It's fin for Finn brothers' world tour

Tim (left) and Neil Finn wonder what's next after their 180-gig tour ended in Auckland on Thursday night. Picture / Dean Purcell

Hey Tim ... don't dream, it's over. The tour, that is.

Yesterday the slightly frazzled Finn brothers were facing their first day in a year without a plane to catch, a concert to play.

The New Zealand music institution finished their touring for the album Everyone Is Here - released last August and the biggest seller of their post-Split Enz/Crowded House careers - with a two-night stand at Auckland's Civic Theatre.

The final show capped 12 months of an estimated 180 live dates which stretched from Newton to New York, from the Sydney Opera House to London's Albert Hall.

The morning after the triumphant, emotional and often madcap last show, the pair farewelled their backing musicians and overseas crew and started to wonder: what next?

There are no solid plans for their own careers beyond writing some new songs and seeing what happens.

Tim Finn looks forward to being on the sidelines for 7-year-old son Harper's soccer game this morning.

Neil Finn, 47, does have a gig - for the next few weeks he'll play piano as Bic Runga records a new album. "I am really looking forward to it - it's an opportunity to be a musician and not have to worry about finishing lyrics. That's a nice way to come down from touring."

Tim Finn, 53, says it's been his most concerted touring since Split Enz days. While it's been tiring, he's been chuffed with their efforts.

"Every show was good and quite a few of them, by our standards, superb. That's very satisfying. Just to be able to get up there and really deliver it. And Neil and I got better and better at singing together."

The Finns' past year was also tinged with tragedy with the death in March of former band-mate, drummer Paul Hester.

"I've been thinking about him every single night I've been on stage," Neil Finn said. "I'm gutted I will never play with him again."

At the Civic show, he entreated the audience to "sing it for Paul" during a cover of the Hunters and Collectors' anthem Throw Your Arms Around Me.