Shihad live @ the Thekla, Bristol – 30/11/2019
My journey with Shihad dates back
to the late 90s when a school mate leant me a copy of their ‘Killjoy’ album and
I was instantly besotted by the chunky riffs, deep grooves and slanted take on
song-writing. The Kiwi band instantly found a place in my heart and I followed
their career from afar ever since, enjoying the music but always assuming I
would never get to see them do their stadium filling thang in real life. And
then came this tour, five dates in the UK all coming to a climax on a converted
boat docked in Bristol, the night after the New Zealand quartet packed out the
Shepherd’s Bush Empire. The only snag was that there were only about 50 people
in a venue that can hold 400 – that usually bodes poorly for a memorable night.
Oh, how wrong I was…
Shihad took the approach of
playing two or three of their favourite tracks off each of their albums,
starting with their most recent long player, ‘FVEY’, and working backwards.
This meant a brutally heavy onslaught of a riff opening the night up with title
track ‘FVEY’ and ‘You Think You’re So Free’ – this was not a soundcheck,
people. Most of the people in the Thekla were die hard fans, grinning from ear
to ear as crunching riffs were met with familiar melodies and a thunderous
rhythm section but even the newbies were swept away by the power of the band,
it was impossible and futile to resist. What was most impressive, however, was
these four guys looked like they were playing the biggest gig of their career and
loving every distortion soaked second of it. This was like a private show on
the set of a Nirvana video that never saw the light of day.
Frontman Jon Toogood was a consummate
professional in his performances during each song but many an artist could take
a leaf from his book in the way he connected with the audience – whipping the
pit in to a frenzy at one moment and then sharing a joke the next - even
apologising for the band’s brief dalliance with changing their name to Pacifier
because the morons of the world couldn’t tell the difference between Shihad and
Jihad. There was a palpable peak to the set when Toogood took to the mic with
nothing but a woozy synth backing for a rendition of ‘Brightest Star’ from the ‘General
Electric’ album which then bled in to the frenetic ‘My Mind’s Sedate’, just as
it does on the album.
The moment at least half the
crowd were waiting for came in the form of the band’s anthem, ‘Pacifier’, and
hearing a room full of devoted fans scream back the lyrics of “Don’t look so
worried you know, there ain’t no hurry, cause life’s supposed to ebb and flow,
now you’re all clear to go” brought a huge smile to each band member’s face.
The band’s self-titled album gets represented by the excellent ‘Home Again’ and
the break-neck ‘La La Land’ which have not only stood the test of time but also
sound incredibly fresh for a band who, by their own admission, are about to hit
their fifties and don’t have the bodies to justify ripping off their t-shirts
when over exuberant riffing gets the better of the stitching.
The arc of Shihad’s sound is like
a bell-curve from heavy riffs to more melodic rock and back again which is not only
unusual but also makes for a killer set. The heavy guitar that introduce ‘You
Again’ from the ‘Killjoy’ album drags me back to my first encounter with the
band’s music and ‘Deb’s Night Out’ was an unexpected but hugely welcome inclusion.
For an encore we were treated to ‘Factory’, the first song on first album ‘Churn’,
and ‘Cheap As Fuck’ from the most recent release – closing the circle on a
pin-point perfect set. The sound was the best I have heard in a very long time,
the set was perfectly selected and the performance was just as tight as you
might expect from a band that can hold stadium crowds in the palm of their
collective hands. It was a 9.5/10 night that could only be improved by the rest
of the venue having been full of punters but that’s on them. Losers.
More information:
Shihad – https://www.facebook.com/shihad/
The Thekla – https://www.facebook.com/theklabristol/
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