Just thought i would start an ENZ NZ Tour thread, as there didn't seem to be one, & i am dying to hear how the first concert was. Look i know it's probably about 4am NZ time & most of you are probably still partying, or sitting at home waiting up for the Easter Bunny, but if you've got any reviews or pics, we'd love to see them.

Sunday March 23rd 2008 - Christchurch (No more sleeps for ENZ & Easter Bunny!)

Tuesday March 25th 2008 - Wellington (One more sleep)

Friday March 28th 2008 - Auckland (4 more sleeps)

Saturday March 29th 2008 - Auckland (5 more sleeps)

Hope you all had a rockin' good time & enjoyed your Easter ENZ.

It was amazing. I've been enthralled the last couple of days. I do have the complete setlist from the dress rehearsal on saturday, and the soundcheck yesterday, but others have the setlists for last night.
Of all three, the actual show last night was the best! I was down front with some other frenz, and got some quite decent pics which I'll transfer and upload at some point, putting the link here.
I have to catch plane to Wellington now, but the crowd took off with Shark Attack, and were on their feet the entire time. NZ audience 'into it' so much more than Oz ones, and the security much better in letting us dance. The guys really loved the audience loving it all too.
The Enz came on at 9pm and the show very similar to that done in Aus in 06. Matinee Idyll, Bold as Brass and not much else from the old catalogue (?) although Tim did dedicate Matinee Idyll to Phil.
Whoops - got to catch plane. Let others continue!
Cheers!

Yep, Christchurch gig was a beauty. Fantastic setlist all round. I espcially enjoyed hearing Years go By & Matinee Idyll. Noel's spoon set and the Crombie-Hendrix guitar solo was very entertaining

What was with the white suits ? It was very etheral, almost like the band had descended from the heavens. The fact that some of the members have enough white on top already just added to ghostly look. I would've preferred the black suits or something with a hint of colour in the Enz tradition.

The backdrops were great and the lighting supurb. The volume level on some songs was nicely timed especially on closing number, History Never Repeats, notably Neil's bridging guitar riff belting out all speakers and the manic solo on I See Red.

I sincerely hope some of the younger members of the audience in their late teens and below remember this concert for life, who knows when the next Enz tour will come along in their lifetime.

Ripsnorter!!

WOW, I have to say that I have seen a few shows over the years...

Split ENZ 20th, Crowded House four times, ENZSO,Tim six times, Neil twice and the brothers twice.....

and last night was the best! The guys were great, the audience loved it....

Eddie was on fine form on the keys, Noel was a crack up, Michael Barker is great (as anyone who has seen the JBT will tell you) Nige was solid, but Tim and Neil stole it. Neil in fine voice (though he looked frustrated when first his Mic stopped working, then near the end his guitar stopped just before Noel's ' solo a la Hedrix) and Tim as the jubilant frontman, obviosuly stoked to be fronting this great band. His voice sounded excellent, really rolled back the years.... Cracker of a show, highlights, songwise were....


My Mistake (with the crowd taking over)
Message to my girl
Bold as Brass
Charlie
wow the ist goes on... Too bad with Neil's CH commitments we may never see new stuff from the lads who are obviously on fire.....You know it is a great show when you overhear the foyer after the show ad the reviews are ecstatic!


Favourite soppy bits for me was a) reading in the programme where they asked all what their most treasured, given album I think it was, and Neils was the Alphabetchadupa, and Tim watching, smiling and sway from the wings watching the older bro swooning the crowd....

PS, FINNGIRL, think I spotted you in your costome, possibly with some other FRENZ....Hope all enjoyed it as much as me....

Thanks for sharing everyone so far. I cannot wait to hear from everyone else. Still completely gutted to have had to miss out on this, but am loving hearing about the great time had by all who could be there!

Keep it coming guys. Any photos? Dying to see these white suits

The suits are actually a pink coloured fabric which seems to somehow absorb the colours in the lighting, though really only in cream and white whereas PG gave us the impression at the dress rehearsal that they might be more colourful with that. However they were only finished at the last minute, so perhaps some fine tuning is still required, or perhaps not. Unfortunately I do have photos but am not in a position to post them unless I get time to go to an internet cafe that allows flash drives.

We're in a bit all over the place right now. As if the rehearsal and last night weren't enough the guys were on our flight here to Welly. PG kept giving us taunting waves as they passed us no less than 3 times on the tour bus. Haven't seen any Enz planes yet, tho we did see another one in ChCh.

Full setlist (as played):

Shark Attack
Poor Boy
One Step Ahead
Give it a Whirl
Nobody Takes me Seriously
Double Happy
I Hope I Never
Message
Dirty Creature
Years Go By (? - I know it was a Neil song but lost my pen for a time in the craze of dancing and had to wait until I could summons somebody to pick it up for me)
Stuff & Nonsense
Devil You Know (which Neil said is good for putting children to sleep)
129
Strait Ol Line
Pioneer
6 Months
I Got You
What's the Mater With You?
I See Red

Take a Walk
Charlie
My Mistake

Bold As Brass
History Never Repeats

IT was great to see almost the entire crowd on its feet by the end of the show, many on the floor rushing to the aisles from the start, which created something of a chain reaction due to the stadium design. Even those in the corporate boxes were dancing like mad, and only those in the upper section at the rear of the stadium more or less remained seated throughout.

Yes, I have to agree-last night's concert was AT LEAST one of the best I have seen.
The dress rehearsal had it's own magic and I feel privileged to have been there- but on the night everything was so much better!
Everything about the concert was great-I do not have anything to fault of any consequence. I believe a person would had to have been looking REALLY closely to have noticed the couple of mishaps re: Neil's mic and guitar. We were too focused on the music and visuals!
It was great to see the band (and audience) happy and enjoying themselves when things really started to get going and I loved seeing those dance moves that have become Tim and Neil's signature.
Thank you Split Enz for the originality and joy you bring and for coming our way again. Without a doubt, music is magic.

Well I'm back home, fresh out of the car from Christchurch.

WOW WOW WOW!!!

My head is still spinning from a truly awesome and inspired Enz rehearsal and performance. Will post as soon as I get my head around what I want to say.

In the meantime I have uploaded my concert photos to Photobucket (which has taken the liberty to reshuffle their order!)

Enz Christchurch 23/3/08

Also have a few video clips that I will put on You Tube...

"I believe a person would had to have been looking REALLY closely to have noticed the couple of mishaps re: Neil's mic and guitar. We were too focused on the music and visuals! "

Hmmm, Me too, I only noticed cos unfortunately I was by on the side and Neil was the first thing I could see, that's all, don't worry I was totally blown away by the music and the visuals. Was a very cool night indeed!

christchurch was incredible. unfortunately i don't have anything to compare it to (ie, split enz of the 70's & 80's), but wow what a gig. a night i won't soon forget. not sure if i saw any frenz (maybe there was a couple at the same motel? a few giddays the following morning were appreciated). i was in the middle of the third row, lovin' every second & sporting a nice new red true colours top

every song sounded wonderful & tim's vocals (& dance moves) were absolutely perfect. so so much better than their studio albums i feel in love with all those years ago. captivating

hope everyone had a great time & looking forward to seeing some more of the photos you guys took

Many thanks for the good words on The Tour. Gav, thanks for the link to your pics!

See y'all in Auckland .

Oh Gav, you are the best! Thanks for the photos. So glad that you had a great time!

Brilliant photos, Gav. Such a great thrill to see Tim out front, leading the charge. He looks freaked-out (in a good way) and serious and totally into it. Such a nice juxtaposition to the intimate solo show I saw just last month. Sometimes the versatility of these guys just amazes me.

Now I just need to hear some audio of these shows!!

Looking forward to reports on the remaining dates...

Cheers.

Sunday March 23rd 2008 - Christchurch (Fantastic Concert by all reports)

Tuesday March 25th 2008 - Wellington ( No more sleeps!! )

Friday March 28th 2008 - Auckland (3 more sleeps)

Saturday March 29th 2008 - Auckland (4 more sleeps)


Thanks Charlie's Mum, Glimmer, chester kruse, mummakook, secretgirl, Gav, & EyesOfTheWorld for your fantastic reviews, photos & set lists! Great photos there Gav, i notice that the white suits seem to be the opposite of the ones that were worn during the launch of the Enz Reunion Tour.



Great to see Noel's backdrops were back in action. They were fantastic, as anyone who's seen the "One Out Of The Bag" Enz Live DVD will have noticed.

& well the "Merchandise Stand". How cool was that. I felt almost strangely compelled to jump through the computer screen in a "Purple Rose of Cairo" style, grab a t-shirt & scoot right in to see the show. Alas, the "Tyrany of Distance", had to stop this cavalier. Glad to hear the shows were fantastic. Hope tonights show is a real blast. Look forward to reading & seeing more.

Break a metaphorical leg tonight folks.

Thanks for sharing. Thanks for the photos Gav.

Can't wait til tonight. See ya there(i'll be wearing my name tag).

Goodness me, I feel like we haven't stopped! Am really looking forward to tonight's show but havent had a chance to upload my pics yet. So apologies about that. I guess "it won't Heppen overnight but it will heppen." (Playing with a NZ eccent et the moment LOL)

Tonight I'm 3rd row, as are a number of frenz I've met and become acquainted with. So it should be a roof raiser.

I must say that meeting a few of the other Frenz has been another highlight. Nice to see some really nice people who have such interesting lives, and come from all over the world - yet share this weird Enz bond! Like distant relations seen every few years or so at a picnic. Fantastic!

The cossies look a bit like the ripped up black suits they were wearing for the Australia tour announcement interviews (2006.) Only the *opposite*, oh no, heavy!!!

Eeek! I'm soooo tempted to look at photos but want to keep the surprise until I see them in Auckland on Friday ngiht. the descriptions sound intriguing though...how exciting!

Right! It's time to delay the inevitable and say what I'm thinking! (And no doubt I'll think of several hundred words I wish I'd included in this post after the editing hour closes!)

Arrived in Christchurch on the evening of Good Friday via car, although it wasn't without drama - we got just north of Dunedin when I realised I had forgotten the tickets! If being hung, drawn and quartered was still a punishment, surely my girlfriend and her friend would have lobbied for it! Anyway, was all happy in the end.

PART 1 (of 2): Saturday 22 March - Enz dress rehearsal
Arrived at the Westpac Arena before the stipulated time of 6:45. Drove around the arena once and thought I recognised a red hairdo. Turned out I was correct - it was Texas Rose (Carol) from the forum. Her and her lovely niece Em were the first ones there amongst a group of about 4 or 5.

I introduced myself to as many as possible. We all connected fairly quickly and had that familiar twinge of recognition you get when meeting Frenz forum members in person. It's still amazing that you can meet these cool people and bond like old friends from way back. We had a nice little group there as more and more turned up.

Eventually there was a total of 25 Frenz - a comfortable little number, and a reasonably diverse selection...some Kiwis, many Aussies, a Japanese guy, a couple from Manchester, a Canadian, a young boy and an elderly lady and all sorts of ages besides.

We stood around in our own little groups talking and talking and got to know plenty about each other while we waited and waited. The camaraderie was great and is always something I enjoy the most about the rare chances I get to do something like this.

I still can't remember the names of all that were there, but amongst them were Tree Girl, Finngirl, Mummakook (Janine), Yemanja, Leanne and her mum Leonie, Kim and many others whose faces I recall but names fail me (sorry guys!)

Out of the 25 Frenz, perhaps 5 or 6 were male and the rest female, and most were Aussies...I joked it was the Aussie invasion and that I felt like I was the visitor! We stood around the front of the arena waiting patiently for Peter Green of the fan club...waiting waiting waiting.

An hour and a half passed but we didn't seem to mind. Eventually Peter came out for a roll call and a bit of a debrief on what was happening. He couldn't really enlighten us on the long wait, but we didn't care too much. We would've waited much longer for the Enz I dare say, and probably wouldn't have bothered for a lesser artist!

After a bit longer wait and more quality time getting to meet and know the Frenz, hearing their various stories, experiences and anecdotes (priceless stuff which made the wait so much more worthwhile), Peter finally let us into the building and out of the slowly encroaching nippy Christchurch autumn evening air.

All the time I kept thinking this is some kind of surreal dream...at no point did it seem quite real to me! What a dream though if it was one!

Just before being led into the seating area, we were asked to switch off cellphones and given a bit more debriefing. All the seats were stacked up bar 25 specially set out for us in three rows about 20-30 metres out in front of the stage.

I had been in the arena in November for Crowded House and it was big enough then, but no more so than it seemed tonight, being devoid of people except us 25 and the stage crew, and while there are much larger venues around the world, it seemed HUGE!

We took our seats while Peter set up his high definition video camera (to take footage for "possible future distribution amongst the Frenz", yum yum) and a local TV crew were there shooting for TVNZ. We sat and patiently waited, continuing to talk amongst ourselves while watching the stage crew put in the many finishing touches, and listened to Peter's hilarious on-tour stories...he's a really funny guy.

While we waited, Tim's kids Harper and Elliot were doing what kids do best - playing around and making fun out of whatever they had (which happened to be a packing case on wheels with two seats placed inside to create a make-shift car - so cute and they've grown up so much!) This provided a few laughs and smiles.

Anyway, without much further adieu, the lights went down, the curtain rustled a bit and a huge, long peach coloured satin bag hobbled onto the left-hand side of the stage. We all got excited as this blob looking like something out of a '50s sci-fi movie made its way across, the guys trying to push their way out.

After about a minute, there was success, the bag came off and the cheers and applause went up. The boys emerged in white suits - as some have said, they resembled the opposite of the black suits from 2 years ago.

They kicked straight in with long-time opening favourite 'Shark Attack' and never let up from there. A full 20 song main set with all the favourites and party tricks, then two sets of encores. It was an all-singing, all-dancing affair for us hopelessly devoted Frenz right from the early moments and how could we not with such great music to dance to?

Two lingering memories for me will be seeing Leanne's 60-something mum shaking it like a Polaroid picture, and also a line of 5 or 6 of us out to the left-hand side (of which I was the only guy!) moving it like there's no tomorrow.

At odd times when they weren't needed for a particular song, the guys would wander off stage and watch the show from out in front...at one point I hadn't even noticed that Noel was behind us Frenz looking on!

Some of the Frenz later noted that the boys didn't give it up 100%, which was perhaps understandable given it was for a crowd of 25 rather than 2,500. But we were a very appreciative, grateful and enthusiastic bunch and cheered and clapped every song, guitar lick and drum beat...not a bad effort I thought for such a small audience.

All the boys were in fine form performance-wise. Michael was a frickin' awesome drummer and he blew away any dubious doubts any of us (including me) may have had about his place in the line-up. This was particularly evident on 'I See Red', where his high-energy, heavy drumming set the scene and carried the song. I remarked to some afterwards that it was like the Ramones. He hits the drums with such force when required and with a nice, delicate touch when the song demands it.

Noel provided my favourite moments of the night, the spoons solo an obvious favourite, but in particular his Hendrix guitar freak-out at the end of 'My Mistake' (a la the One Out Of The Bag DVD) where the guys let him do his thing before rushing him offstage...simple, but very amusing and totally in step with the Enz theatricality.

While the set was perhaps predictably geared towards the hits, there were no complaints about the song selection or the performance in general. There were the odd misplaced song lines (on the usual suspects like 'What's The Matter With You'), but they only add to the charm and individuality. There was a nice mix of uptempo numbers and the slow songs.

Would've liked a few more Judd-era songs, and perhaps a few more obscure songs like Tim had hinted about on his My Space, but in the end just about any song selection would've pleased us die-hard fans!

They boys played the full set, which was 1¾ hours - a total powerhouse show from the first few seconds to the final bow. Loved the costumes, as plain as they were because they worked so well with the vibrant light show. Classic Enz through and through and it was only the warm-up!

The vibe was great from start to finish, and as it turned out, a sign of things to come.

When it was all over, we were quickly ushered out of the of the building by Peter (for security reasons I guess) and we wholeheartedly and appreciatively thanked him for the opportunity - we all felt so privileged to be a part of it.

After the show, I waited at the back gate with Janine, Leanne and Kim, hoping for a glimpse of the boys. After a while, we watched cars exit the fenced-off secured compound one-by-one, only guessing who we saw in each vehicle. It was a totally groupie kind-of-thing to do and a memorable way to end the night...no chance for autographs, but oh well!

Then I went and hung out with the girls in the campervan, eating their cake and had a chardonnay with Janine. Was absolutely shattered from an exhausting night and just about fell asleep on Janine, but had fun and a good post-performance analysis of various aspects of the rehearsal.

Eventually made it back to the backpackers' hostel after midnight (courtesy of Leonie, Leanne and co (aka to me as the Lost Australians!), an awesome time had by all. Anyhoo, I (we) were all revved up for Sunday night!