Shihad – The Powerstation

Sometimes bands and venues just seem to naturally fit…The Rolling Stones and the Marquee Club, The Grateful Dead and The Fillmore West, The Ramones and CBGB’s. Here in New Zealand we have Shihad and The Powerstation. The veteran band returned to their natural home to perform their album, Killjoy, celebrating 20 years since its release.

Not surprisingly, The Powerstation was sold out, but as usual, it was very easy to find a comfortable place to both see and hear.

There was a definite buzz in the air as the band took the stage at 10pm and came out swinging with You Again, the leadoff track from the album.

They may have been playing 20-year-old music, but the hard-rocking quartet attacked their instruments as if they had just written these songs.

“What’s great is that I can still totally relate to what I was thinking then, what I’m thinking now and that I get to play these riffs that are fucking brutal,” front man Jon Toogood shared with the crowd during a brief pause in the proceedings.

They then launched into Deb’s Night Out, which Toogood described as “a personal favourite” before flailing his guitar around like a man half his age.

The rest of the band was equally impressive, with the rather reserved-looking guitarist Phil Knight churning out those monstrous riff, drummer Tom Larkin happily thrashing away and Karl Kippenberger things together with his bass.

It was one wicked riff after another. I felt like I was being hit with a cement mixer, but in a good way.

It only took the band 45 minutes to finish up the nine songs that make up Killjoy. They left the stage, but there was no doubt that they would be back.

Sure enough we were treated to five more songs from FVEY, Shihad’s most recent album, proving that they can rock just as hard now as they did in 1995.

The show finally wrapped up with a frenzied rendition of Cheap As, inspiring a little 90’s-style crowd surfing and making everyone in the room very happy.

When a band has been around as long as Shihad, it’s easy to take them for granted, but on a night like this, playing in front of such rabid fans, in their old stomping ground, The Powerstation , you can’t help but hope that they stick around for another twenty years.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Isaac Newcombe:

Shihad set list:

1. You Again
2. Gimme Gimme
3. The Call
4. Envy
5. Deb’s Night Out
6. Bitter
7. For What You Burn
8. Silvercup
9. Get Up
10. Think You’re So Free
11. FVEY
12. The Living Dead
13. Song For No One
14. Cheap As