Live review: The Chills deliver heavenly pop hits

Inevitably, a question from the floor came, a few songs in.

"Do you take requests?" came the shout.

Martin Phillipps half grinned, half sighed: "I think you should be quite satisfied with what you're getting."

True, the request heckle was made out of long-lasting affection for the music of Phillipps' and his Chills, who first emerged among the early 80s wave of post-punk Dunedin bands and the Flying Nun label.

Though undoubtedly request guy was after some B-side obscurity, older than some of the current Chills membership.

But Phillipps was right. What we were getting was highly satisfactory. This rare Auckland show was a live unveiling for much of the fine new Silver Bullets album as well as fresh readings of half a dozen or more old Chills hymns.

Pink Frost swirled forth from '84 early in proceedings; the mournful fuzzy chug of I Love My Leather Jacket ended the main set; the band's '83 debut single Rolling Moon sparkled as the last song of the night in the encore.

So, if you wanted Chills nostalgia, you had come to the right place, especially if your favourite Chills album was the first one, 1987's Brave Words.

But the strength of this show was the ongoing miracle of Silver Bullets, the Phillipps band's first proper album in nearly 20 years and the lively delivery its songs got from him and his 21st century line-up.

True, a wish-washy mix meant some finer details - such as Phillipps' crystalline guitar lines and the ensemble's vocal harmonies - got lost in translation.

But with Phillipps in fine voice and powered from the back by exuberant, time-signature-crunching drummer Todd Knudson, the new songs such as the album's title track, as well as America Says Hello and especially Aurora Corona, rivalled and occasionally surpassed the comfy oldies for energy and spirit.

Yes, it was nice to hear the old chestnuts - especially a sweetly triumphant Heavenly Pop Hit as the first encore.

But if the Chills are a band with one foot in the past, this night showed the one in the present has a mighty good kick to it.