Split Enz returns with a vengeance

BRISBANE - Neil Finn told the 10,000-plus crowd "it feels right" and the crowd undoubtedly agreed as Split Enz launched their reunion tour in Brisbane last night.

It was a triumphant return to the stage for the famous Kiwi band, who showed they had lost none of their theatrical flair or musicianship since their heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Band members Tim and Neil Finn, Eddie Rayner, Noel Crombie, Nigel Griggs and Malcolm Green - who were together for the True Colours album of 1980 that established their greatness - thrilled the Queensland crowd, who chanted for and received two encores.

All the band's famous hits - including I Got You, Six Months In A Leaky Boat and One Step Ahead - were thumped out in rousing style.

Split Enz play the first of two concerts in Sydney tonight, before heading to Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The Finn brothers have expressed the hope of playing also in New Zealand, but no dates have been set.

New Zealand band Evermore opened the show for their more famous elders last night.

- NZPA