Shihad
Robrosa Station, Wānaka
Saturday, January 4.
From Tear Down Those Names to Factory, Shihad took about 2000 fans for a spin back through their history in Wānaka on Saturday night.
The fiery opening salvo of Tear Down Those Names and Feel The Fire showed that age has done nothing to weary Shihad’s riff battery, and served as a demonstration that the band’s latest of three No 1 albums was as relevant as anything released by the young whippersnappers that trail in their wake.
After tracks from FVEY and Beautiful Machine, Shihad truly got into their groove with a skull-rattling rendition of Alive from the Love Is The New Hate album. That set things up nicely for what was effectively a sing-along greatest hits run-through of choice cuts from the band’s first five albums.
Shihad fans are a devoted lot and they did their bit for their heroes, adding sterling backing vocals to Comfort Me, My Mind’s Sedate and The General Electric at the ever energetic frontman Jon Toogood’s request.
The crowd were also more than ready and willing turn on the torches on their cellphones and sway along to a rollicking rendition of Pacifier, creating an arresting visual image up against the craggy hills of the Cardrona Valley.
If one had to quibble, just one song apiece from Killjoy (the mighty You Again) and Churn (a shuddering, searing Factory) slightly short-changed those first two formative records, but given a generous 15-song main set and three-song encore no-one would have gone home feeling hard done by.
The band has always had good taste in cover versions and Shihad’s take on the Split Enz classic I Got You was a fine entree for the inevitable and always welcome show-closing Home Again.
This was a quality night of hard rock at its finest, and the rapturous reception Shihad received showed that they are going out with a bang, not a whimper.
