There’s a false start at the top of the opener before Tim Finn announces, “Whoops!” and we recognise it’s all part of the act: they were literally demonstrating My Mistake – so quirky!
Jeez we miss the zaniness of Split Enz! Can they please do a reunion tour stat? The band’s stunning one-off Sound Relief re-formation gig in 2009 is still one of this scribe’s best-ever concert experiences.
I See Red follows immediately afterwards and the band – all of whom sport dapper black suits – sounds absolutely fabulous; especially Niall Anderson on the deliberately plonky, discordant piano parts, complete with hammed-up pauses. Finn’s commitment to the deliberately daggy dance moves is also noteworthy.
The setlist plays out in chronological order and Finn informs us Stuff And Nonsense was penned in 1978, while he was living in a flat in Melbourne “in A flat” – LOL, the zingers just keep on coming! Backing vocalist Elliot Finn, Tim’s daughter, starts this one off, before her dad takes over. Carlo Barbaro’s fluttering flute riff certainly doesn’t go unnoticed here.
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Tim Finn then recalls a gig Split Enz once played at the Bondi Lifesaver, with Buffalo and Hush, during which they witnessed their first “roadie fistfight”. The punk-fuelled Shark Attack is buck wild and Barbaro pulls focus once more: that descending sax melody slaps! Finn’s voice has certainly seen better days and pre-empting super-high falsetto notes during our fave songs – such as the exquisite I Hope I Never, during which he accompanies himself on grand piano – can prove worrisome. But his songbook is undeniably exceptional – as is the backing band he’s assembled for these shows – and it just has to be said that Finn is a true master of minor key composition (mondegreen alert: we used to think his song In A Minor Key was actually ‘In A Monarchy’).
Six Months In A Leaky Boat is such a madcap masterpiece! We clap along during the jaunty flute riff, which Finn spontaneously directs, “Do it again!” before whistling along (totally off-key – yikes!). The crowd then “dah-dah-dah”s along with this song’s closing piano melody. Tony Buchen nails Dirty Creature’s shuffling bassline before sharing the spotlight with Barbaro and his wonderfully unhinged sax outro.
Finn reminds us Fraction Too Much Friction’s Richard Lowenstein-directed clip was filmed around St Kilda, even going so far as to mime carrying a ghetto blaster on his shoulder to further jog our memories.
But the evening’s most memorable moment occurs when an audience member hollers out a request for Finn, which he accepts, “Sign your legs? Yeah, alright,” before admitting he’s never signed a leg before. We’re all like, ‘What the?’ – fully expecting a lady, brandishing a Sharpie for the purpose, to appear on stage. But then a prosthetic leg is passed up! Finn signs said leg and dedicates the song that follows, Persuasion, to Jackie, the leg’s owner.
Towards the end of Crowded House’s Chocolate Cake, everyone in the band that’s upstanding sidesteps in unison on cue, which is a bit adorable. Finn points out some punters in the crowd “rocking the Enz costumes”, and gives Noel Crombie, Split Enz’s percussionist/spoons player/stylist, a shoutout. Then Weather With You – this evening’s most enthusiastic singalong moment – follows, closing out the main set.
The encore commences with much-loved fan favourite, Charley (from 1977’s Dizrythmia), Hard Act To Follow follows and then we’re left Staring At The Embers. A fitting celebration of Tim Finn: a melodic wizard who is, undoubtedly, right up there among the best songwriters on the planet.
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