Finn Brothers
Regent Theatre, Ipswich
> Regent Theatre, Ipswich
There are times in life when you witness something so perfect, so precise, so special that you are blown away by it.
The Finn Brothers at Ipswich's Regent Theatre was one of those times.
The New Zealand brothers walked onto the stage while a flickery home movie from their childhood in bleached 1960s colour shows a young curly-haired Tim take a bow and introduce his younger brother Neil, just older than a toddler, who also takes a bow, golden hair falling forward for the camera.
In front of the images, still with messy hair but now greying, stand two middle-aged men. They may be 40 years older but the desire to entertain and sparkle in their eye is the same.
They break into two tracks from their latest album, Everyone is Here, before interspersing them with 'classics' from their past bands, Crowded House and Split Enz.
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The songs are not churned out album perfect, but performed with a vibrancy and quality that raises them to a new level.
It is not about playing the right notes in the right places, it is about giving a performance that drives and winds, allowing you to lose yourself in the music.
The Finns are exceptional musicians, chopping and changing instruments and vocal harmonies with ease and finesse.
So moved are the crowd, that by halfway through the gig they are filling the aisles, dancing and clapping.
Family is important to the Finns, and both Tim and Neil talk about their father and the loss of their mother, to whom they dedicate, All the Colours, a song about her death.
They are comfortable on stage, joking with the audience, thanking the roadies and at one point having a play fight midsong.
But more than anything, they are having fun doing what they do best.
A breathtaking performance.
