Honest Face
Liam Finn & EJ Barnes
Corner Hotel
September 18, 2009
Back in 2003, one of my friends and I saw Liam Finn open for Coldplay, with his band, Betchadupa. At the time he was probably about 19 or 20, and we were floored by how well he handled being up on that big stage at Rod Laver Arena, in front of a demanding audience. Softly spoken and seemingly much wiser than his years, we marvelled at how he just got on with the job and let the music do the talking, apparently oblivious to the enormity of the event. I remember at the time, Danielle sighing and explaining it very succinctly, "It's in his blood". Despite having grown up in the glare of his dad's fame, Liam's own writing has managed to transcend all the obvious comparisons you could make between them.
Although they've been performing together for a while, Friday night's sold out show at the Corner was a celebration of sorts, to mark the release of a new EP recorded with EJ Barnes (another offspring of celebrity). Despite Liam's ostensible solitude, the partnership works. Although there is little interaction between them on stage, EJ's rich, husky voice adds a lot to the material.
Most of the night's numbers were taken from Liam's one and only solo album, I'll Be Lightning, with a handful of songs from his and EJ's new EP, Champagne & Seashells. Amongst the highlights were "Second Chance", "Lead Balloon" and "This Place Is Killing Me", the latter including younger brother Elroy on drums. Watching Liam, who is so completely focused, it's easy to see him as an old man in a young man's body. These numbers really saw him let rip, vocally and physically. Since going solo, he seems to have abandoned the thrashy, garage rock he produced with his former band.
I remember when I'll Be Lightning was released and how gobsmacked I was to find it at my local record store in Atlanta. Its title track, with its ethereal chorus, still sounds like something Lennon/McCartney would have been proud to have written. EJ's voice in the background certainly made it sound even more eery and trippy than it normally does. Live, "Wise Man" sounded even better than on record, and you only have to listen to it to instantly think of comparisons with Finn Snr's band. Before launching into "Honest Face", Liam described how someone had heard it and commented to him how he must have been very angry when he wrote it. If so, its apparent tenderness belied this idea.
Although obviously technically brilliant and extremely focused, Liam's attempts at banter between songs occasionally felt forced and self-conscious, as if under obligation to provide the crowd with clever quips. What he creates speaks volumes anyway, and I'm sure that if he keeps providing that, like honouring the rather boisterous punter's request for "Gather To The Chapel", will keep everyone happy.
Corner Hotel
September 18, 2009
Back in 2003, one of my friends and I saw Liam Finn open for Coldplay, with his band, Betchadupa. At the time he was probably about 19 or 20, and we were floored by how well he handled being up on that big stage at Rod Laver Arena, in front of a demanding audience. Softly spoken and seemingly much wiser than his years, we marvelled at how he just got on with the job and let the music do the talking, apparently oblivious to the enormity of the event. I remember at the time, Danielle sighing and explaining it very succinctly, "It's in his blood". Despite having grown up in the glare of his dad's fame, Liam's own writing has managed to transcend all the obvious comparisons you could make between them.
Although they've been performing together for a while, Friday night's sold out show at the Corner was a celebration of sorts, to mark the release of a new EP recorded with EJ Barnes (another offspring of celebrity). Despite Liam's ostensible solitude, the partnership works. Although there is little interaction between them on stage, EJ's rich, husky voice adds a lot to the material.
Most of the night's numbers were taken from Liam's one and only solo album, I'll Be Lightning, with a handful of songs from his and EJ's new EP, Champagne & Seashells. Amongst the highlights were "Second Chance", "Lead Balloon" and "This Place Is Killing Me", the latter including younger brother Elroy on drums. Watching Liam, who is so completely focused, it's easy to see him as an old man in a young man's body. These numbers really saw him let rip, vocally and physically. Since going solo, he seems to have abandoned the thrashy, garage rock he produced with his former band.
I remember when I'll Be Lightning was released and how gobsmacked I was to find it at my local record store in Atlanta. Its title track, with its ethereal chorus, still sounds like something Lennon/McCartney would have been proud to have written. EJ's voice in the background certainly made it sound even more eery and trippy than it normally does. Live, "Wise Man" sounded even better than on record, and you only have to listen to it to instantly think of comparisons with Finn Snr's band. Before launching into "Honest Face", Liam described how someone had heard it and commented to him how he must have been very angry when he wrote it. If so, its apparent tenderness belied this idea.
Although obviously technically brilliant and extremely focused, Liam's attempts at banter between songs occasionally felt forced and self-conscious, as if under obligation to provide the crowd with clever quips. What he creates speaks volumes anyway, and I'm sure that if he keeps providing that, like honouring the rather boisterous punter's request for "Gather To The Chapel", will keep everyone happy.
posted by yossarian | 5:28 PM
2 Comments:
Great review yossarian. I was there too! Second Chance was certainly the highlight for me. Looks like you secured a nice spot there. There was a bit more excitement at the mixing desk where the chap was cursing trying to make something work for a good 10 minutes or so at the start, but I honestly couldn't hear what was wrong... Must be something in the water at the Finn household...so talented...
nice to hear you enjoyed it too, jonno! funnily enough, we were directly behind the sound guy at the very beginning of the show.we decided to move after the first few numbers since we found ourselves in a bit of a thoroughfare. i do recall the sound guy was pretty vexed about something - not sure what was wrong either, but it all sounded fine to me ;-)
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