Former Crowded House star tells why his encores feature strangers on the night

As a child, Neil Finn first discovered music through his family. Living miles away from anywhere, in the rural New Zealand community of Te Awamutu, he and his brother Tim would be called on to perform at the many parties his parents held.

From humble beginnings, he went on to form one of the world's biggest groups - Crowded House.

In the UK, they hit the number one spot with Weather With You, and are still known for tracks like Don't Dream It's Over and It's Only Natural.

When the band decided to call it a day, after years of chart success, they played a farewell gig in front of 250,000 at Sydney Opera House.

Now, he is getting back to his routes - and heading back to that feel-good factor of the house parties with his Band Of Strangers tour.

The tour calls in at only three British venues, and one of them is The Picket on August 9.

For the first half of the gig, Neil plays material from his newest album with his own band. For the second half, he plays an impromptu set with a hastily put-together band of strangers, chosen from submitted tapes, and who have only had a few hours to rehearse.

It sounds like a recipe for musical chaos - and a lot of fun.

Neil says: "For years now, people have been clambering on stage with me and singing along, and I've never stopped them. This is just taking it a step further.

"It's taking a risk, taking a gamble - but what we're after is lifting the whole night, making it something special.

"The power of music to ignite emotions is enormous, and on a night like this, it could be amazing - everyone boosting each other, all there with their mates, just having a great time like you would at a party or at a pub.

"I started playing at parties, and it is so simple and so good.

"It is taking a bit of a chance - but I like to stay out of the comfort zone. I like to take these gigs back to what they were - there shouldn't be too much space between the song, the singer, and the audience.

"These days, gigs are so enormous, they are more about the spectacle than music - and about selling merchandise."

Neil chose the Picket because of its strong reputation as a community resource.

He says: "We only had time for three gigs, and wanted to play venues that are trying to bring music out into the community like this one - and that's what I'm doing. I like playing Liverpool. I just hope it's ready to have a really good night!"

The Band Of Strangers tour is just one of his current projects - as well as having new material to promote, he has also written the soundtrack for the film Rain, and is heavily involved in his own website, nilfun.net

"I've been a bit quite on the site recently," he says, "but once this tour is over I'll be back at it.

"The internet gets criticised for being so impersonal, but I think a lot of what you can do with it is really extremely intimate."