Shihad- Gig Review and Photo Gallery 25th June @ Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
Shihad
Rosemount Hotel, Perth
25th June, 2016
Supported by Storytime
I’ve never seen so many people excited to see an opening act as there was at Rosemount Hotel awaiting Storytime. The Perth legends are back and god knows, didn’t the people love it. From the days playing at the now long gone Swanbourne Hotel, the instrumental trio have been sadly missed. They may have come from a land a long time ago but it was like they’d never left. Kicking off with ‘Red Planet’, the black overall clad boys stamped their authority all over their set. A brief intro and the heavy as fuck ‘Thor’ belted our eardrums. Storytime isn’t all heavy guitars and drums. They certainly mix it up, with a touch of surf guitar here and there and a bucketful of prog-rock.
The mix was, well, LOUD, at times threatening to blow the windows out of the front bar. Surprisingly the windows stayed intact and a good time was had by all. Twenty years was far too long to wait between Storytime gigs so guys, don’t leave it that long again.
With the Rosemount looking more like an All Blacks match than a rock show, it wasn’t hard to guess who the majority of punters came to see. Shihad may now reside in Melbourne, but, just like the Bledisloe Cup, they’ll always belong to New Zealand. Tasman rivalries aside, there’s no doubting these Kiwis came to rock!
As the lights go out and Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ plays via backing track, the crowd gets pumped, the anticipation palpable, almost able to be tasted in the air. When Shihad hit the stage things went completely berserk. The four piece started with their foot to the floor and it stayed there through their entire set. I’ve seen and been in some insane mosh pits but nothing compares to the Shihad’s pit at The Rosemount Hotel. The energy was relentless, arms legs heads and hair thrashing like never before. By the time ‘My Mind Sedate’ hit punters were in an absolute frenzy. ‘I think there’s something in the water over here because Perth fucking rocks!’ announced frontman John Toogood. I think he was on to something, with the intensity at levels I’d rarely seen at any gig before. When Toogood asked everyone to put their arms in the air and the band launched into the classic ‘Pacifier’, minds were starting to blow. Hit after hit was belted out, including the incredible ‘Interconnector’. By this time the mospit had transformed into a hard rock rolling maul. Feeding off the crowd’s energy and clearly loving every minute of it, Toogood leapt onto his foldback, leaning out into the crowd, guitar in hand screaming the lyrics, then reached up to swing off the lighting rig.
This band seems to have boundless energy, putting absolutely every ounce of themselves into their shows. With an almost perfect mix of old and new, it was great to hear a good swag of songs off 2014’s FVEY (pronounced five eyes) including the title track, ‘Think You’re So Free’, and the song that got plenty of audience participation, ‘Cheap As’, with punters taking great delight shouting the line “cheap as fuck” back at the band.
Shihad always deliver and this Saturday night in Perth was no exception, this gig has leapt in to my top five of the year. Don’t miss this tour!
Photo Gallery below – simply click on an image to enlarge and kick off the awesome slideshow!
SHIHAD
STORYTIME
Photos courtesy of Denis Radacic
** please do not use photos without permission **
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