We all like a bargain, so when you get a Hollywood actress turned singer thrown in for free at the Finn Brothers' concert, everyone's happy.

As the opening act to Neil and Tim Finn, of Crowded House fame, Minnie Driver proved her talents don't just lie with acting.

On Sunday night at Oxford's New Theatre, she was playing herself, and a very fine job she was doing, too.

Performing songs from her new album, Everything I've Got in My Pocket, she won over the audience with her soulful voice and cheeky banter.

"Let me introduce the band," she says smiling, "because I forgot to last night and they gave me c*** all day." And she has thrown herself into her new role, so much so that her leg is covered in bruises where she has been hitting it with a tambourine.

"Too much gusto," she explains.

When Kiwi duo Neil and Tim appear on stage the audience show their appreciation with enough feet-stamping, clapping and cheering that people in New Zealand could probably hear.

In between playing songs from their new album, Everyone Is Here, Crowded House favourites and an impromptu version of Wild Thing, the brothers entertained the

audience with stories and jokes -- not to mention Tim's "unique" dancing.

"The spirit of the crazed cousin came upon me," he says after doing what can only be described as a crazy leg dance.

The undeniable highlight of the evening was during the encore when the familiar riff of Weather With You filled the theatre. One woman was so excited she leapt from her seat to dance in the aisles, only to be told by a security guard to sit down again.

And the evening took a spooky twist when, after a short break the band returned on stage wearing red scarves and blacked out faces, in honour of Halloween, I presume. Once again Tim's erratic choreography delighted the audience, who by now were on foot, clapping and singing at the top of their voices.

All in all it was a brilliant evening, and while the theatre may not have been a Crowded House, it was certainly a happy home.

MADDY BIDDULPH