Warm reception for Split Enz

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33883, 1 July 1975, Page 5

Warm reception for Split Enz

After a battle with very cold temperatures, Split Enz won a warm reception from a large audience at the Theatre Royal on Saturday evening—but not without the demonstration of a very large bag of tricks.

Reviews that we have seen compare Enz to Captain Matchbox, Roxy Music, Yes, King Crimson, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and many others. The first impression was that somehow The Who had arrived unheralded, and that Roger Daltry had sprung a strange rock version of “Petroushka” upon an unsuspecting audience. Funny snits of green, blue, and yellow, polka dots and bow ties, rouged faces, and frizzy hair stirred memories deep of visits to this very theatre — compulsory — to deeply drink enriching culture.

The audience did not hear all the lyrics. Although the sound system was aimed towards the galleries (downstairs audiences got heat), much of the band’s original material was lost to us. A pity. The lines were an integral part of the show, for this was no ordinary concert, and we will have to wait for the release of “Mental Notes,” by Pye, sometime in July to hear what Split Enz was trying to tell us. Most of the original music is written by Tim Finn, and the guitarist, Philip Judd. Wide-ranging material it was, varying almost as much as the costumes themselves. Among it we heard the ini fluence of the Beatles, Bowie, Elton John, The Who, and, of course. Captain [ Matchbox, Roxy Music . • • ‘ The Enz act was well i choreographed and some of i the numbers in which all the i band indulged would have I drawn envy from that master

of music and movement, Mr Glitter. Noel Crombie, the other vocalist, revived the spoons and, in humorous vein, memories of those wonderful tap dancers of another generation. “It’s time for a change”— a popular ditty in Labour Party circles in 1972, but Unsung by it of late —was also aired in one of the numbers.

The second half brought a change of costume to something like a surrealist version of the uniform of an oh-so-British school. The pace did not flag, though, and by encore time the audience had been given real value for money. The concert was certainly a success for the group, and the audience’s enjoyment was obvious from the rousing reception the group received at the close of the second half. Geoff Chunn, the supporting act, deserves some encouragement, for he played in very cold conditions to a slightly cool audience. Most of his material was original, I too, and he managed some good sounds from his acoustic guitar. Geoff Chunn was once the drummer for Enz. Apparently he didn’t want to split. —-H.J.McN.