by Jon-Paul Hansen

Peter [Green, fan club president] managed to organise it so that the lifetime members of the club who had spoken to him the night before could sit in on the soundcheck.

We (me, my fiancee Shan, and all those mentioned above) sat right at the back of the venue and listened to the band rehearse a few songs: "Faster Than Light," "Sinner," "Loose Tongue," "She Will Have Her Way" and "Spirit of the Stairs," and Liam (on drums) jammed with Neil on a bit of Led Zeppelin's "Livin' Lovin' Maid."

It was very interesting watching and listening to Neil instruct the band on how to get the song "just right."

After the rehearsal, Neil came and chatted with us for a few minutes, and we all shot upstairs for a group photo. Where the guests like souvenirs, indeed.

It was a few hours 'til the gig, so we had some dinner, and made our way back to the venue. Once again the wonderful Stereo Bus were followed by a whistling excursion by Ronnie Ronalde.

Lina Kvist mentioned in her review of the Dunedin concert that they were disappointed with Liam 'cause he sat with his back to the audience for the whole of the first song ("Last One Standing"). The reason for this is that he is "playing" that controlled guitar-feedback whistle which runs through the song, and has to sit right up next to his amp to achieve it!

Once again Neil tried to get some audience singalong happening at the end of "Sinner" "Sing it everyone -- got my eyes got my face" etc., but it really isn't the ideal group singalong lyric, is it? It may work better in the US & Aussie, where "Sinner" is the single.

The set list was similar to the previous night. When Neil played "Fall at Your Feet" by himself, things looked set for a repeat of "Distant Sun" and "Message to my Girl." But after "Fall," Neil said, "Any requests?"

A woman in front of us yelled out something or other, to which Neil replied "Did I write that? What?"

She yelled out again: "Love this Life"

"Oh!" siad Neil, "I did write that!, OK..."

And he played it beautifully!! I'd never heard it live before, and it was an absolute treat.

Then Neil sat at the keyboard & played "The Devil You Know", which was awesome. He said he never played it in Split Enz, and doesn't play it often because that bastard Dave Dobbyn went and wrote another song called "Devil You Know", and then so did Kylie Minogue.

"Dave's a good friend of mine, Dave, are you here tonight?"

No reply.

"Err, yeah, a really good friend! Actually, don't you think Dave and Ronnie Ronalde look pretty similar -- they've got the same hair ..."

This lead into "Try Whistling This" -- which Ronnie guested on again.

The intro to "Faster than Light" is incredible, with Robert manipulating a relaxation/zen/yoga type LP, so the start of the song has a voiceover, expounding the theraputic properties of contorting one's body a certain way. The first night it was concentrated on the shoulder, and Neil followed the advice, but at soundcheck & the second concert, it was a little more, err, erotic, and thankfully Neil didn't demonstrate!

"Dream Date" was played , which differed from the Sunday concert, and really built up to a frenzy, with Robert ranting at the end.

The first encore occurred before "Twisty Bass," then inexplicably, Neil ran from the stage before "Don't Dream It's Over;" Robert followed. Liam looked up and saw everyone disappearing, so he lept off the stage.

Poor Michael on drums didn't have a clue what was going on, so he just kind of slid down and tried to hide behind the kit. As the lights faded he made his exit. It was quite bizarre.

Once again on "Don't Dream," the Wellington and US contingent carried the singalong, which prompted Neil to exclaim the Auckland Youth Choir was in the 2nd row!

Oh, and that rumbling bass note which concludes "Addicted" almost loosened the plaster from the walls of the old theatre; the whole place was shaking!

After the show, Shan and I headed home, but I understand Peter asked the others to go upstairs to see the record company presentation. Somehow a human pyramid amongst the listies got worked into things, though (sensibly) Mr Finn did not partake!