onfocus

Last night we saw Neil Finn at The Fillmore. He has put together a spectacular band, and the show was a lot of fun. They were excited to be there and they did several things that seemed like they weren't planned. At one point Neil needed to tune his guitar so he turned to his band and said, "Does anyone have a song?" Lisa Germano was on keyboards and everyone was quiet while she played her song Wood Floors. Sebastian Steinberg (formerly of Soul Coughing) was playing bass. About halfway through the show, Johnny Marr came out and played with the band the rest of the night. They even did a few Smiths tunes including How Soon is Now and There is a Light that Never Goes Out. In another tuning-inspired moment, Neil sat at the keyboards all by himself and played Last Day of June and Message to My Girl (an old Split Enz song—the whole band did One Step Ahead earlier in the night). And there were plenty of audience-sing-along Crowded House favorites thrown in for good measure.

It was a good time, and a nice way to end my week of vacation. Now, back to work!