A real wish-you-were-there event took place in New Zealand this week as Neil Finn held his second "Seven Worlds Collide" shows. The Crowded House leader first gathered a few famous friends in 2001 for a concert, dubbed "Seven Worlds Collide" after a lyric in his song, "Distant Sun." That show found the likes of Johnny Marr, Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien, Lisa Germano and Eddie Vedder joining Finn for a few songs from his catalog and their own. The result was a great live DVD and CD.

Since, Finn has resurrected Crowded House and seemingly left his solo career behind for a bit. But with this second "Seven Worlds Collide" show, he steps back out on his own, with a lot of help. The Radiohead boys are back, as is Marr. Added to the mix are 4/5 of Wilco, Bic Runga, KT Tunstall and Finn's son, Liam Finn, a budding star in his own right.

The group performed three shows and then plan to go into Finn's Roundhead Studios in Auckland to cut an album that's due yet this year. According to reviews, the shows have been predictibly great. YouTube has a few videos, such as Jeff Tweedy singing Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" and Radiohead drummer Selway singing a song of his own. Can't wait for the CD/DVD, the proceeds of which will support Oxfam.

Labels: Neil Finn music