Live Photos and Review: Shihad, Emma Dilemma, Goya - The Hunter Lounge, Wellington

Aotearoa heavy rock legends Shihad celebrated the release of their tenth studio album Old Gods with a storming hometown headline set on Saturday, joined at Te Whanganui-a-Tara's The Hunter Lounge by Emma Dilemma and Goya. Charging around the country last week on their This Is The Sound Of An Empire Falling tour, knocking off four massive shows on four consecutive dates in the main centres from Thursday to Sunday, photographer Bruce Mackay captured the veteran team of Jon Toogood (The Adults), Tom Larkin, Phil Knight and Karl Kippenberger letting rip songs from throughout their career to an amped crowd. Read Scott Weaver's review of the event and check out a selection of Mackay's images of all three bands, by clicking on the thumbnail pics below...

It’s been a long time coming, Shihad’s new album Old Gods was released almost a full year ago. It is a proper class album, arguably one of their best. I’ve had to force myself to listen to other stuff so I don't burn it out. Shihad have always had an anti-establishment, subversive leaning throughout their 30 plus year career. Their music often reflecting challenging social issues. A quick peek at the Old Gods album cover confirms that they are still as angry as ever.

Covid had continued to frustrate with a cancellation and postponement but Wellington finally got to see their home town boys delivering the goods tonight. Yes! It is good to have Shihad back.

Shihad launch into ‘Tear Down Those Names’, the first song and single of their new album, with an energy that belies their advancing years. They immediately follow this with 'Old Gods’. These songs are already heavy and powerful. Experiencing them live adds a whole new level of oomph.

They give us a triple whammy of their politically energised rock with ‘Think You're so Free’ from their previous 2014 album, FVEY. Music with a message and what a way to deliver. Shihad is tight and polished which only comes after literally decades of playing together. I truly believe at this stage of their career they are incapable of a bad performance.

And then their relatively recent cover of Split Enz’s ‘I Got You’. A classic Kiwi tune with the classic Shihad sound. When the chorus kicked in, it was no surprise to find everyone singing along.

It would be easy for Shihad to rely on their hits from their huge back catalogue. However, Shihad are no nostalgia act and the fact that all songs so far have been from within the period of their last two albums reflect this. Old Gods being their 10th studio album.

However, they run through some classics from their The General Electric album. Then another new tune, the bombastic ‘Empire Falling’. ‘Pacifier’ followed 'Run’ and had the crowd waving their phone lights from side to side at Jon’s request.

‘Little Demons’ has one of my favourite choruses of any Shihad song and one I can’t see tiring of any time soon. Because of the amount of material available to them, there are so many favourites that were always invariably going to be missed off the set list. I personally would have liked to hear some Churn material. However, the new material more than made up for this and they still played my personal favourite, ‘You Again’ off Killjoy so it is churlish to complain. Next tune ‘Comfort me’ has increased my anticipation of the vinyl release of Pacifier album, due in February next year.

We were treated to another new album track, ‘Mink Coat’. If my memory serves me correctly Jon said this wasn’t originally on the setlist and a spontaneous decision to play. I’m glad they did. Shihad are one of those rare bands that consistently produce fantastic tunes. The quality of the songs on Old Gods is testament to this.

The encore included ‘Feel the Fire’. Evidence that Shihad can write radio-friendly pop songs to compete with the best of them if they so desire. They ended with 'Home Again’ a fitting finale to their home town crowd.

It was worth the wait. — Scott Weaver