Institute of Contemporary Arts

DAY TWO: Justin Nozuka and Crowded House

Date: 2 July 2007

Neil Finn, Crowded House

O.K, so not the most perfect cover lyrics for that well-known Christmas ditty, but maybe you see where I’m going with this…The iTunes Festival feels like a large and lovely advent calendar, the doors of which give you a lot more than your usual chocolate or, worse, Christmas cracker image. Last night’s lucky winners got Crowded House and Justin Nozuka as their prize, and they were not disappointed. The emphasis wasn’t on colour, costumes and bubbles this time around, but quality songwriting from out of town musicians.

First up, we had newcomer Justin baffling the crowds with his fluid and gifted performance. New York born, Canadian-based Justin may look his 19 years, but blimey he doesn’t sound it. Musical genes have given him a natural adeptness to composition, and as for the lyrics, well it appears Justin is a wise old soul when it comes to matters of love, loss, hope, despair, life and death. And that voice! I was mesmerized by his dulcet tones for the duration of what was a soulful set, and he’s got some moves too – he jumped around the ICA stage without seeming the slightest self-conscious. Bravo. Justin is comparable to a few other artists; yes Mr. Timberlake by name and vocal nature, and Maroon Five too in style and lyrics. But this boy is no less talented, maybe more so; can Timberlake handle a guitar like this he can? I don’t think so. This young thing is definitely one to watch. See www.myspace.com/justinnozuka for more on him.

But before you do I must report back about Crowded House – the true masters of yesterday providing fans with an even mix of old tunes and new including the title track from their new album, Don’t Stop Now. The Australian contingent didn’t manage to bring their weather with them to London unfortunately, but they did bring some interesting fans, including none other than Mark Little (that's Joe Mangel from Neighbours to most of us).

Neil Finn exercised his musical expertise in his wonderfully relaxed manner; he played requests and chopped things around with ease. At one stage he was being haggled for Sister Madly and Throw Your Arms Around Me, so he concluded to do both at the same time! It didn’t necessarily create a new number one hit, but this ability to weave in an out of keys and harmonies like a slick DJ with his vinyl, was clever and fun. Other nice touches included the song English Garden being sung on the home turf under a flood of green lighting, the inclusion of the classic Don't Dream It's Over and the generous dose of encores including Black and White Boy. The vibe was so carefree and amicable throughout, it was as if I was in the middle of a Crowded House jamming session, the audience and the band enjoying each other in equal measure. Splendid.

Next up, door three with Travis and The Hoosiers. Sounds good to me.

Torie Speyer