Split Enz played the first of two Póneke Wellington shows on their much-hyped reunion tour last night (May 6th).
After impressing at Aotearoa festival Electric Avenue earlier this year, the legendary Kiwi band kicked off their reunion run this month in their homeland.
Backed by chosen support act Hans Pucket, they delighted the crowd inside TSB Arena in the New Zealand capital on Wednesday, which came ahead of another date in Wellington as well as shows in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Check out our 3 takeaways from last night’s dazzling show below.
Ticket information for Split Enz’s upcoming tour dates can be found here and here.
Perfect Support
Split Enz’s fellow Kiwis Hans Pucket were tasked with warming up the crowd, which they duly did thanks to indie rock gems like “No Drama”.
Befitting a Split Enz show, they concluded their set with a wry comment: “Make sure to stick around for Split Enz,” they said, much to the crowd’s amusement. A joke Split Enz themselves would have been proud to make.
New Members Impress
The Finn brothers were on fine form, of course, but the band’s new members, drummer Matt Eccles and bass guitarist James Milne, more than held their own alongside the rest of the lineup.
Eccles and Milne’s musicianship and energy impressed on the night, making it seem as if they’d been part of Split Enz for a long time.
Crowd Harmony
Split Enz and the Wellington crowd were in perfect unison throughout the joyous show.
“The crowd was at its most alive towards the second half of the show with the ever-charismatic Finn brothers leading an arena-wide spooky sing-along to the 1977 classic ‘My Mistake’, which only grew over the following songs until every aisle was filled,” Rolling Stone AU/NZ wrote in a five-star review.
“Split Enz deftly balanced their pedigree and whimsy in a show that had the entirety of TSB Arena smiling,” the review added.
“At their best, the band are truly dazzling, and as the performance concluded with their unforgettable hit ‘I See Red’, it was impossible not to be swept up by the exact same charisma that turned them into breakout stars all those decades ago.”
