ALTHOUGH not a massive Crowded House fan, I personally find their laid-back sound the perfect accompaniment to those idyllic, lazy summer evenings.

And, on the weekend the clocks went forward, two hours listening to a Kidderminster tribute act who come surprisingly close to recreating the sound of one of New Zealand's most famous exports proved time well spent.

Crooked House gigs are somewhat rare these days - but while many in the packed Tap House audience appeared to be seasoned followers, I would recommend the next one, whenever that may be, to anyone.

This includes non-Crowded House fans as the quality of the songs and Crooked House's accuracy in reproducing them means most people should hear at least a couple of tracks they know and love.

Dale Minaker does a great job of sounding like Neil Finn and the lively, ever-entertaining Guy Richardson provided a non-musical highlight when he somehow contrived to gash his own forehead in an incident involving, as far as I could gather, a tambourine.

Well-known hit Weather With You got proceedings underway and I was happy when my two personal favourites, Distant Sun and Don't Dream It's Over, finally got an airing right at the end.

Audience participation and enthusiastic dancing from one group of fans helped create a nice atmosphere in the candle-lit Tap House. Great fun.

AMD