Neil Finn
Clutch Cargo's, Pontiac, Mich., July 31, 1998

"Does anyone know what denomination worshipped here?" Neil Finn asked the small but vociferous group of fans that came to see him perform at this converted church in suburban Detroit, its previous incarnation recalled by stained glass windows, cathedral ceiling and pew marks still on the floor."Let's see if we can evoke a few ghosts."

Like most new solo artists, Finn knows plenty about ghosts. The singer-guitarist-songwriter has two decades of them-first from Split Enz, thequirky New Zealand pop outfit for which he and older brother Tim formed acreative nucleus, and then from Crowded House, the more commerciallysuccessful band he led from 1985-96.

So Finn is a solo career newbie (though he did record one album as a duo withhis brother in '95), but with his new album, Try Whistling This, andhis first-ever solo tour show he's entered the fray enthusiastically, makingup for a bit of lost time and cleansing himself from the experience of "a bandwhere everyone tried to upstage each other all the time," as he good-naturedlyreferred to Crowded House during his one-hour and fifty-minute performance.

Following a captivating opening set of ambient soul by label mate Morley (herdebut hits stores Sept. 1 -- you'll want it), Finn and his four-piece band(including his fourteen-year-old son Liam, a brooding Nick Cave lookalike, onguitar and drums) wasted no time demonstrating his appetite for change whilereassuring the crowd that he's still a slave to the well-crafted pop song. Butcraft leaves plenty of room for sonic enhancement, so Finn opened his show bypicking up a bass and leading his group into the techno-flavored swirl of thenew album's "Twisty Bass," switching microphones for clean and treatedvocals.

It was a dramatic statement, a declaration of a creative ambition but withenough melody to assure the faithful that the evening would not be entirelyunfamiliar. He needn't have worried. Though eleven of the night's eighteensongs came from Try Whistling This, the fans were singing along withevery chorus and cheerfully participating in call-and-response portions during"Faster Than Light" and "She Will Have Her Way." Finn didn't ignore his past,either, offering up Split Enz' "I Got You" as well as acoustic renditions ofCrowded House's "Hole in the River," "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Four Seasonsin One Day"-the latter in response to a note tossed onstage by one fan.

That was a nice moment, as were Finn's many caustic comments and comic asides.Amiable and assured-and playing some of the hottest guitar solos of hiscareer-Finn has clearly turned the ghosts of his past into allies of thepresent.

GARY GRAFF