SPLIT ENZ – TIK TOK ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, SYDNEY (18/5/2026)

With Vika and Linda having already warmed up the crowd in this sold-out first show at Sydney’s ICC, it was with great anticipation as the four mainstay members of Split Enz, namely Tim Finn, Neil Finn, Eddie Raynor and Noel Crombie made their way to the stage. Their entrance was accompanied by the sounds of the instrumental track “The Choral Sea” from the “True Colours” album and done in true vaudeville fashion under the covers of a brightly coloured sheet, before they then revealed themselves dressed in their similarly bright suits that have been the signature attire of the band for decades.

Getting underway with “Shark Attack”, it was pretty clear from the get-go that the band were in fine form and ready to put on a show for the ages. The set continued with fan favourites including “History Never Repeats”, “One Step Ahead”, “Six Months In A Leaky Boat”, “I Got You” and “I See Red”, but there was plenty more on offer from a band with a sizeable back catalogue to draw upon.

The band’s “True Colours” album certainly got the most attention across the night (7 songs in total, but who’s counting!) including such gems as “Poor Boy”, “Nobody Takes Me Seriously” and “Missing Person”, but there were so many highlights including the anthemic “Give It A Whirl”, almost the perfect song for a stadium show.

The in-between song banter was great and also gave an insight into how many of the songs were developed, including Tim Finn’s story about how “Dirty Creature” had originally been conceived on piano before “a great band can take a riff and run with it”.

It wasn’t just the music and musicianship to behold, but the visuals too, which saw a pictorial history of the band’s costumes displayed whilst they worked their way through the instrumental track “Double Happy”, as well as some old band footage shown at the outset of the show.

The highlight of the set for mine was the beautiful ballad “Message To My Girl” with the band in full flight and sounding to absolute perfection. The other big ballad of the night “I Hope I Never” saw Tim Finn still comfortably hitting the high notes when many vocalists of his tenure may longer have that privilege.

As if the crowd weren’t engaging enough on the sing-a-long front, Tim Finn then acknowledged the absence of a trumpet and asked the audience to fill the void as they launched into “My Mistake”, mentioning that the music video featured his younger brother Neil who was only 14 at the time and yet to officially join the band at that point.

Trumpet aside, Noel Crombie certainly showed his versatility with not only attending to percussive duties, but by also playing the likes of the kazoo, slide whistle, guiro and triangle across the show, then jumping behind the drum kit for the final song of the night “Straight Old Line”, only to then break into a spoon solo at the end!

There was so much to like about this show and judging by the number of classic t-shirts and associated merchandise spotted throughout the crowd, Split Enz undoubtedly has a fond place in so many people’s musical palettes.

Photos: Courtesy Graeme Doyle Photography

MIDDLE KIDS – ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY (7/6/2024)

Despite being a cold and wet night in Sydney, this didn’t dampen the spirits of a packed crowd who had come out to see home town heroes Middle Kids before they took off to the US for another overseas tour.

With a new album in the form of “Faith Crisis Pt 1” now added to their repertoire, it was a great night of live music as this now well established local band covered a good breadth and depth of their career so far. The band were on point right from the get go with a tight and impressive sound and easily able to replicate in the live arena what we have enjoyed to date on their EP and album releases. With a stunning light show to accompany the performance and even a blast of ticker tape from the two cannons on either side of the stage toward the end of their first set, there was a lot to like here. The band members had some funny in between song anecdotes to share, with everything from frontwoman Hannah Joy’s encouragement to have kids (she now has two of her own!), to drummer Harry Day’s suggestion of forming a band before the end of the financial year, it added something extra special here.

Highlights of the set included this scribes personal favourite “Stacking chairs” to close the opening set, with other gems such as “Your love“, “R u 4 me?” and “Bootleg firecracker” seeing the crowd in full voice. After a brief break, the band returned with a three song encore culiminating in recent single “Bend“.

With Middle Kids now heading off to the US for a month long tour, a market that they already have made some inroads in, you get the feeling that this is an act that is one step away on the precipice of an even greater career ahead.