Neil Finn
11/14/98
The 7th Note*
San Francisco, CA

Nyquist Omnis >Sony SBM-1 >Sony TCD-D7
DAT Master Transfer: Tascam DA-30 > HHb CDR 800 PRO Via Analog i/o,
CD Masters >FLAC (Level 8) Via xACT 2.35
FLAC Tags Via xACT 2.53
Recorded, Transferred, FLAC’d, Tagged, & Front Cover Artwork By OldNeumanntapr
Location: under the rear ceiling monitors

Disc One:

1. Intro
2. Last One Standing
3. Private Universe
4. Devil You Know
5. Try Whistling This
6. Message To My Girl
7. Faster Than Light
8. ‘Neil can I sing with you?’
9. Distant Sun
10. Pineapple Head
11. Into Temptation
12. Honey Don’t Think
13. Souvenir
14. Four Seasons In One Day
15. Close To You
16. King Tide
17. Ben Ben Ben
18. Only Talking Sense

Disc Two:

1. She Will Have Her Way
2. Sinner
3. Suffer Never
4. Weather With You
5. Carpenter’s Medley
6. Fall At Your Feet
7. Fuzzy
8. I Got You
9. Pale Blue Eyes

encore

10. Don’t Dream It’s Over

Grant-Lee Phillips sings the lead vocal on “Fuzzy.” “Last One Standing” fades in.

*Formally ‘Wolfgangs’.

OldNeumanntapr Notes:

I remember this show well. I drove up to San Francisco to see my friend Allen Chen who was a Stanford University student at the time and also meet up with a friend from New Zealand who was flying into to SF airport for a layover on her way to Vancouver. I tried to persuade Monica to go to the Neil Finn show with Allan and myself but she declined. Oh well. She missed a great show! Neil played at the 7th Note, which is the old Wolfgang’s in North Beach on Columbus. I recorded this show with custom-made Nyquist omni mics in a hat->Sony SBM-1->Sony TCD-D7 DAT under the rear ceiling monitors. We were in the back (but under the speakers) because it took FOREVER to find parking. (Hey, imagine that!). We finally had to park on the sidewalk between driveways like so many people do. Fortunately the car was not towed. Dave Dobyn opened and then Neil played his set with Grant Lee Phillips as a special guest. The airlines lost Neil’s bags when he flew in from Los Angeles so he made comment between songs about his food-crusted shirt from the airplane. It was a great set and the recording sounds very nice too. There was a guy named Tom who was holding up a sign that said ‘Neil can I sing with you’. Neil made up a song about the sign on the spot and then called him up later to sing ‘I Got You’ with the band. Tom made a joke that he wanted to be paid so Neil reached into his pocket and handed him a $100 bill! He said, ‘I’m going to regret that later so you better go.’ I wonder if he still has the C note. Funny. Later in the set, Grant Lee Phillips played a joke on Neil and asked him if he could have a ‘bottle on stage’. Neil said sure, and that the only thing he didn’t like was smoking on stage. Grant had a seven-foot-tall inflatable bottle of Bacardi rum brought on stage. Neil made a comment that, ‘You could sail to New Zealand in that thing!’ They threw the bottle out into the audience and it was passed around over everyone’s heads. All in all, it was one of the best shows that I’d seen in San Francisco. When the show ended I saw my friend Bonnie Harris, a Schoeps taper, who had gotten there really late and was unable to record so I made her a copy of my tape. I went with Allan in his Volvo back to Stanford University and spent the night in my Alaskan camper on my ’89 F350 crew cab 4×4 and went home the following morning.

This review was posted to a Neil Finn message board not long after the show and I saved it. I’m not sure who wrote this one:

“Subject: 7th Note, SF – $100, A 7Ft. Bottle, Improv aplenty…

Another remarkable sold out show in San Francisco last night, which saw one
bizarre occurrence after another.
Dave Dobbyn did his customary acoustic set (receiving a huge response from
the crowd which clearly delighted him) and was joined by Neil on piano for
the closing “Hallelujah Song”.
This show was considerably looser and more playful than previous ones.
Neil’s stage attire looked like a departure – he explained that his baggage
was lost at the airport, so he was wearing his “plane clothes”. Not a lot
of luck with services in San Francisco then, because Neil was unable to get
a cab to the show – there was a 45 minute wait. Imagine the spectacle of
Neil and Dave Dobbyn arriving outside the venue by Cable Car, as that’s
what they did. Damn Tourists !!!
There were early departures from the norm – a wonderful solo acoustic Devil
You Know which soon led to an improvised “Neil, Can I Sing With You?” in
response to the “subtle” sign held aloft by listee Tom “Dork” Bishel. His
moment came later, but first we had more great moments including “Into
Temptation” which also received an airing at The Fillmore in August. Play
it every time you come to SF Neil, fine by me !
Guest Grant Lee Philips then joined Neil for a rendition of Grant Lee
Buffalo’s “Honey Don’t think”.
When I found Grant was to be Neil’s guest I wondered what they could do
together, having seen Grant Lee Buffalo perform a few times.
They sang well together and songs like “Only Talking Sense” and “Fall at
your Feet” really worked well.
There was a degree of confusion and unfamiliarity on occasion which
hysterically led to a duet and audience singalong on The Carpenters’ “Close
To You” (Yes, REALLY), but things gelled well and Grant’s personality
worked well with Neil’s – “I want to be like Neil Finn when I grow up”.
Grant clearly admires Neil, asking incredulously at one point “Did he just
make that up ??” after one of the many improvs of the evening.
They jammed a lot, particularly when Grant was on electric guitar – one of
these was a really funny song for Neil’s guitar tech, Ben. The lyrics of
the chorus and verses consisted of repeating the word “Ben” as often as
possible – this was done in a vain attempt to get the bashful chap to
demonstrate his dancing ability, which Neil assured us was excellent. Neil
even tried to drag him onstage but lost that tog-o-war.
The words “Ben, Ben, Ben..” were even funnily inserted into “She Will Have
Her Way” later on. Somewhere in the set Frank & Nancy’s “Something Stupid”
got an abbreviated rendering.
Thankfully Dave Dobbyn joined Neil for a few songs, funnily arriving
onstage in his Quasimodo guise. Dave fared well, but there were a few
ragged moments, particularly during “Sinner” which Neil restarted after
some discussion about which key/chords to use.
Neil continued the welcome trend of performing one of his guest’s songs
with them – a really good version of Grant Lee Buffalo’s “Fuzzy” from their
debut LP of the same name (well worthy of investigation Finn-fans !)
At some point Grant asked if it was okay to bring a bottle onstage – Neil
said that was fine by him, but he probably didn’t envisage a 7ft tall
inflatable liquor bottle which just about fit below the ceiling !! It
rested against his piano for a period of time before Neil gave in to the
urge to launch it into the audience – almost decimating the 7th Note’s
glitter ball in the process. So we had the almost surreal spectacle of a
7ft. inflatable bottle traveling around the club above the crowd during
“Don’t Dream It’s Over”.
Tom finally got his moment late in the set, when after persistent
canvassing, Neil invited him to join Grant, Dave and himself to sing “I Got
You”, which he did a great job of (it was Neil who forgot the lyrics!).
This was not a run of the mill run through the song however, and Tom
reacted well when Neil departed to ad-lib land mid-song. Tom followed and
at one point Neil ad-libbed lyrics about him having perfect pitch.
After the song ended, Tom asked Neil to do another one and in response Neil
reached into his pocket and handed him a $100 bill (!). Now many fans have
shared a stage with Neil, but surely Tom is the first to be paid to sing
(or stop singing ! ??, ha !). Neil told him to take it quickly before he
changed his mind. After the show Tom thanked Neil and was told to keep the
$100.
Before ending with “Don’t Dream..”, Neil urged Grant to attempt The Velvet
Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes” in honour of Nick Seymour and they did a
fine job of it – If the Lou Reed in NY prediction is true, this could get
very interesting next Monday.
Again spotted that there were 2 tall mikes each side of the stage angled
towards the audience – keep your fingers crossed for some B-sides !
Lots of familiar faces from all over the West Coast in evidence last night
(Hi all !!) and the SF audience reaction/participation was phenomenal. What
a night.”

Do NOT Convert To MP3.
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