Family affair for Neil Finn on the Plains of Abraham at FEQ 2016

Neil Finn Of Crowded House, Festival d’été de Québec, 15 juillet 2016, Scène Bell des plaines d’Abraham, Crédit photo: Philippe Ruel.

Neil Finn, playing a mixture of Split Endz and Crowded House favourites, as well as some of his own tracks, kicked off the final weekend of performances on the main stage at the FEQ 2016 edition in smooth style.

The New Zealander, of Irish descent, performed a 10-strong set including perennial favourites Don’t dream it’s over, I got you, and Better be home soon.

Antipodean Neil Finn has been showcasing his talents in front of crowds one way or another since his early childhood, either singing with his brother or on the guitar or piano.

Looking fit and smartly dressed in a black shirt and stylish dark burgundy suit, the former Crowded House frontman appeared relaxed right from the first note.

He’s passed his musical skills on to his family as some of them were here with him. That’s a beautiful thing.
What a joy it must be to make the tour he’s on a family affair.
Playing here with his adult son and daughter, you could see the pride to and from father and children.

Finn’s is a smooth, mellow sound that’s easy on the ear. After a long, hard week at work, this is exactly what the festivalgoers needed to ease into the weekend party mood.

The singer engaged with the crowd often, and with some French thrown in, this was always going to be well received.

‘C’est bon d’être ici à Québec avec ma famille et mes amis’, offered Finn.
This drew warm applause.

‘All the mum’s out there, this is for you’, said Finn just before launching into the excellent She will have her way.

Midway through he stopped as he was offered a can of beer from someone near the front of the stage.
The cool, refreshing beer (always welcome on warm summer evenings) was projected stagewards by the fan.

‘That’ll be a bit fizzy now, won’t it?’, says Finn.
It was duly opened and indeed it was. He had a swig anyway and with a ‘Mmm, that’s good’, carried on playing.

‘People on the hill, are you there? Give us a wave. Can you hear us?’, he asked.
The hill people answered in the affirmative.

Finn switched between guitars (acoustic and electric) and keyboards throughout the evening.

‘Alright, you’re in good voice now’, commented Finn after a turn at the keyboards for Dizzy heights.

As his allotted time came to an end, to the delight of the crowd the singer decided to keep on going.
He hadn’t finished and wasn’t going to let the small matter of having his band’s equipment being dismantled before his eyes put him off.

‘I’ll just start playing something and feel free to sing along’, he says to the crowd.
‘You lot can start packing the gear up, and I’ll just play alone’, he says to the backroom team and other musicians.

‘I’m breaking all the rules’, he said with a smile.
The evening was good and it just got BETTER. Better be home soon being the final song.

‘Have fun tonight’, Finn instructed as he smiled, waved, and took his leave.

Weather with you was not played possibly due to running out of time.

Setlist:
1. Pony ride, 2. Something so strong, 3. Fall at your feet, 4. Distant sun, 5. She will have her way, 6. Message to my girl, 7. Dizzy Heights, 8. I got you, 9. Don’t dream,

Encore:
10. Better be home soon

……………………………………………….

300 SHOWS – 10 STAGES – 11 DAYS OF MUSIC
July 7 to 17, 2016

For the complete festival schedule, visit