The long way home

Listening to: A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Selection of images from the Shihad gig at the Town Hall on Friday 25 July. When I first started going to gigs, cameras were generally forbidden. The ubiquity of mobiile phones has changed all that, and having booked my usual spot in the town hall, I thought I'd take my kit along and see what I could do. Things have come a long way...
Roadie making sure the setlists match
Just in case anyone forgot who was on stage.
Crowd. Goes. Wild.
300mm telephoto lens. Handy piece of kit
I get just as much entertainment from watching the mosh as being in it these days. I remember doing this...

Rock and roll!


Two drummers on stage, in unison, something I never get tired of seeing. Cool cool cool.
My favouritest venue

Shihad got my attention back in 1995 with a single by the name of 'Debs night out'. I sort of vaguely knew who they were, but not being into the heavier sounds yet hadn't become a follower. On the basis of that single I checked out their set at Mountain Rock in January 1996. I don't really remember the setlist as I didn't know much of the material, but it was raining, I had a badly sprained ankle, they didn't play 'Debs night out', but they did play 'Bitter'.

Later that year the fish album was released, I heard it playing at the house of M, and I was hooked.

The next time I saw them on stage was at the James Cabaret in late 1998, for the interconnector tour. Since then I have been to almost every Wellington gig, and a few more elsewhere, including twice in consecutive nights in different cities in 2000.

So lets do some sums here.....once in '96, once in '98, once in '99, three times in '00, once in '02, once in'03, once in '04, twice in '06.....

I actually don't know how many Shihad gigs I have been to, but its possibly in double figures.

Haven't been to a bad one yet, and now I am into the older and heavier stuff as well as the new stuff, they just get better. I heard 'The Metal Song' live for the first time on Friday, which is one of my favourite album tracks of 'The General Electric', which came out a long time ago now.

Its times like this that its nice to be getting older. I reckon I get way more out of a gig that way.

Baby's first gig as well. Start 'em young I reckon.

Good times