ARCA announce Crowded House live CD set

Crowded House continue phenomenal support of road crews in crisis with 2-CD set

The highly acclaimed pop-rock band with a magnetic stage presence, quirky humour and a massive global following are collaborating with the Australian Road crew Association (ARCA) by releasing an amazing 2 CD set “Crowded House LIVE ’92–’94” which is due for release on December 1st, 2023.

Pre-orders now available, with the 2 x CD set due for worldwide release on December 1st.

Below is a direct pre-order link for fans. Please note, all orders will be shipped from Sydney via Australia Post and international postage rates will apply to those outside of Australia.

Shipping times will vary depending on where the order is placed from and we will do our best to have your order delivered asap.

https://www.thegroovemerchants.com/Product/141132

The 2 CD set is released through the Australian Road Crew Association’s (ARCA)’s Black Box Records through MGM Distribution, all major record stores and on all major streaming services.

ARCA raises funds and resources for Support Act’s Roadies Fund to provide financial, health, counselling and well-being services for roadies and crews.

Crowded House LIVE ’92–’94.

BAND

• Neil Finn                          vocals/guitar
• Nick Seymour                  vocals/bass
• Paul Hester                      vocals/drums
• Mark Hart                        vocals/guitar/keyboards

ROAD CREW

• Angus Davidson               Sound Engineer
• Bruce Johnston               Sound Engineer
• Paul Le Page                    Monitors
• Dave Harding                  Lights (Digital)
• Steve Swift                      Lights (Analogue)
• Dugald McAndrew          Stage
• Paul Guthrie                    Stage
• Craig Bird                         Stage

TRACKS

Part 1                                                                        Part 2

• 1 Kare Kare                                                               1 Recurring Dream
• 2 It’s Only Natural                                                    2 There Goes God
• 3 Distant Sun                                                            3 World Where You Live
• 4 Mean To Me                                                          4 Love You ‘Til The Day I Die
• 5 Whispers And Moans                                           5 Into Temptation
• 6 Locked Out                                                            6 Black And White Boy
• 7 Don’t Dream It’s Over                                            7 Private Universe
• 8 Pineapple Head                                                    8 In The Lowlands
• 9 Log Cabin Fever/Catherine Wheels                     9 You Can Touch
• 10 Sister Madly                                                        10 I Feel Possessed
• 11 Love This Life                                                      11 Nails In My Feet
• 12 In My Command                                                 12 Italian Plastic
• 13 Chocolate Cake                                                   13 Four Seasons In One Day
• 14 Hole In The River                                                14 Weather With You
• 15 Fingers of Love                                                   15 Fall At Your Feet
• 16 Better Be Home Soon                                         16 When You Come

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Thanks to Youri Lenquette for the rear cover photo, Nic Seymour for the Crowded House, Brooklyn Projects and Dugald McAndrew drawings, Phil Dracoulis and Mark Woods for the mastering and Crowded House for supporting roadies and crew.

The CD set was first streamed as two separate tapes, through ARCA’s incredibly successful Desk Tape Series, which consists of live recordings straight off the mixing desk and made by a crew member, in this case legendary sound engineers Bruce Johnston and Angus Davidson.

The combined album collects some of the most beautiful pop songs ever written.

These include ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, ‘Mean To Me’, ‘It’s Only Natural’, ‘Better Be Home Soon’, ‘Weather With You’, ‘Fall At Your Feet’, ‘Hole In The River’, ‘Sister Madly’, ‘Chocolate Cake’, ‘Kare Kare’, ‘Pineapple Head’, ‘Locked Out’ and ‘Distant Sun’.

By 2021, Crowded House had sold over 15 million albums worldwide.

But it is in concerts that they brought a sense of time to these timeless songs, with their improvised humour through whacky onstage patter and the occasional onstage practical jokes on fans.

For Neil Finn, the stage also provided a leveller to Crowed House songs, where non radio hits like ‘Recurring Dream’, ‘In My Command’ and ‘Catherine Wheels’ get as much applause from the fervent fans as those which were.

“Music always travels in mysterious ways,” he admits. “I can’t say I understand why one song is a hit and another one’s not.”

ARCA’s releases are hailed as also capturing important freeze-frames of Australian music history through visuals and liner notes. They are not only reminders of past golden eras for older fans but places where younger consumers can start discovering homegrown music.

There are always interesting stories behind Crowded House songs.

There’s ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, which reached #2 in the United States, #1 in New Zealand and Canada, and Top 10 in Australia, Norway and the Netherlands. Neil was feeling lost at the time and wanted to write a song about moving forward. He penned it at his brother Tim’s home, to find quiet there as his sibling was away. But drummer Paul Hester was staying there and had friends over, so while Neil wrote behind closed doors in the piano room, out came the line “when the world comes in”.

 “Try to catch a deluge in a paper cup” is a homage to his musical hero John Lennon who used the line “Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup” on ‘Across The Universe’. The song came together quickly and Neil made a demo of it as soon as he returned to his home, using a matchbox as a snare drum and tapping the table as his bass drum. The original had a R&B/soul feel and Crowded House found it difficult when they rehearsed it.

In the studio, producer Mitchell Froom suggested changing the flavour, and also it shift key from E to E# to make it more melancholy. Years after its release, fans remain divided on whether the song is of hope or if the title means “don’t dream (anymore because) it’s over”.

According to bassist Nick Seymour: “You think the song is gloomy? The record’s about not giving up hope and succumbing to the effects of the mass media and consumerism, but there’s an over-riding positive view in all our songs.”

Other questions come when one listens to LIVE ’92 – ’94.

Which Finn infant shouted out phrases as “the detective is flat” and “the get-away car” while hallucinating during an illness?

Which song did Neil introduce at Crowded House’s ‘Farewell To The World’ concert as “This is a song about waking up in a room with my sister having nightmares!”

Why did Neil specifically perform ‘Better Be Home Soon’ at the ARIA awards in Sydney as a farewell to drummer Paul Hester after his death?

ARCA would like to thank the following sponsors of The Desk Tape Series:-

Sponsor                            Industry Roles

• Showtech                         Rigging                           
• CMI                                    P.A and Production                     
• Clearlight                           Lighting                                    
• DSE Trucks                        Transport                                  
• Scully Outdoors                Outdoor Production          
• Gigpower                          Crewing and Staging                            
• Lock and Load                  Crewing                          
• Chameleon Touring        Production and Lighting                        
• JPJ                                      P.A and Lighting                                             
• Novatech                           P.A and Lighting    
• Phaseshift                        Lighting                                    
• Show FX Australia           Pyrotechnics                    
• Event Personnel Australia  Crewing                          
• Norwest                           P.A and Lighting Production
• Nprint                               Artwork

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Note from founders:-

“ARCA and The Desk Tape Series is a small way we can help our mates get some self-worth and recognition for their contribution to the Aussie music industry and gain help if they are in crisis. It is a great honour for us to be able to present these memories to all. Enjoy”

All Hail Roadies and Crew

“Looking after OUR OWN with FEELING and a WHOLE LOTTA LOVE”

All enquiries contact:

ARCA DIRECTORS :-

Adrian Anderson     0409 789 440

Ian Peel                   0415 667 221