Mi-Sex & Eddie Rayner Project @ The Studio, Auckland 28/8/14

A grand crowd turned out to see some prestige Kiwi Rock talent in the form of the Eddie Rayner Project and Mi-Sex, in the perfectly sized chamber of The Studio on K’ Rd.

Mr Eddie Rayner kicked off with a wonderful prelude piano concerto which lead brazenly into Give It A Whirl which brought everyone to attention and in no doubt that they were in for a major treat. The sound was powerful yet crisp and distinct, and very familiar. Eddie has collected some awesome musicians to belt our these tunes and they did so with enthusiasm and panache.

Split Enz hits were performed brilliantly and affectionately received, as were the excellent covers of Easy Beats Friday on my Mind and The Beatles Don’t Let Me Down.

Rikki Morris’s singing was excellent and did a superb job to replicate the well-known Enz songs, we were also treated to great vocals from Bassist Eddie Gaiger, a very talented collective indeed.

They finished with History Never Repeats, which in this instance I sincerely hope not, as Eddie blew my socks off, and then Mi-Sex went about blowing my mind!

This new line up produced a very strong and tight sound which burst off the stage, lead singer Steve Balbi leapt around and engaged with the audience with vigour and purpose that was infectious and very entertaining. It almost veiled his vocal talents, which were amazing and a near perfect fit for the well-known Mi-Sex sound of the late Steve Gilpin. His relationship with his microphone was a performance in itself, like wrestling with an octopus at times and it provided extra amusement. But nothing could be taken away from the sound booming from the stage, superb and faithful renditions of each hit song was pounded out, it was loud and breath taking. Guitarist Colin Bayley ripped out an impressive song as lead vocalist and there was seriously proficient lead guitar from the young Mr Travis New.

Mi-Sex came back for an encore and presented a new song that rocked hard and sounded like an old hit, but of course they had to finish with an oldie but a goodie and all the People were very very appreciative of it.

If you get the chance to see them, please do yourself a favour and just do it.