1. [Unknown, new song]
2. Distant Sun
3. King Tide
4. She Will Have Her Way
5. Mean To Me
6. Twisty Bass
7. Sinner
8. Tokyo
9. Not the Girl You Think You Are
10. Fall at Your Feet
11. Better Be Home Soon
12. TryWhistling This
13. Suffer Never
14. Dream Date
15. Souvenir
16. Private Universe
17. Stain on My Shirt
18. Last One Standing

19. Loose Tongue
20. I Got You

21. Don't Dream It's Over
22. Addicted

The House of Blues was remarkably uncrowded: there was a small, maybe 30 in all, gathering of fans at the stage, but the rest of the place was sparsely peopled with mostly holiday types. As the show neared an end around 12:45, it was obvious that the House of Blues was a local club scene hotspot: the place was suddenly packed with young people on the make -- I had to pick up my stool and move down to the floor (which makes me nervous for more than a few minutes) to get away from the "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" pick-up lines that were making it impossible for me to hear the music. Also, there was no merchandise table and no sign of Peter Green.

As to the music, I wish that I'd had a pocket version of Rodale's Synonym Finder with me as my scratchings are rife with repetetive use of the adjectives "lovely," "killer," "sexy," and "seductive." It's hard to take notes and enjoy the show, however, and so mostly I focused on writing down what was played. All I can say is that this is an incredibly versatile band -- they were constantly shifting around onstage, which was a treat musically. I was amazed at the fullness and texture of the sound they made. Every song was completely alive.

Here's the rundown:

1. The show began with Neil alone on stage playing a small acoustic guitar and singing a song I'd never heard. All I can tell you is that the words, "After he's gone" were prominent.

2. "Distant Sun." The rest of the band came onstage and, continuing with the acoustic guitar, they played a uniquely touching version .

3. "King Tide."

4. "She Will Have Her Way." Neil donned an electric guitar and launched into "King Tide" and then "She Will Have Her Way." I actually braved standing about eight feet back from the stage on the floor for these two, just to feel the sound pulse through me and to get a better glimpse of all who were on stage. The word "killer" makes its first appearance in my notes with these two songs. The energy from the stage and the magnitude of the sound turned me into a grinning idiot. I knew that soon I'd be held in full thrall by the music.

5. "Mean to Me." Neil on bass. I remember thinking that "Mean To Me" had a different feel to it here and now than I'd ever heard on any of my tapes or CDs. Mike left our seats for this one; I finally spotted him after the first encore, standing three people back from center stage and totally immersed in the show.

6. "Twisty Bass." Killer again. "Twisty Bass" was followed by a discussion of the word "booger" being a uniquely American term; the rest of the world uses the term, "boogies," except for Ireland, where the term, "snots" is used. What an education!

7. "Sinner." Seductively played, especially as Neil casually made his way to the keyboard for a bit during the song. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is sexy." "Sinner" was followed by talk of alterboys and the lousy surfing in Myrtle Beach.

8. Tokyo song. I'd read about this on the list. Neil introduced it with the story of his and Tim's visit to Mr. Hotai, a designer in Tokyo, who was a conspicuous consumer of copious controlled substances. I've seen mention made of this story in the digest.

9. "Not the Girl You Think You Are." Neil back on acoustic. He spent a few moments trying to tune his guitar and then introduced the song as one he didn't get to perform very often as it came out as his former band, Crowded House, were breaking up.

10. "Fall at Your Feet." Lovely, lovely, lovely.

11. "Better Be Home Soon." More l, l, l. I'm completely gone at this point.

12. "Try Whistling This." Neil on keyboards. Great drumming on this one -- quite impressive. Neil was chatting about the delicious "best waffles on the beach" he had in bed that morning. There was also some comment made about Robert Moore at the back of the bus with a big joint and the Playstation. Then he talked about whistling songs and tried to get the audience to whistle the Andy Griffith Show theme song. I was amazed: either this young crowd didn't know the song (which I couldn't fathom) or else they didn't know how to whistle -- I suppose it's possible that they just didn't care.

13. "Suffer Never." Dedicated to brother Tim, who was at home in Sydney with his wife and six-month-old son, Harper, a beautiful baby who looks just like Tim. Neil on electric guitar, playing it edgy (just the way I like it done). Liam on keyboards & maracas. Extended play at the end. Completely and incredibly orgasmic version of this song. Fittingly enough, the banter at the end was about striptease and foreplay.

14. "Dream Date." Neil back on acoustic and also on keyboards. Robert Moore moved to front-and-center at one point as Neil went into his wild-man-with-a-guitar dance mode (always a highlight and enjoyable to watch him cut loose).

15. "Souvenir." Liam on drums. (no other notes)

16. "Private Universe." Neil on electric still. Wow! The feel was overwhelmingly sonic with a grit/funk edge to it.

17. "Stain on My Shirt." A little ditty of a spontaneous song made up as a result of commentary about the keyboard player's lack of clean laundry.

18. "Last One Standing." And it was mag-ni-fi-cent!

Encore 1

19. "My Loose Tongue." Liam on drums. Very electric; *very* psychedelic. Overwhelming performance.

20. "I Got You." The most crowd response of the night (maybe due to the gathering number of after show "clubbers" who had arrived at the end).

Encore 2

21. "Don't Dream It's Over." Just Neil on acoustic and whoever it is on keyboards. Sadly, my favorite part (the wonderful guitar bit after the mid- song keyboards) was cut out of the song, which was abruptly jarring.

22. "Addicted." (no notes -- I was too involved)

That's it for the show. I confess to a high level of nervous anxiety when it comes to seeing Neil Finn live in concert. I think it comes from a combination of shyness on my part and the awe of being in such close proximity to someone whose talent I so admire. Being both short and nearsighted, I'm usually compelled to be closer than I'm comfortable with at general admission shows. I wish that I could somehow be invisible so that I could observe all the details without feeling intrusive. So, I'm glad I went to Myrtle Beach if for no other reason than to get all of that out of the way. Now I can really relax and kick back at the DC show!