There’s a lot of love in a Split Enz show, but the defining moment was always going to be ‘I See Red’
There are plenty of reasons to go and see Split Enz in 2026. For some, it’s nostalgia. For others, it’s finally getting to experience one of Australasia’s most important bands live.
But at the TikTok Entertainment Theatre on the opening night of the Forever Enz Tour, one thing became obvious pretty quickly: Split Enz – the band and their songs – are iconic for a reason.
Featuring original members Tim Finn, Neil Finn, Eddie Rayner and Noel Crombie, (and touring drummer, Matt Eccles) the band returned to Sydney for the first of two sold-out nights, joined by special guests Vika & Linda.
The venue itself had its issues. From my end of the stadium, the sound often felt thin and strangely distant, to the point where the screams of “I love you Neil!” from fans behind me were occasionally louder than the actual PA. Still, the atmosphere carried the night regardless.
Before the band even appeared, a giant curtain flickered with archival footage and flashes of Split Enz’s famously elaborate costumes – all designed by Eddie Rayner’s wife.
Then came one of the evening’s most bizarrely perfect moments: the band emerging wrapped inside what looked like a giant orange slug before bursting free to huge applause.
It was theatrical, weird, playful and unmistakably Split Enz.
Dressed in their trademark bright suits the band bounced across the stage with the same eccentric energy that made them so singular in the first place.
Formed in Auckland in 1972, Split Enz fused progressive rock, art-pop and absurdist theatre long before it was fashionable, eventually becoming one of New Zealand’s defining musical exports before Crowded House took that mantle global.
What stands out most about Split Enz now is how little the material feels trapped in time. Songs like ‘History Never Repeats’, ‘I Got You’, ‘Dirty Creature’ and ‘One Step Ahead’ still sound sharp, strange and emotionally immediate decades later.
The warmth between the Finn brothers gave the night its emotional centre. Neil – who famously joined the band at just 18 years old after once scribbling the band’s name across his school pencil case – still looks genuinely thrilled to be sharing a stage with his older brother. That affection radiates through the performance.
Tim Finn remains the undeniable ringmaster of the whole operation. Charismatic, theatrical and endlessly watchable, he commands the stage with the ease of someone born for it.
Neil, meanwhile, was flawless all night – his voice, guitar playing and understated stage presence still as magnetic as ever.
There were beautiful small moments everywhere. During ‘My Mistake’, Tim accidentally lost his place, forcing the band to restart the song from the beginning. Nobody cared. If anything, it only made the room feel more human.
The stories between songs flowed constantly too. Tim recalled bumping into someone from The Radiators, who supported Split Enz back in the ‘70s, joking that Eddie Rayner’s enormous keyboard rig once took up so much room there was barely space left onstage for the support act.
Before ‘Stuff and Nonsense’, Tim explained he wrote the song while living in London at 26 years old. When the song finished, Neil simply turned toward him and said, “What a song,” prompting Tim to laugh and reply, “Thank you Neil.”
‘Message To My Girl’ landed as one of the emotional high points of the night, but the defining moment was always going to be ‘I See Red’.
By the time the opening riff kicked in, the entire theatre was on its feet. Huge song, huge reaction.
And then there was Noel Crombie – endlessly entertaining throughout the night, jumping between percussion, guitar and visual theatre before eventually closing the set with a spoon solo.
Eddie Rayner’s ‘double Happy’ keyboard solo was a standout too – theatrical and ridiculously good, cutting through the set with the same weird energy that’s always made Split Enz feel different.
That’s the thing about Split Enz. Even at their most chaotic, there’s something deeply joyful about them.
They’re not performing like a band revisiting old glories, they’re performing like they’ve somehow wandered back into a universe where none of this magic ever disappeared in the first place.
