Split Enz — In Concert Opera House, July 2, 1975

The house lights dimmed and a lonely spot picked out a single figure onstage.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, a young Aucklander and the evening's introductory act . . . Mike Chunn.

Looking more like the enriched darling of the record companies than the renowned woman-cater he is he moved briskly through a four-set bracket, concluding with one of the songs from Simon and Garfunkel's "Bookends". The huge backdrop floated lazily upwards during an Andrews Sisters' interlude and the spotlights flashed on to reveal the weirdos of Split Enz clustered around a bewildering array of equipment right down to microphone stands wreathed in flowers.

We've learned to expect different and novel things from Split Enz. Their patently outrageous music is perfectly complemented by their theatricality — which has progressed from mere acrobatics to a full-blown product. But do Split Enz need all this? Their music holds its own something especially evident at their Opera House date.

Witty introductory discourses led into fare as varied as the presumably Hesse-inspired "Under the Wheel", and the really pretty "Song for Amy", followed by various songs featuring interplays between instruments as diverse as synthesiser, cowbells, triangles, a peculiar instrument that resembled a bicycle pump and the standard rock group format.

A word here, too, about their stage garb. In the first half it ranged through the whole spectrum of colours. A rapid change during the interval to variations on a black and white theme - quarters, stripes, polka dots and a zebra concoction.

Their raucous rockers (sic) worked better onstage than their more downbeat numbers. They were able to get a fuller, less cluttered sound, and of course, they played off the audience's reaction, which was frenetic throughout — eliciting the comment that Wellington had provided the nicest audience that Split Enz had played to from Finn.

They were tasty in their selection of material, and had the audience laughing along with a skilfully executed spoons solo. They also played some material from their shortly forthcoming album and tunes like "Five Minute Wonder", which pulled the concert up after a patchy acoustic number.

They re-appeared for a couple of encores to a foot-stamping audience and left, leaving a satisfied feeling — and satisfaction seems to be an increasingly scarce commodity these days. If you boil it down to comparisons, and they're invidious at best, they are probably about as skilled as Blerta with the addition of more control over what they're doing, professional in a word, and Space Waltz whom, on this performance, Split Enz showed they would have no trouble whatsoever in blowing off any stage.

— Patrick O'Dea