Last Sunday, the Scientist and I had the pleasure of seeing Crowded House again and it was a really great show. A major plus this time was the close proximity to home. There is a winery near us called Sandalford Estate that started doing concerts a few years ago and this is the first one we’ve attended there. We arrived shortly after the gates opened but the traffic getting in was backed up quite a bit. Still, we were inside and parked within the first fifteen minutes, I think.  We had a couple problems with the cooler we took in. Firstly, we weren’t allow to take in our real forks so the Scientist returned cutlery to the car, leaving me with the cooler and other things. Then I got up to the front where I wanted to sit and was told I couldn’t keep the cooler there as it was a standing area only. It is a big cooler and it wasn’t very full. I decided to take it back to the car and move the food into a smaller cooler bag from the grocery store once I’d found the Scientist as he returned. Eventually we did get settled right up at the front. Most of the people had stayed further back so they could use picnic blankets and low chairs, etc. There were only a handful of us die-hard fans up front.

Once we were settled, we had a bit of food and waited for the first of the two opening acts to reach the stage, which was probably an hour after we had claimed our space. The first act was a local Perth band. Their music was fine but there was nothing I’d rush out to buy on cd. The second act were also good but were far more engaged with the audience. The singer chatted at length about the absolutely gorgeous sunset we were experiencing. For several days before the show we’d had strong, gusty and chilly winds all through the evening. On this night, though, we had some beautifully warm weather with an almost perfect breeze. The sunset was an attractive bonus. 

Once the second act had finished its set, there was another break while the roadies set up for Crowded House.  The Scientist went off in search of toilet facilities while I held our spot in front of the stage. While he was gone, a guy came up to my left and started chatting.  I’m a pretty die-hard Crowded House fan, but this guy makes me look like a casual fan. He did a bit of showing off of all the concerts he has attended but seemed to accept me as one of the more serious fans. The Scientist returned and joined in the conversation while we waited for the show to begin.

The show itself was quite an event with many of my favorite songs being played. The crowd was particularly responsive and the band was in fine form. Every song seemed to get special treatment. And we were at the front so had very little obstruction and a close view of the band. There was a group of people next to us who were in fine spirits, having indulged in quite a bit of wine over the evening. One of them threw a doll up to the stage with Neil Finn’s face pasted on. But it got no attention at that point so through much of the remaining show there were constant chants to him to look at the doll, which was sometimes a bit distracting. Unlike the show I saw earlier this year at the Blues and Roots festival, I never felt like I was in a crush of people. And aside from a strange woman who came up behind me and rubbed herself up against me, everyone was very respectful of personal space. The woman apparently came out of nowhere and pushed up against me but didn’t remain there. It’s a mystery what that was about.  The band dedicated an incredibly moving song to Paul Hester, the band’s original drummer who committed suicide five and half years ago. Neil Finn’s wife came on stage twice to sing on a couple of songs. Several planes flew overhead…the venue is quite near the airport and there was a steady stream of air traffic going in to land.  The crowd sang along in fine voice to many of the band’s popular songs. It was a great feeling to be part of that crowd.  At quarter to ten and after an encore, the show came to an end.

Once the crowd behind us thinned a bit, we started to find our way out, stopping at the merchandise stand to buy a programme. We reached the car and waited a bit longer for traffic to clear. There were a couple of exits available and traffic was heading to them from all directions. It looked very chaotic before we started out. But once we got going we found our way to a line of traffic and found there were parking staff directing vehicles in a very orderly way to the back exit. We were out in pretty quick order and were soon on the road home. I think we did well to exit through the back because when we passed the entrance, traffic was still quite backed up. We arrived home less than fifteen minutes after leaving the venue. It was an exceptionally satisfying evening.