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Songwriting great Neil Finn to play solo Dubai concert

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Songwriting great Neil Finn to play solo Dubai concert

In house.

Published: Thu 27 Mar 2014, 11:07 AM

Updated: Fri 3 Apr 2015, 6:16 PM

  • By
  • (Adam Zacharias)

CROWDED HOUSE FRONTMAN Neil Finn is stopping off in the UAE as part of his ‘Dizzy Heights’ world tour.

Named after his third solo album, the tour will see the Kiwi singer-songwriter play The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium on Thursday, May 15.

After gaining success in Australasia and beyond with the group Split Enz, Neil and his older brother Tim formed Crowded House in 1985.

Buoyed by the success of the single Don’t Dream It’s Over - which soared up charts across the world including a number two peak in the States - the new group’s impact was both quick and powerful.

After scoring another U.S. top 10 with Something So Strong, also taken from their 1986 eponymous debut album, the band’s follow-up Temple of Low Men (1988) was a relative disappointment - failing to produce a radio-friendly smash hit or gain a foothold in charts outside their home territory.

Woodface (1991) saw the four-piece finally break through in the UK, where the public took a liking to climate-themed anthems Weather With You and Four Seasons in One Day as well as more personal fare such as It’s Only Natural and Fall at Your Feet.

The group split in 1996, three years after releasing their fourth studio album Together Alone (also in 1993, Neil and Tim were awarded OBE royal titles for services to New Zealand music).

The break-up was marked with a greatest hits album titled Recurring Dream, which went 13-times platinum in Australia, nine-times platinum in New Zealand and four-times platinum in the UK.

In the decade that followed, Neil released three solo albums, recorded another LP (2004’s Everyone is Here) with Tim as The Finn Brothers, played a handful of Split Enz shows and produced and played with an assortment of other acts.

Crowded House reformed in 2006, a year after the suicide of drummer and founding member Paul Hester. The group have released two more albums in the meantime, while Neil continues his parallel solo career (recording the 2012 track Song of the Lonely Mountain for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey).

Meanwhile his 30-year-old son Liam Finn has followed in the family tradition by becoming an acclaimed solo artist himself, releasing two albums of his own to date.

Tickets, Dhs300 each, go on sale today at all Virgin Megastore outlets in the UAE and online at www.doneevents.com.



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