Crowded House frontman Neil Finn talks to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking about the band hitting the road for a New Zealand tour in March. Audio / Newstalk ZB
Pop-rock royalty Crowded House will play a 10-date national tour in March.
Storming out of their protracted hiatus they bring a flurry of fan-pleasing news, including new band members and their first new music in a decade.
Renovations to the Crowded House line-up sees Liam and Elroy Finn moving in on guitar and drums respectively, while keyboardist and producer Mitchell Froom completes the new look to join original members, frontman Neil Finn and bassist Nick Seymour.
The two Finn's both have their own substantial musical history and are Neil Finn's sons, while Froom also has a deep connection with the band as he produced Crowded House's first three records.
The band have been giving fans a taster of the new line-up through a series of live performances streamed online from their respective homes during lockdown.
The tour marks the first time the band have played in New Zealand since a one-off gig at Auckland's Town Hall back in 2010. They did play a small series of anniversary shows on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 2016 but disappointingly didn't make it across the ditch to celebrate with fans here.
But with this tour, dubbed 'To the Island', the group is certainly making up for lost time, with an extensive amount of stops planned all around the country, including New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Nelson.
"We are thrilled and highly energised to be touring NZ in March," frontman Neil Finn said in a statement.
"The shows will be a joyous occasion for us, with all the songs from our history that still resonate, some new music to unveil and our home crowds to share all that with…feeling truly blessed."
It promises to be a crowd-pleasing set as they dive into their catalogue of sing-a-long classics, including Weather with You, Four Seasons in One Day, Don't Dream it's Over, Better Be Home Soon and the rocking Chocolate Cake, to name but a few.
Along with the hits they'll also be spicing up the set with some tasty new material, including the energetic new single Whatever You Want, which has just been released today.
The tour begins at Hamilton's Claudelands Arena on Thursday, 4 March, before heading South to Napier, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin.
From there they turn around and start heading back up to play Queenstown, Wellington, Palmerston North and Auckland's Spark Arena on Friday 19 March.
There's one last stop for the band who conclude the tour at New Plymouth's Bowl of Brooklands the next day.
Tickets for all shows go on-sale next Thursday, 5 November, at midday from livenation.co.nz and crowdedhouse.com, with limited pre-sales available on Wednesday, 4 November.
Full tour dates
Hamilton, Claudelands Arena - 4 March Napier, Church Road Winery - 6 March Nelson, Trafalgar Centre - 8 March Christchurch, Christchurch Arena - 10 March Dunedin, Town Hall - 11 March Queenstown, Gibbston Valley - 13 March Wellington, Tsb Bank Arena - 15 March Palmerston North, Regent Theatre - 17 March Auckland Spark Arena - 19 March New Plymouth Bowl Of Brooklands - 20 March
