My first concert experience at the Somerville Theater was a fine show by the Finn Brothers Neil and Tim this evening. I thank our own Tim for the heads up on this show; he and Mari and I went to see Neil Finn at the Paradise awhile back, and I caught him again at the Avalon some other time, and he always puts on a great show. Aimee and I ate at the Burren beforehand (where I ran into the drummer from my favorite college band for the first time in seven or eight years) and we had a chance to catch up with Tim and Mari, who stopped in for a drink before the show. We got into our seats just as opener Bic Runga (a woman, not a band) was finishing up. It’s a nice space, and I can imagine seeing Bruce Springsteen there must have been amazing (though isn’t that magazine he did the benefit show for now out of business? Even Bruce couldn’t save ’em…)

Anyway, I’d never seen the brothers perform before, and it was a treat to see their brotherly similarities and interactions. Neil is the boyish, clever one, and Tim the scraggly-haired rock and roller, and together, they were terrific. We heard a bunch of songs from their new album, one or two from their earlier album, some Split Enz, and some classic Crowded House numbers. The impromptu “Whenever I Fall,” requested by an audience member but not destined to be played according to the setlist, was really wonderful. Tim (ours, not theirs) hit the nail on the head when he described Neil Finn in concert as somehow performing as though this is the only concert he’s ever given, he’s that dedicated to the experience of the concertgoer, making the audience feel a part of the unique experience of that evening. Tim (theirs, not ours) asked us if we knew what “realpolitik” and “solipsism” meant, and Neil regaled us with stories of the Dental Nurse in elementary school, where you went for checkups and where Neil was allowed to mix his own fillings with a mortar and pestle – “that’s live mercury, you realize…”

The crowd was almost uniformly older and seemed happy to be sitting down. It was certainly a very mellow show, but it was a little strange to be sitting down the whole time, only standing for a few rounds of applause. I was happy to get out and see a show for the first time in awhile; despite the recent snow, spring is somehow on the way, and there’ll be a lot more shows to see in the next few months.