"I've been feeling so much older, frame me and hang me on the wall..." (Crowded House)

Ahhh. There's nothing like a good live gig. Ab-so-lutely nuthin'.

Tonight I caught the brothers Finn in an intimate performance at Melbourne's Arts Centre which was filmed for MusicMAX on Foxtel. Was chuffed to see the irrepressible Paul Hester as MC -- not only is he the quintessential Aussie smart-arse, but it was a reunion of sorts for the former Crowdies. There was so much love and respect on that stage it almost made ya feel queasy...

Paul intro'd the gig saying, "...we've got Neil and Tim, and their band: two brothers from Bournemouth and some poor American who doesn't even have a brother in the band..." It truly was a family affair. Neil's son -- and Betchadupa member -- Liam was in the audience to cheer his Dad on and suffer embarassing stories about how his p's got him to sleep as a baby.

The audience was made up of industry types and competition winners and on the faces of all, along with the reflected light of the mad paper lanterns onstage, was pure admiration. And why not? These boys still rock. And their easy relationship with each other and genuine sense of humour made the show even more fun. Hessie opened by apologising for any funny smells drifting in from the dressing rooms, confessing he and the boys had had a traditional pre-show toke, adding a yelled apology to Neil off-stage, "don't worry, Neil, it's pre-recorded: they can edit that out!"

If you're blessed with cable TV, turn your dials to MusicMAX on Chrissy Day to catch the gig, and my scripted quessie to Neil. I know I will be, I was so relieved to have gotten the question out (and so blissed out by the whole live show) that I tuned out most of his answer the first time round!