It was as good as New Zealand rock music got. Right about the turn of the century -after years of nurturing local talent and competing against international behemoths - rock bands in Aotearoa had their own sounds and styles, and could stand tall against the best in the world..
Some of them were just fun - like Stellar and Tadpole and Goodshirt - but Shihad were the kings of the local rock scene, bringing absolutely mega riffs into existence for more than decade by that point. Peaking off the success of The General Electric, they were the best band to ever come to Timaru in that small and wonderful slice of spacetime.
And they came with Weta, led by the brilliant Aaron Tokona, who wrote these powerful songs that built into transcendent crescendos. Tokona had no time for the business, and never recorded as much as he should have, and passed away a few years ago. But that was all in the future, and he made a Tuesday night in Timaru feel eternal, with some chugging AC/DC shredding as they set up for their next epic.
And they also came with Fur Patrol, which was fine by everyone, because Julia Deans was unquestionably the coolest person in the country right then, and she still might be.
But it was Shihad we came for, and Shihad who delivered all the rock we would ever really need in our lives. It was before they went down the ill-fated Pacifier route, and when they ruled the country. Shihad were the band who pumped the heaviest of riffs right into your skull, and would have lyrics that could be surprisingly tender, and a band that would have a joint with you in the back alley behind the Loaded Hog.
It was the greatest gig my home town had ever seen. All those bands had been there before and would be there again, but for one wonderful tour around the country, they were better than any other fuckers in the world.
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