Liam Finn and Dan Kelly- The Shadow Electric

Tonight was Finn Kelly 2.0 at The Shadow Electric at Abbotsford Convent with Liam Finn and Dan Kelly playing a dual headline show together. Opening proceedings was Palm Springs who played a solo set on electric guitar as her drummer had just had a baby.

It was the Kelly family band with Dan on guitar and his cousins Maddy and Memphis doing backing vocals. They started the night with "Baby Bonus" and then launched into "The Catholic Leader" (an appropriate song considering the venue). Dan gave hilariously detailed explanations to intro each of his songs, and apologised for working blue throughout the night. The set was more subdued due to not having the full band like at his album launch a few weeks ago. Highlights included "Never Stop The Rot, "Gold Coast Man," "Drunk On Election Night" and "Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam." The set closed with "Dan Kelly's Dream" complete with a conga line going through the crowd.

Liam Finn came out onto the stage wearing a black beaded jacket over his black shirt and was joined by EJ Barnes. It was just like old times as they began their set with "Fire In Your Belly" and "Better To Be" and used loops to create the layers of sound. It's been over 4 years since I last saw Liam do a proper live show here (not counting last week's SUCCESS performance) so it was exciting to get the chance to hear many of these old songs live again, as well as The Nihilist tracks for the first time. EJ sang "On Your Side" from the Champagne In Seashells EP, and "Second Chance" had Liam hopping onto the drum kit at the end.

They brought out their bandmate Jim to play bass and then kicked into some tracks off the new album, including "Snug As Fuck," "Miracle Glance" (complete with theremin), "Ocean Emmanuelle" and my favorite "Burn Up The Road." Liam made up a song on the spot for Mistletone Records, who put together this little tour. He also played the New Zealand national anthem on guitar to counter Dan's Australia tracksuit jacket and his playing of the Australian national anthem earlier (Liam did note he was wearing all black). To finish off the main set they played "I'll Be Lightning" and had everyone singing along at the end. For the encore Liam stripped off his shirt and put on the beaded jacket and got Dan out on stage to do an energetic cover of Devo's "Gut Feeling." It was an amazing finish to a fantastic double bill and a great way to spend my Thanksgiving night.

Here is one of the best videos Liam has ever made: "Wrestle With Dad"