Over Christmas 2008 and New Year 2009, Neil Finn has invited the core band from his 2001 Seven Worlds Collide project, plus some other special guests, to create a new album at Roundhead studios in Auckland, New Zealand.
Guests confirmed so far are Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien, legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, founder member of The Smiths and current member of US alternate rock innovators Modest Mouse, Soul Coughing's Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, along with NZ musicians Liam Finn, Don McGlashan and Bic Runga. All proceeds from this very special recording will go to support the continuing great work of Oxfam International.
There will also be a short series of intimate and informal live performances in New Zealand at Auckland's Powerstation on 5, 6 and 7 January 2009. Tickets go on sale on Monday, 24 November through Ticketmaster Ph. 09 970 9700
CROWDED HOUSE RETURN TO AUSTRALIA
We're pleased to announce that Crowded House will be playing three very special concerts in Australia and Tasmania in November and December of this year. Twelve months on from their sell-out Australian tour, they will be taking in The Forum in Melbourne and the Enmore Theatre in Sydney.
Returning to Tasmania for the first time since reforming two years ago, the band will also be playing Tolosa Park in Hobart, where they will be joined by multi ARIA winner Josh Pyke. On 6 December, Crowded House will be headlining this year's Homebake Festival in Sydney, which is now sold out.
Tickets for the shows go on sale on Wednesday, 22 October, and are expected to sell out quickly! For full tour dates and ticketing details, see below:Â
Saturday, 29 November - Tolosa Park, Hobart
Ticketmaster 136 100 or Intrastate Coach Bookings 1300 360 000
Tuesday, 02 December - The Forum, Melbourne
Ticketek 132 849
Thursday, 04 December - Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Ticketek 132 849
The live recordings of Crowded House UK shows have been tremendously popular, and the CDs from Sunday's Wembley show have just sold out. Recordings from the shows in Manchester, Glasgow, Nottingham and Birmingham are still available but selling fast. Only 1,500 CDs have been produced per show, so make sure you place your order now to avoid disappointment.
The live CDs can be purchased on their own or bundled with the digital single, Bob Clearmountain's mix of Pour Le Monde, for only £15. Visit Concert Live to place your order.
Crowded House have teamed up with non-profit environmental group Reverb to descrease their carbon footprint while on tour. As well as working with Reverb to minimise and offset all of the estimated CO2 emissions on their tour, Crowded House are using B20 BioDiesel on their tour busses.
Fans can do their bit too by offsetting the impact of their own travel to the shows. Time to Change stickers, available at merchandise booths at the shows for a $5 donation, include a carbon credit equivalent to 150 miles of driving to help towards neutralising the CO2 your journey to the concert created. Click here for more details, and to find out what you can do to combat climate change.
AUSTRALIA/ NEW ZEALAND TOUR GREENING INITIATIVES
When Crowded House's world tour comes to Australia and New Zealand in October/November 2007 the band will be doing so with the environment in mind. Reducing the tour's overall environmental footprint is an important goal in ensuring the band's activities are as sustainable as possible.
The venues that Crowded House will be playing at have been asked to provide details of the environmental initiatives and programs they have put in place. Many venues have developed their own environmental policies covering such areas as waste and recycling, energy management, recyclable packaging, water conservation and locally sourced goods and services.
The band are keen to work with those venues that take into account the environmental impacts of running such large entertainment facilities. Lets face it, environmental issues associated with buildings place an enormous strain on the environment if not managed properly.
By supporting venues that implement programs such as water efficient amenities, buying GreenPower for lighting and putting in place public place recycling systems to reduce the amount of waste directed to landfill, Crowded House hope to influence other venues to take up the environmental challenge.
While travelling through Australia and New Zealand the band will be tackling its own climate impact head on by offsetting those greenhouse emissions associated with the tour that cannot be avoided.
From an energy management perspective, avoiding and reducing energy consumption tops the list, but for energy that cannot be avoided such as venue electricity, air travel and road transport, offsetting these emissions makes environmental sense.
How does carbon offsetting work?
Crowded House has invested in renewable energy projects via Climate Friendly that will prevent the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as the Australian/New Zealand leg of the tour emits.
Climate Friendly has previously purchased carbon credits from a range of national and international renewable energy generators such as the Te Apiti wind farm in New Zealand, Challicum Hills wind farms in Australia and are currently supporting new wind energy projects in Turkey, China and South Australia. These projects address the root cause of global warming; burning fossil fuels for energy, while meeting the highest global accreditation standards for carbon offset programs.
The end result is that the Australian/New Zealand leg of the tour is 100% carbon neutral and the band is playing a leading role in the fight against climate change.
Climate Friendly has earned a reputation as a leading provider of carbon neutral services. Their products have the strong support of WWF Internationally and their clients include climate expert Tim Flannery, Al Gore's Climate Project and a host of progressive companies, government bodies and leading environment groups from across the world. To find out more about becoming climate neutral you can visit Climate Friendly
Getting to and from the show using public transport
To play a part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions take public transport to the show. Click on your venue's link listed below to work out the best public transport option for you:
Sydney Entertainment Centre
Rod Laver Arena
Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Vector Arena Auckland
TSB Bank Arena Wellington NSW
Westpac Arena Christchurch
Further environmental information
Check out the following links for further information on how you can reduce your environmental footprint and help conserve our precious environment:
Keep Australia Beautiful
Environmental Protection Agency
Planet Ark
Australian Conservation Foundation
Greenpeace
Environment and Conservation Organisations of New Zealand
Crowded House are making recordings from their American tour available to their fans. By going to
Crowded House Live, North American fans of the band can order a mail order CD or download a selection of the shows from the band's current North American tour. The high quality recordings are taken direct from the front of house desk and include the entire concert and all the on stage goings on. In true Crowded House form each show is unique. They are available on CD in a different artworked collectible sleeve for each show or as high quality mp3 or FLAC files.
For more information and to order this special souvenir, visit Crowded House Live
MERCHANDISE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
Crowded House have just embarked on the European leg of their current world tour, following 6 weeks in the US and Canada. The full range of European tour merchandise is now available online from MAM Merchandising, so you you can beat the queues and choose from a selection of shirts from the comfort of your own home. Or get yourself a unique Crowded House watch, the beautiful Live on Earth tour programme or go shopping with the Anagram tote bag!
Anyone who missed their chance to take a peek at the merchandise on the US and Canadian shows should visit Music Today, who now have the full tour range on sale, as well as the limited edition double vinyl album of Time On Earth.
For more information visit the store
NICK PLAYS ON 'THE CAKE SALE' RECORD FOR OXFAM
The Cake Sale is a collaboration record featuring a loose and expansive collective of musicians and writers who have combined to create a 9-song CD of previously unreleased recordings.
Also featured on the record are performances by Glen Hansard (The Frames / ONCE the movie), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Lisa Hannigan, Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy), Josh Ritter, Gemma Hayes, The Thrills, Bell X1 and more.
All profits from The Cake Sale will go to support Oxfam's Make Trade Fair Campaign and their overseas program work.
The CD is out now in UK and Ireland, and is available for pre-order in North America now for release on October 16.
For more information on The Cake Sale, and to buy/pre-order a copy of the record go to thecakesale.com.