Crowded House was, is and always will be a band apart. Formed in 1985, at a time when the charts were dominated by enormous bouffant hair and blustering electronica, they quickly established themselves as one of the world’s finest creators of anthemic pop rock. The band has remained true to this particular mission, never wavering or bowing to any trend, releasing five albums full of lilting, catchy tracks with snatches of British invasion rock ‘n’ roll, Americana and Beach Boys’ harmonies. From this they’ve built a sizeable fan base — on show tonight in a New Theatre full to the rafters — most of whom know the lyrics better than the band themselves.

The band showcase much of their hefty back catalogue, playing a two-hour set including a whopping 45-minute encore and a sprinkling of cover songs. They’ve got a new record, Intriguer, which is due to drop in next week, and they debut a couple of new tracks from it, Isolation and Saturday Sun, both of which sound like they could have been written at any time in their career. Not that this is a bad thing, as the crowd lap them up with relish. Onstage the band are in very good spirits, singer Neill Finn’s father is watching the gig via Skype and the front man brings the laptop onstage to say hello to the crowd; given that both his son Liam and wife Sharon play as part of Crowded House’s touring band, this makes this a real family affair.

Of course, it’s the classics people have paid to see and the band don’t scrimp on those either: Fall At Your Feet, the instantly recognisable Weather With You and Don’t Dream It’s Over, with which they end the show, all have the audience singing every word.

Regardless of trend or time and place, you get the feeling there’ll always be a reserved space for Crowded House.