{"id":409543,"date":"2026-05-03T08:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T08:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/409543\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T08:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T08:25:12","slug":"split-enz-forever-enz-tour-nostalgic-hamilton-show-proves-band-still-have-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/409543\/","title":{"rendered":"Split Enz Forever Enz tour: Nostalgic Hamilton show proves band still have it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Original member Tim Finn and later additions Neil Finn, Eddie Rayner and Noel Crombie were joined by new bassist James Milne and drummer Matt Eccles.<\/p>\n

The opening show could almost be described as a homecoming for the Finns, who grew up in Te Awamutu.<\/p>\n

The setlist of the opening night included the classics such as Message to My Girl, while the highlight of the night might have been Stuff and Nonsense. <\/p>\n

The performance, including the dazzling colourful suits, was a spectacle in itself.<\/p>\n

Formed in 1972 in Auckland before relocating to Australia, Split Enz built their reputation on theatrical live shows, art-school eccentricity and a string of sharp, melodic hits that eventually carried them far beyond Aotearoa. <\/p>\n

Their evolution from quirky prog-pop outsiders into chart-topping hitmakers is part of what still makes them so compelling to watch.<\/p>\n

\"EddieEddie Rayner, Neil Finn and Tim Finn (pictured) were joined by new bassist James Milne and drummer Matt Eccles. Photo \/ Tim Grut<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not just seeing a band, you\u2019re watching a piece of New Zealand music history that somehow still feels alive and slightly unpredictable.<\/p>\n

And yet, the crowd.<\/p>\n

Respectfully, it leaned more toward \u201cpolite appreciation\u201d than \u201cloose limbs and spilt drinks\u201d.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something faintly surreal about hearing a song like Six Months in a Leaky Boat while watching people gently sway as if they\u2019re at a midweek theatre matinee. <\/p>\n

The brave few who stood up felt like rebels in a very well-behaved room.<\/p>\n

Still, that hardly dulled the experience.<\/p>\n

It was an all-round must-see \u2013 vibrant, nostalgic, and just a little bit odd in the best way.<\/p>\n

However, despite the efforts of some dancing in the seats, watching a rock band is not quite the same as dancing to one.<\/p>\n

Split Enz are taking their Forever Enz tour to Christchurch tomorrow, to Wellington on May 6 and 7 and to Auckland on May 9 and 10. Tickets to some shows are still available online via Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n

Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Original member Tim Finn and later additions Neil Finn, Eddie Rayner and Noel Crombie were joined by new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23930,1550,210639,156,168388,3685,1888,49157,6288,305,702,4960,11692,111,139,125484,69,5202,61492,63622,1305,8692,6100,2044,208,1530],"class_list":["post-409543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-band","tag-centre","tag-claudeland","tag-entertainment","tag-enz","tag-events","tag-first","tag-forever","tag-hamilton","tag-have","tag-it","tag-live","tag-nearly","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nostalgic","tag-nz","tag-part","tag-played","tag-proves","tag-show","tag-split","tag-still","tag-time","tag-tour","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}