There are acts like AC/DC that are happy in their comfort zones, releasing the same album again and again (and some who even perform the same show on autopilot for decades). Then there are artists like Jack White who push themselves to try something new and at times even make things difficult for the sake of experience. Tonight, Tim Finn, the NZ-born living treasure definitely resembled the latter. Messer Finn’s challenge was to play his new album – his ninth one that the audience hadn’t heard and one that wasn’t even supposed to happen – in full (admittedly, on shuffle). It was nothing to be sniffed at but would he deliver?

But first up was another Tim, he being Tim Hart or the guy better known as the drummer for Boy & Bear. The band have achieved success in their own right and are also responsible for having produced the searing cover of Crowded House’s “Fall At Your Feet” on the He Will Have His Way tribute album. Hart entered the stage gushing and literally beside himself at being offered this golden opportunity. Armed with just an acoustic guitar and your often-touted three chords and the truth, he put on a rather neat set, especially considering the six (and tonight occasionally12) string aren’t his typical weapon of choice.

Stripped away of the harmonies of his bandmates (most of whom were hidden and showing their support in a crowd that also included Rhys Muldoon), Hart’s set was a raw and intensely personal affair. In “Cover Of Your Code” he sang: “There’s no place I won’t go” and offered reassurances in spite of fear. For the following track he played a 12-string that hadn’t “Been played live by Australian hands” and created the same kind of ethereal softness that Jimmy Page offered on Led Zeppelin’s amazing ballads.

At other moments Hart wore his folkie heart (geddit?) on his sleeve, often referencing Eric Clapton and certainly singing more personal songs than the band’s repertoire normally dictates. Amidst the heavy tracks however, he kept the mood light with funny banter (including in-jokes with his comrade bandmates on the sideline) and offered tenderness when he got his fiancé Faith to join him on-stage. She played harmonica and backing vocals during a Lior-like “Stride By Stride” and “The Olive Gate” (where Hart would say after her solo the cute, “That was really nice”).

Before a cover of Ray LaMontagne’s “Jolene” Hart confessed to talking too much and that he was going to play this one as: “A homage to my days as a covers musician. And they’re probably not over yet”. But methinks after this performance and Boy & Bear’s ongoing success (heck, there’ll be an ARIA or two in time) that statement will be void because surely a few thousand fans (give or take) can’t be wrong?

Tim Senior’s admirers were certainly right about something having loyally stuck by the musician and his numerous guises as front man, band member, solo artist, poet and all-round raconteur during his 40 years in the biz. Finn admitted early on, “This job doesn’t come with any instructions” and then proved precisely why he wouldn’t need any with new composition, “Wild Sweet Children”. The catchy music when combined with lyrics about poetry and madness when he’s with his love got people bopping from the outset. Heck, Finn even started up mid-song with an aside about how the inspiration came from his own kids and son Harper changing the lyrics to Daddy’s songs.

The Beresford’s sold-out crowd was a mature one and Finn was in his element in a suit and proudly entertaining the audience of his once adopted hometown of Surry Hills. He had lived there, Harper had been born there and the overall feeling was that the adopted Aussie tag has been well and truly earned by this Kiwi.

Finn had a full band that included long-time guitarist Brett Adams, plus Tony Buchan (bass) Carlos Adura (drums) and Neil Anderson (keys). On “Going Going Gone” we got some moody guitar-work and flourishes that were borrowed from a George Harrison songbook. “All This & More” meanwhile combined the vibe found on the Crowdies “Whispers & Moans” with the sunny, beach-like environment you’d usually find Jack Johnson at.

For the album’s title track – one co-written with Megan Washington before she released her breakthrough debut album – Finn showcased his skills at the piano (he exclaimed it was an “actual one” and that “That doesn’t happen often!”) It was a big fat pop song about love and one that warmed us up for the following ballad. “Everybody’s Wrong” is about when things don’t go well with old friends and it felt like Finn was referencing his work on the classic Split Enz track, “I Hope I Never” and his acrimonious relationship with Phil Judd once again.

Eventually, Finn would return to his acoustic guitar for a tale about celebrating the beauty in the simple things. Titled, “The Everyday” it was written in Auckland on a perfectly radiant day full of light and sun. It was reminiscent of The Finn Brother’s “Homesick” and it also had some glorious backing vocals from his band.

Finn was in jovial spirits when he cracked a joke about how he’d half-expected the fans to be in pyjamas and growing beards. It was lost on some people but proved a cheeky reference to brother Neil’s new band, Pajama Club and the latter’s son Liam whose show these days is more closely resembling the maniac Split Enz-era Tim than his papa’s.

After a slight dip in the set it was time for Finn to bring the show home with “Opposite Sign,” an eastern-flavoured track about Capricorns that was a crowd favourite. “Certain Way” and “Keep Talking” were the set closers with the former offering some easy-on-the-ears pop in the vein of Fleetwood Mac.

The band soon returned for an encore with Finn confessing that it had been “Scary up there” and that playing the new album in full wouldn’t have met everyone’s approval, that they could’ve played an old song, a new one, etc. Perhaps this would’ve proved a better balance of loud and softness and the old and new, but instead the audience got a wonderful taster and a cohesive mix of new music with many cuts appearing to be absolute corkers and even hits-in-the-making. The two-song encore was left for classic cuts- Split Enz’s “Dirty Creature” with its fun and crazy muddle of funky guitar and dirty bass and the gorgeous “Persuasion,” a track as affable and sweet as its creator.

It seems the show – like the album’s namesake – was a journey and at times it meant the ascension and terrain could prove a little hard-going. But for the loyalists who love the Finn’s blend of fun pop, the view and was well worth the climb and kudos to the group for not taking the easy road and just knocking out the expected. In short, the challenge was met, the bar raised and all were rewarded.