Farewell to the World

Farewell to the World
Live album by Crowded House
Released	November 2006
Recorded	Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia 24 November 1996
Genre	Pop rock, alternative rock
Label	Capitol
Crowded House chronology
Classic Masters (2003) Farewell to the World (2006) Time on Earth (2007)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Music Box	[2]
Pop Matters (DVD)	[3]
Web Wombat	[4]

Farewell to the World is a 1996 concert by rock group Crowded House, which was released on video in 1996 and on CD and DVD in 2006. The concert was recorded on the outside steps of the Sydney Opera House, as a charity event to raise funds for the Sydney Children's Hospital. The event was originally scheduled for the night of 23 November 1996; however, it was delayed one day due to rain. The concert was to be the last that the group played, as the group had announced their dissolution several months prior.^[5] The concert attracted a crowd of greater than 100,000 people,^[6] with some estimates of 250,000 people in attendance.^[7] Since then, several concerts have been performed in the same place, such as the Mushroom Records anniversary celebration. Every Australian Idol year finale uses the outdoor as well as the indoor of the Opera House.

The concert was originally aired on Network Ten in Australia in November 1996, however, this performance was incomplete as it did not include five songs performed from the concert (due to time constraints). In December 1996, the group released the concert on VHS which included some press coverage of the band's breakup and the concert. The VHS version contained all of the same songs as the television version other than "Weather with You", which was replaced by the fan favourite, "Hole in the River".

The CD and DVD of the concert were released in November 2006, on the ten-year anniversary of the original concert. These versions were remastered, and the DVD included all previous footage along with an interview with Neil Finn by Jana Wendt on Channel Nine's Sunday program. All songs were included on the DVD and CD release, including those omitted previously and the sound (and, for DVD, picture) was digitally remastered.

The setlist included many of Crowded House's most famous hits and many fan favourites also. The supporting bands were Custard, You Am I and Powderfinger.

As the album was to be the final performance by the group, they called upon previous members Tim Finn and tour drummer Peter Jones to play for a small portion of the event. Drummer Paul Hester, though he had previously left the band while on tour, was considered a member of the band again for the performance, as he had been one for the majority of the group's tenure.