Shihad makes the hard call. Loud Forever: The Final Tour has been selling out everywhere. They call it quits at the peak. A rare privilege.
Jon Toogood, lead singer and rhythm guitar is basking in the love. Not surprising he is on a perpetual high the last few months. Catch that buzz/ Love is the drug that I’m thinking of.
In recent interviews everywhere, the band have described their travel through time and space as a marriage, as tempestuous and fraught as any. This must be a necessary energy which fuels their artistic chemistry. Strong forces of attraction and repulsion.
Their Spark Arena show is a record breaker for a New Zealand Rock band. (There is Six60 which cover a wider Indie Pop style).
True family atmosphere tonight. Pre-teens wear Shihad t-shirts and are still up past 11pm. Plenty of alcohol flows but the camaraderie is all-embracing.
Toogood emphasises this. Early in the show and the mass of people on the floor are seething. Look after each other! Pick people up. This is a love festival!
I recall the farewell Crowded House tour late last year, and the final Spark Arena concert where Neil Finn made a point of mentioning the booze-fuelled breakdown and violence at Hamilton.
Numerous comments of similar behaviour at recent big shows here, Chris Stapleton a case in point.
Shihad are wise to that. Two blasts from their Love Is the New Hate album.
All The Young Fascists was inspired by the time they were participating in a Rock Festival in Miami, Florida, which happened to coincide with the US invasion of Iraq. It turned into a patriotic carnival with live simulcast to troops in Iraq.
Drums sound like rapid-fire artillery. On the other cut Alive, they combine that with Zeppelin crunch riffs.
From the start, Toogood announces they will play minimum two from each of the ten albums.
They start from the top with Old Gods (2021).
Tear Down Those Names has the heavyweight meshed guitar pressure of their early albums, taking inspiration from Slayer and Metallica.
Feel The Fire and the melodic side of Shihad is woven into the industrial barrage. The two poles of Shihad’s musical approach.
They continue the count from newest to oldest.
Toogood and drummer Tom Larkin met in high school in Wellington and formed the nucleus of the band.
Lead guitar Phil Knight was an early conscript, but the bass guitar seat took some time to bed down until Karl Kippenberger claimed it.
The heavy rhythm attack with tension-discharging sparks from the lead guitar gets inspiration from AC-DC, the heavy Rock of Led Zepp, and maybe also Bryan Gregory of the early Cramps.
Cannot underestimate the power of Toogood as a versatile singer. As well as rising above the firepower of Shihad, he is close to being a resident vocalist for the Come Together ensemble, covering songs by U2, Neil Young, Rolling Stones.
FVEY, title track from the 2014 album has a similar signature Viking riff as Zepp’s Immigrant Song.
Sleepeater (off Ignite) has the nasty and malevolent bass lead of a Stranglers song.
Bullitproof was their Big Day Out staple, a rave-up with ringing guitars.
They changed their name briefly to Pacifier in 2002, following the Twin Towers tragedy. It was a misspelling of Jihad, taken from the Dune novels of Frank Herbert, and the cult D. Lynch movie.
An inspired error as the name implies an East-West dichotomy. Surf music has Lebanese roots. Rock music as it progressed from Chicago Blues absorbed Middle Eastern influences.
You may find this on Ignite. A slower tempo, and one of the most melodic of the evening. The closest to a ballad.
Shihad has feet planted in Progressive Rock (as opposed to Prog). They have their softer feminine aspect.
One Will Hear the Other exposes Punk roots in the approach tonight. The studio version echoes the Who’s I Can’t Explain.
This tour has given the band the chance to push out and revitalise familiar tunes according to the current zeitgeist. They are not their own tribute band yet, like the Rolling Stones (bless their Soul).
Nowhere is immune or sheltered by the turmoil and chaos of current times. To address toxic cultures, it is necessary to raze everything and rebuild. Natural for this to be reflected in the Art World. It may be an anchor when people lose their orientation.
Deb’s Night Out and You Again, off sophomore album Killjoy. A relentless melodic drone matched with a heavy dirty one.
Factory sounds like industrial Wax Chattels theatrical horror, as the drums rise and dominate. Off their first album Churn, produced by Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman.
Screwtop is just as dark and manic. Pristine Metal, completed with low tone bass rumbles on the vamp.
Perfectly matched by their cover of Split Enz’s, I Got You. I don’t know why sometimes I get frightened.
Naturally they close the farewell show with their own Kiwi anthem, Home Again. Everyone gets a go to chant along with the band.
There are no regrets. Shihad have put on a killer performance and invested all their songs with adrenalized Rock power. Kill ‘em and leave!
Rev. Orange Peel
Photography by Leonie Moreland
Shihad
The D4
Dick Move
Mim Jensen
Nice photo coverage!
Honestly, Shihad are kinda boring. They peaked around 1997-2004 at latest.