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Shihad + Mere Theory, Grand Fatal Adelaide Unibar, Fri 11 Feb  With
three other gigs sold out the same night, I was pleasantly surprised
to see a strong crowd gathered at the Unibar to welcome back the return
of Melbourne-based rockers Shihad. Before the former New Zealanders
took to the stage, it was local bands Grand Fatal and Mere Theory
who had the task of playing to a crowd that really wanted to see Shihad.
Arriving for the last couple of songs of Mere Theory's set, I was
pleased to see the response to their show was excellent, and, not
having seen them for a couple of years, I quite liked what I saw,
considering I'd never been particularly keen on their style of music.As soon as Mere Theory had finished, the air filled with a sense of anticipation; it was, after all, the first show in Adelaide since the quartet had decided to revert back to their old moniker. When it was clear the band would be taking the stage within the next few minutes, as always, the crowd began to chant "Shihad! Shihad!" with fervour. The band responded by running onto the stage enthusiastically and launching into the brand new song Empty Shell, quickly followed by the old stalwart My Mind's Sedate, drawing the crowd in closer to the stage and setting a high standard for the rest of the night. What followed over the next hour or so didn't let anyone down. Lead singer and guitarist Jon Toogood, lead guitarist Phil Knight and bassist Karl Kippenberger spent almost half the set climbing up on the monitors, pulling rock moves as we've become accustomed to (especially Toogood) and generally had the crowd enthralled whilst clearly loving every minute of being on stage as they ripped through an awesome set of Shihad favourites, plus also incorporating a handful of new songs, including the closing Big Future. Judging by the crowd's reaction, the forthcoming album will go down a treat.  |
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