Liam Finn played Lincoln Hall on Friday night, and I was there. This show felt more polished than the last time I saw Liam in Chicago, which makes sense - he hasn't just lost a band member, and they've been touring on the new album for awhile now. The new three-piece we saw at the Hideout has become a four-piece with the advent of Eliza-Jane Barnes. EJ's presence allowed the band to play a song from the Eliza-Jane/Liam EP, "Plane Crash," a great song I'd been missing at recent shows. The setlist was split about evenly between songs from FOMO and songs from I'll Be Lightning, plus the aforementioned "Plane Crash" ... and a cover song. At midnight it was Liam's 28th birthday, celebrated on stage with a toast and plenty of alcohol. The audience sang "Happy Birthday," and then the band launched into the Beatles' "Birthday."
Oddly enough, this wasn't the first time I'd seen Liam and his band play "Birthday" on the Lincoln Hall stage. In 2009 they broke it out in honor of another birthday - crew or audience member; I can no longer recall.
After the show, Rob got Liam's signature on his well-traveled acoustic guitar. Liam also played most of "Come As You Are," a little post-show bonus for the loitering bar patrons. The show ended too late to hit Kuma's, but Liam playing Nirvana was a nice consolation prize.
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