A Day on The Green with Crowded House at Bimbadgen Estate ticked all of the boxes.
It was a quintessential spring day out for music lovers.
There was a great soundtrack, cold beverages, balmy weather, and a (seemingly out-of-nowhere) storm, with all the drama of high winds and a cracking light show.
Opening act Maistrato, who had come to the Hunter all the way from Greece, kicked off the event with their Grecian-influenced covers and European favourites.
Their flair and sweet-sounding strumming of the traditional Greek instrument, the Bouzouki, added some magic to Crowded House’s version of Private Universe.
The Waifs made their way through a set of some of their most loved songs intertwined with hilarious stories of family life.
Boy and Bear took to the stage for a short set before the storm set in and saw punters taking shelter under tarps and plastic ponchos or rushing back to their cars and buses to wait it out.
But even Mother Nature couldn’t up-stage the headliners that drew a swelling and drenched crowd, from across generations, in to ride a wave of nostalgia and adoration.
Crowded House, fittingly, kicked off their set with the hauntingly beautiful Distant Sun.
We all sang along and swooned and swayed as Neil Finn led the band through a set that included some of their biggest hit including Room Where You Live, When You Come, It’s Only Natural, Something So Strong and the fitting Four Seasons In One Day.
We all sang, not only because they knew all the words, but because we felt a connection with the music.
The more upbeat singles Mean To Me and Sister Madly were crowd favourites, as was the zany and catchy Pineapple Head and manic magnificence of Chocolate Cake.
As an extra treat, like when you get nuts on your choc top from the ice cream van, Crowded House included some Split Enz hits in their set. They played a cracking version of I Got You and Neil Finn took to an old upright piano for a beautiful rendition of Message To My Girl.
Another highlight of the set was Liam Finn’s shredding guitar solos (what a talent), especially when Crowded House shared the stage with Boy and Bear for Fall At Your Feet.
When Crowded House finished up with a stripped-back cover of Bowie’s Heroes and a sing-a-long version of Weather With You, they cemented themselves into A Day On The Green folklore.
A Day On The Green will soon celebrate its 500th show, and if our experience at Bimbadgen was anything to go by, they’ll have no trouble celebrating 500 more. And we can’t wait to be there.
