquainted with Crowded House's new album, Dreamers Are Waiting, which was released on June 4, 2021. The singles Whatever You Want, Playing With Fire, To The Island, Love Isn't Hard At All and Sweet Tooth have become firm favourites.

Neil Finn says: "I hope you've had the chance to luxuriate in a quiet place with a record player or a set of headphones to listen front to back to these songs. I'm really proud of this record and I'm extremely thrilled to have this Crowded House line-up in action."

Crowded House was formed by Neil, Paul Hester and Nick Seymour in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985 from the ashes of New Zealand's Split Enz . Their self-titled debut album on Capitol Records went on to global success, catapulted by the hits Don't Dream It's Over and Something So Strong. Those songs, and many that followed, are still resonating with audiences today, the former in particular being one of the most covered songs of the last 20 years.

The band's first incarnation lasted from 1985 to 1995, with four studio albums, and enjoyed much success worldwide, becoming particularly beloved for their freewheeling and interactive live shows. This line-up said Farewell to the World on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 1996 with a now legendary performance in front of 150,000 people.

In 2005, following the tragic death of Paul Hester, Neil and Nick felt emotionally compelled to bring Crowded House back, to put some more good history, as they described it, into the story of the band. Drafting in new drummer Matt Sherrod, and with long time touring member Mark Hart, they released the album Time On Earth to critical acclaim and toured the world. Another album, Intriguer, was recorded in 2009. The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2016, at the same time reprising the Farewell shows with three nights at Sydney Opera House.

Following a hiatus, in August 2019 Crowded House announced a show at the 2020 Byron Bay Bluesfest, featuring the current line-up. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band's planned 2020 concerts had to be rescheduled to 2021, and later again to 2022. The Birmingham concert will conclude the UK leg of the world tour, although they will return to the British Isles for summer festivals.