It’s no secret, Stephen Colbert loves New Zealand. The Late Show host is a Tolkien tragic, a man obsessed with Lord of The Rings. His love affair with Middle Earth runs so deep, he made a cameo in one of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit prequels.
Colbert has filmed episodes of his late-night show in the Land of the Long White Cloud, he’s had Kiwi star Lorde on the show, and the nation’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
So it all made sense for Crowded House to stop by The Late Show on Thursday night (Aug. 19). Led by Aucklander Neil Finn, Crowded House are one of NZ’s great music exports.
Since its formation in 1985 from the embers of Split Enz, the band has sold more than 10 million albums, and in 2016 its members were rewarded with induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame (the Enz was inducted in 2005).
For this musical-guest slot, Finn Co. zoomed in for two songs: the classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 way back in April 1987; and a newbie, “To The Island.”
“To The Island” appears on Crowded House’s latest new studio album Dreamers Are Waiting, which dropped in June, their first since 2010’s Intriguer.
Watch the Late Show performance below.
