Liam Finn

New Zealander Liam Finn undeniably has inherited the art of crafting insidiously clever pop tunes from his dad, Neil Finn of Crowded House and Split Enz fame. Liam's solo debut, I'll Be Lightning (Yep Roc), released last January, is in fact packed with loads of sly hooks and littered with Beatlesesque elements. But he's hardly a clone of his father or the Liverpudlians, favoring arrangements full of surprising twists and turns, and an occasional tendency to drift into relatively spare introspection, as on the wistful "Remember When." There's a lot of effervescent stuff, too, such as the playful, infectious "Lead Balloon" and the seductively Fab Four-like title track. Finn did virtually everything on Lightning, earning favorable comparisons to Paul McCartney's early solo recordings. On this, his first headlining tour, Finn will be an almost one-man band, using tape loops and playing all the instruments, with only the assistance of backup singer/autoharpist Eliza-Jane Barnes. Opening will be London's the Veils, led by Finn Andrews, who also grew up in New Zealand. His growly, unsettled voice stretches archly over pop-rock conceits darker and more haunted than the other Finn's. 18+.
Wed., Oct. 1, 8 p.m., 2008