POP MUSIC REVIEW : Crowded House Airs It Out

Seeing Crowded House play a small club isn’t exactly like having U2 come in from the wide open stadium spaces--after all, the Australian band is just a mid-size theater draw, not an arena attraction. And an informal, unrehearsed set isn’t a major departure from this group’s norm--Crowded House has endeared itself to a loyal audience in part through the spontaneity and wit that spark its concerts.

Still, the band’s Wednesday performance at Club Lingerie had the anticipated special-occasion atmosphere (though it might have had a little more charge if rank and file fans had been admitted, instead of just record company and band invitees).

Crowded House aired it out with a loose, bracing, 90-minute set of concert staples, repartee, new songs, an on-the-spot composition about an Australian swimmer and an encore guest spot from former Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera.

The show, undertaken for the fun of it while the band is recording in L.A., also marked the entry of Tim Finn into Crowded House, where he joins his younger brother Neil for the first time since they co-led the quirky New-Wave-era band Split Enz. The elder Finn brings a wary, hulking presence to the band, lending a welcome hint of danger to its sunny wistfulness and pure pop values.