Album Review: Goin' Your Way [Live] by Neil Finn

What if Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young did a tour together? A true co-headlining show where they shared a band, tossed songs from their respective careers back and forth, and chimed in on one another's favorite tunes? In 2013, fans of Australian pop got their own version of that scenario when two of the great songwriters and bandleaders of the Antipodes, Neil Finn (best known in North America as the leader of Crowded House) and Paul Kelly (whose '80s recordings with his group the Messengers made him a cult hero in America and a major star at home), teamed up for a series of concerts where they each cherry-picked hits and rarities from their songbooks and performed with a band featuring Neil's son Elroy Finn on drums and acoustic guitar, Paul's son Dan Kelly on guitar and keyboards, and Zoe Hauptmann from Kelly's touring band on bass. The Sydney date of the tour was recorded for posterity, and Goin' Your Way is a splendid document of two master tunesmiths showing off their best work as well as their estimable skills as performers. While for the most part Finn sings Finn and Kelly sings Kelly, the two wisely know when to add accents to one another's songs (one of the sweetest moments comes when, after Kelly finishes "For the Ages," Finn picks up the chorus and leads the crowd in a singalong), and with five capable vocalists on-stage, the harmonies are great and add to the impact of the performances.

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It was a momentous occasion, for sure, and maybe a long time coming. Neil Finn, the legendary Kiwi singer/songwriter, and Paul Kelly, the legendary Australian singer/songwriter, had crossed paths before, going back to the 1980s. The two played a one-off concert in 2011, and finally announced a joint Australian tour in 2013. Goin’ Your Way, a document of the tour’s final date, at the Sydney Opera House, was released in the duo’s native territories in late 2013 and a year later in the UK.

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Neil Finn and Paul Kelly, two titans of music down under (and beyond) who also happen to be longtime friends, got together for a tour of Australia in 2013 that culminated at the Sydney Opera House. This recording captures that final date. It gives you two hours of music that draws on both men’s lengthy solo and group careers, including Split Enz and Crowded House fare from the Finn side as well as songs from his collaborations with his brother, and Coloured Girls/Messengers material from Kelly.

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