Gig review: Split Enz in Wellington

ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post

HE SEES RED: Tim Finn performs with Split Enz at TSB Arena in Wellington.

ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post

LONG WAIT: Neil Finn performs with Split Enz at TSB Arena in Wellington.

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A Split Enz reunion is a big deal, and Wellington's TSB Arena sold out months ago. Simon Sweetman takes in one of New Zealand's best-known bands.

Split Enz
Where: TSB Arena, Wellington
When: Tuesday, March 25

The chance to see the brothers Finn with Eddie Rayner (keyboards), Noel Crombie (percussion) and Nigel Griggs (bass) is always cause for celebration for a Kiwi crowd, particularly as there is a generation raised on the band's songs now experiencing the first opportunity to see the group live.

This nationwide tour comes on the back of the Enz playing successful reunion gigs in Australia last year.

We thought we had missed out but Split Enz would never forget the home crowd.

Kicking off with Shark Attack and Poor Boy, it was clear that Tim Finn is in better voice than he has been for the past decade.

Neil Finn fired back with One Step Ahead and Give It A Whirl, and so it continued, the sibling songwriters issuing a back-and-forth challenge, with the winner being the audience.

Never did it feel like a cynical, cop-out reunion; cool new suits, a great light show and impressive backdrops all made for a great show.

And this version of the band pumped out memorable pop songs, from the quirky (Dirty Creature) to the classic straight-ahead rock (I Got You).

Certainly Tim's solo performances have come to feel increasingly reliant on the energy of the Enz material to get him through - he clings to the material, but serves it so well. It is his musical lifeblood.

For Neil it was a springboard to bigger things, but he respectfully acknowledges his roots.

Further highlights included Neil, Tim and Rayner revisiting the early Enz gem Matinee Idyll; Crombie's delicious spoon solo; the swirling keys of Pioneer, leading directly in to Six Months In A Leaky Boat; and of course the set-closing I See Red.

An amazing show from a world-class group of homegrown heroes, this is the sort of nostalgia act that manages to remain relevant and hip while revisiting former glories.

And nice for The Phoenix Foundation to get the chance to play to a larger audience - it is disingenuous to bless/curse the band as the new Split Enz but certainly Phoenix is one of the best and more original contemporary Kiwi groups.

Here's hoping a few old Enz fans will build on this Foundation.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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J Speedy   #5   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Myself and my friends thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it was great to see the cross-section of young and mature together in unity. Our only niggle was about the micro-second echo bouncing off that tin roof - disappointing because the Enz themselves sounded fantastic.

Simon Sweetman   #4   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I have to say I always think, with that venue, that the gigs should all be standing downstairs and the seated option just for up top. Pretty much anyway...

M Davis   #3   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Yep - I agree! Should have been standing on floor - Venue needs work, but overall a fantastic concert! Enz Rock!!

Pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22575&id=554333516

DS   #2   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I couldn't agree more. If it makes you feel any better though, us folk upstairs (who could see) suffered the heat and were also crammed in like battery hens. It's an appauling venue and needs some $ spent on it to get it up to scratch.

JM   #1   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Split Enz were awesome, better with age I reckon. I am really stoked they did this tour. It was also great to see Phoenix Foundation, they were a really good fit with Split Enz.

However, the promoters need to be shot. We were jammed in like sardines. I paid $100 for my seat and couldnt see a thing - it only got worse once everyone stood up. It should have been a standing only section on the ground, and seated up the top for the grumpy Nana's like me who actually wanted to see the stage!