Finn Brothers salute

Neil and Tim Finn have paid tribute to ex-Crowded House drummer Paul Hester during the Finn Brothers' first show in Australia since the death of their former bandmate.

As previously reported on NME.COM, Hester's body was discovered in Melbourne earlier this year.

Speaking to the crowd (July 12) at the first of four shows the Finn Brothers are due to perform at the Sydney Opera House over the next week, frontman Neil Finn became emotional as the band returned for the first of two encores, saying; “I've been thinking about Paul Hester all night… I really miss him,” before asking the crowd to join in on a semi-acoustic rendition of Crowded House hit ‘Four Seasons In One Day' and saying “I thought you might want to sing a song with me for him.”

The band are currently on tour with Mercury Rev throughout Australia and New Zealand to coincide with the Splendour In The Grass Festival, which takes place next week in Byron Bay on the New South Wales coast.

The Finn Brothers shows kick off several weeks of sideshows for bands including Queens Of The Stone Age, Futureheads, Bloc Party, Interpol and Ryan Adams, who are all set to play the festival at Belongil Fields on July 23 and 24.document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;