The Magical Liam Finn

“Hello. I’m Liam.”

With this one sentence, a very unassuming young man, medium build, bearded, and armed only with a Stratocaster took the stage.

Actually, armed with a Stratocaster, looping pedals, an octave pedal, some wicked effects pedals, and a Slingerland drum kit, he took the stage. And then he blew us all away.

At the Arlene Schnitzer Theater in Portland, Oregon, on September 3, Liam Finn opened the Crowded House show with the single most amazing live solo performance I have seen.

He didn’t give his last name in the introduction, so we didn’t realize that he is the eldest son of Crowded House front man, Neil Finn. I did notice how much his voice sounded like Neil’s and caught a few trademark Finn chord progressions passing through his songs. It crossed my mind that maybe Neil liked himself so much that he booked an opening act that reminded him of, well, him. I should have known better.

Liam began each song with rhythm guitar, looped the progression, clicked his octave pedal, added a looping bass line, and then built lead lines on top of that. Then he sang. And man did he sing.

His vocals were powerful and expressive. His songs were well crafted and beautiful. And just when you thought he could do no more, he left the loops running, set down the guitar, and walked over to the drum kit. Adding the drums at the end of the song helped carry the song to it’s cathartic peak before coming back down again into the dwindling layers of loops that had been mesmerizing you throughout.

After an ear crushing set by Pete Yorn and his band of 1000 loud guitars, Crowded House took the stage with both Finns, father and son, present. Liam mainly played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals with his dad.

The two of them together was simply magical. Every man on stage could sing, and the harmonies all night were outstanding, but Neil and Liam blended like nothing I have ever heard. It was brilliant.

Liam’s debut album, I’ll Be Lightning, won’t be available until early 2008 here in the States. You can, however, purchase the live CD that we picked up at the show on Kufala Recordings. It is the same set that he played in Portland, and is a terrific CD.

The only downside is that you don’t get to actually watch him making all of that music by his lonesome. Listening to the CD, it is hard to imagine that it is one person doing all of that live.

Until he makes his way back to our neck of the woods, the recording will have to do. I definitely look forward to seeing him again live though. Huge props go out to the magical Liam Finn. Now do yourself and your ears a favor and go listen to “Fire in Your Belly.”