It was standing room only at the Glenroy Auditorium, as Dunedin marked the passing of one of the city’s favourite musical sons today.
A chill blue coffin took centre stage, along with a series of artefacts such as Martin Phillipps’ famous leather jacket.
And the tributes flowed for the lead singer of The Chills, who died unexpectedly on July 28.
MC for the day, University of Otago vice-chancellor Grant Robertson, said the tributes to Phillipps (61) in the past two weeks revealed the extent to which his song writing had touched others.
‘‘Martin always answered that call of art,’’ he said.
Martin Phillipps’ sisters Sara Barham and Rachel Devereux recalled their happy childhood, including their time in Auckland, Milton and Dunedin.
They spoke about the house in Albany St, where Martin Phillipps and friends would practise furiously, initially as The Same and then as The Chills.
They said Phillipps was an obsessive archivist, a huge fan of science fiction and a ‘‘cat gentleman’’.
Tūhura Otago Museum director Dr Ian Griffin was also name-checked, as he had named asteroids after Phillipps and The Chills.
‘‘Maybe now Martin is sitting atop of that asteroid, contemplating love, friendship and loss.’’
Journalists Russell Brown and Richard Langston delivered the eulogy.
Mr Langston described Phillipps’ early years as a ‘‘dreamy kid’’ who ‘‘escaped into popular culture’’.
‘‘Martin was simply an artist and conjurer. He expressed aloneness and anguish in many of his songs, but not bitterness.’’
Watch funeral service in full
Mr Langston cited the effect The Chills’ Night of Chill Blue had on him, and the way he associated it with the Stuart St overbridge.
‘‘He created songs that stand with the great art produced and associated with this city... His songs showed us where we live and what it means to live here.’’
Mr Brown spoke about the importance of The Chills’ time of London in the mid-1980s and how it paved the way for future New Zealand acts.
‘‘There was a clear sense The Chills were doing it for everyone.’’
He also talked about Phillipps’ battles with Hepatitis C; and how he became an advocate for others who struggled with it.
The Chills’ manager Scott Muir thanked Phillipps for providing him with the ‘‘most interesting job ever’’.
He mentioned Phillipps must have played more than 1100 shows over the course of his career; and that he had worked with Phillipps for more than 300 of them.
The most recent iteration of The Chills, which had existed for several years, spoke of Phillipps’ sense of humour and loyalty.
‘‘He had a crystal clear vision, but he always created space for us.’’
The singer-songwriter's father, Donald Phillipps, read the committal.
Phillipps had been working with his band on a new album of previously unrecorded songs, Spring Board, which was finished before his death.
A song from that record played as the coffin was taken out of the auditorium.
The funeral was livestreamed.
