“The three and a half minute song is like a Chinese vase- you can make hundreds of these over a period of a thousand years… and they could all be just subtly different, maybe tiny bits here and there”- a quote by Tim Finn. If one is to continue with the imagery, then The Finn Brothers show is like an antique shop. One containing all different ceramics, colourful pieces from all corners of the globe that are symbolic of different places and times. And there was no bull in this china shop.

The night opened with psychedelic rockers Mercury Rev. Some members of the audience may have been disappointed that Lester Osbourne, someone dear to Neil’s heart, was not on hand to support (even if it is someone’s imaginary porn star name).

Instead the audience was treated to cascading, melodious tunes complemented by an artistic backdrop. Members of the audience were enthralled by the sweet imagery provided by the songs and movies. The backdrop contained thought provoking quotes such as “Are you a hologram?” “Who’s holding together the world’s atoms?” “You are.” Lastly, “Time must pass”, a quote that may have reminded some of George Harrison’s album title All Things Must Pass.

The on-stage banter was minimalist as enough was said to the audience via the screen. The lead singer performed like a conductor and at times emulated an artist painting with sound and light.

The energy in the room intensified as the crowd waited. In the meantime they had to make do with recorded music, The Beatles’ You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) and The Who’s I’m Free.  The Finn Brothers entered the self-proclaimed “fleecy cave” to deliver warm tunes to punters and light to deflect the cold winter’s day outside.  The brothers Finn began with a fusion of something old (Split Enz classics), something new (Finn Brothers songs), something borrowed (Sweet Dreams by Phil Judd to whom the song was dedicated) and something blue (Edible Flowers). “Blue” being one of the many colours on this spectrum of great songs from two very gifted songwriters.

The Enz songs were on high rotation, no doubt celebrating their upcoming Aria Hall of Fame induction. Message to My Girl had a modern twist and escaped the eighties synthesizer with Neil Finn perched over the piano. Poor Boy was performed without the alien undertones and featured Tim happily dancing away.

To describe the set we could best use the song title, Anything Can Happen as anything did happen.  Tim and Neil relished being on stage in such theatrical surroundings. Tim was persuaded by the audience to perform a soliloquy from King Lear, which paid homage to the early Enz concerts. Maybe the audience enjoyed hearing more King Lear, as it also featured at the end of The Beatles’ I Am the Walrus.

If acting wasn’t dramatic enough, the audience had Tim’s dancing to watch during Won’t Give In. He danced like a man possessed but the piano obstructed him and caused many to miss out seeing him shaking his groove thing. Neil meanwhile, had nice new shoes, which helped him slip across the stage. He worried this might stop him dancing and asked the audience for some sand paper. But there were “no builders in the audience.”

Tim was not content with the melodious, upbeat sounds he, Neil and the band produced and decided to make a popping sound (think of the Lollipop song). Neil had never heard Tim perform this and asked how he could contribute. Tim said, “you can slide.”

Maybe sliding was another form of exercise for the boys that day? Neil described the two performing yoga in the Domain that morning. Whilst the crowd contemplated this, he added the word “naked.” Here’s a mental thought- the Finn Brothers at the Domain doing nude yoga and wearing tragic eighties sweat bands.

Sporting fashions was the next conversation topic and talk of a tennis match they had played with Mercury Rev. Neil invited the crowd to an impromptu match on the harbour concourse whilst Tim described getting tennis balls out of short tennis skirts “POP.”

Whilst lightheartedness and frivolity were the main aspects of the night, a nice contrast occurred with the more serious Disembodied Voices. With lyrics describing talking to each other in the dark, the Finn Brothers decided enact this with the crowd. With the band shrouded in darkness for the whole song, they filled the Concert Hall with sounds attempting to recapture their childhood nights in Te Awamutu.

Crowded House songs got a spin with Pineapple Head and It’s Only Natural. After the encore Neil mentioned how he missed Paul Hester and got the crowd to sing Four Seasons In One Day with him. The song opened with Neil on acoustic guitar as the audience sang. Some people were in tune and others were not. It may not have been melodious, but it was a beautiful tribute to the sadly missed Hester.

The night was time for the old and for the new. Newer tracks included Part Of Me, Part of You; There Goes God, Edible Flowers and Won’t Give In. The two songs that yielded the largest audience reaction were Six Months In a Leaky Boat and Crowded House gem Weather With You. In the middle of Weather With You, Neil experimented by singing part of the Split Enz song True Colours.

The night drew to a nice close with Gentle Hum. After the fresh hooks and melodies of earlier it was nice to end with the simple humming of this song.

As the audience left the hall they were left to reflect on the evening and all of its raw emotions- laughter, happiness and sadness. Former Split Enz member Mike Chunn once described the meaning of Split Enz songs to its past members as follows “I believe everybody’s got them spinning around in their heads, these great musical, fantastically exciting, music moments, and so why should we ever let them go? None of us seem to be able to do that and we’ll go to our graves, humming those songs.”  As the crowd walked along the harbour concourse there was no need for morbidity as they hummed away the inspiring and joyful songs of the past, still fresh in their minds thanks to the Finn Brothers. This was the perfect final encore to mark the night’s end.