Split Enz was “electric” in Auckland on Saturday. Photo \/ Alyse Wright<\/p>\n
Hit after nostalgic hit, the Finn brothers\u2019 reformed band weaved a historic tapestry of chaos and cool into a Vegas-style romp, all without a hint of American corniness or pomp. It was cheeky, it was raw, it was loud, and it made me damn proud to be Kiwi.<\/p>\n
A massive screen that rivalled Roger Waters\u2019 2018 wall greeted us, projecting a red curtain adorned with archival footage. If they hear this, the production designers need a raise, because that screen was a marvel to behold, popping with Split Enz aesthetic throughout the night in the most seamless way possible.<\/p>\n
Other reviewers described the band\u2019s entrance as emerging from the world\u2019s largest golden beanbag, and I\u2019d say that\u2019s pretty accurate. Weird, fun, obscure, it set the tone for what was to come, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n
Tim Finn was truly terrific. Photo \/ Alyse Wright <\/p>\n
Shark Attack was a bombastic opener, the patterned suit songmen spitting out the lyrics like musical venom with smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n
A big question going into this reunion was if the reformed band still had its spark. The core members proved they\u2019re still sharp as ever on the tools, and newbies Matt Eccles and James Milne fit in seamlessly. Tim, who you wouldn\u2019t dream of thinking was in his 70s, showed he can still writhe around the stage like that gleeful madman generations saw on TV.<\/p>\n
Poor Boy, History Never Repeats, and Dirty Creature were big early sing-alongs, with Neil telling a story of hitchhiking to the fabled \u201cBuck-a-Head\u201d concerts in the 70s in-between.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps your mum or grandma was there. Maybe you were conceived there,\u201d he joked. At times, it was almost like we\u2019d stumbled into a recording session, with the banter between the Finns, Eddie Rayner, and Noel Crombie chaotic, unscripted, and at times scathingly funny.<\/p>\n
The world’s biggest human beanbag. Photo \/ Alyse Wright<\/p>\n
The middle section of the set chronicled both deep cuts and album favourites. There was a lag in pace during the slower songs, but for very good reason – it gave Tim the chance to show his excellent skills on the piano.<\/p>\n
From My Mistake onwards, it was all systems go. Hands were out of pockets, the seated were standing, and for about 20 minutes, the art pop preachers made us (I) See Red and scream I Got You at the top of our lungs to whoever was around us. Apparently, according to Neil, we were in good voice.<\/p>\n
The end of the three-song encore saw one of the best and most bizarre moments of the night. Crombie, the madman, played Strait Old Line percussion using a set of tablespoons with such veracity that it made me want to buy a pair and give it a go.<\/p>\n
Split Enz could headline the Vegas Sphere if they wanted. Photo \/ Alyse Wright<\/p>\n
My colleagues jokingly like to call me \u201cthe boomer reporter\u201d because of my penchant for reviewing shows that would likely draw an older demographic. Tonight made me even more proud to wear that mantle, because Split Enz proved nostalgia doesn\u2019t have an age, and neither does musical excellence. <\/p>\n
If the Las Vegas Sphere is looking for its next legacy blockbuster after The Eagles finish their residency, they\u2019d better call the Finn brothers quick smart.<\/p>\n
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald\u2019s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Split Enz was “electric” in Auckland on Saturday. Photo \/ Alyse Wright Hit after nostalgic hit, the Finn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[95,27299,1228,51,23930,1848,156,168388,215715,38268,2082,181994,5431,56387,5511,5430,215714,111,139,2388,69,32260,63622,184922,762,1629,8692,165,24358,9192],"class_list":["post-420017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-and","tag-arent","tag-art","tag-auckland","tag-band","tag-boys","tag-entertainment","tag-enz","tag-excellently","tag-finn","tag-for","tag-grandad","tag-hageman","tag-isnt","tag-just","tag-mitchell","tag-nana","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nostalgia","tag-nz","tag-proved","tag-proves","tag-reckoning","tag-review","tag-rock","tag-split","tag-their","tag-wave","tag-writes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420017","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=420017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}