The Rock 1500 Countdown Party
15th September 2017
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
Each and every year The Rock Radio Station run The Rock 1000, New Zealand’s biggest countdown of the best one thousand songs as voted by their listeners. However this is 2017, and Kiwi’s like to go big, so The Rock 1500 Countdown was created, the world’s biggest countdown and New Zealand’s ultimate “Rock-ocracy”; and how do you celebrate such a huge collection of rock songs? With the ultimate rock party featuring one of New Zealand’s favourite bands, the mighty Shihad.
The true generosity of The Rock knows no bounds as tickets could not be bought but only won, with several prizes coming complete with flights and hotel accommodation. After opening the doors of The Powerstation early, attendees were able to countdown the final top ten with drinks in hand surrounded by fellow listeners and The Rock crew; Shihad coming out onto the stage to perform ‘Home Again’ live in celebration of it reaching No. 5, their highest ranking yet. Following the emotional ‘Black’ by Pearl Jam and the epic opus of ‘One’, the number one song was finally revealed; ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine taking out the coveted spot, the audience in attendance celebrating by singing the song loud and proud.
And now the real fun can begin with live bands taking over the stage and rocking the crowd into the night, the first of which being the Hobosexual musical duo of Alex Ferrier and Sam Holdom better known as the Skinny Hobos who had no less than three (yes three!) songs in The Rock 1500 this year. Taking to the rather stunning and newly refurbished stage at The Powerstation (featuring impressive LED side and back screens) the Skinny Hobos look resplendent as ever; Holdom behind the drum kit wearing a black go pro harness strapped to his bare and red neck tied chest, giving him a decidedly more edgy look, while Ferrier, bandana firmly in place, holds his guitar at the ready. Since their inception less than a couple of years ago, Skinny Hobos have taken the NZ music scene by storm; their infectious alternative rock stylings and on stage presence quickly establishing them as a must see act. For the uninitiated in the ways of hobosexualness, the Skinny Hobos performance tonight left them with jaws wide open as the wall of sound from tracks such as ‘Sevenatenine’ stomped through the venue, filling every nook and cranny with the gratifying and gritty sounds of their instruments combined.
‘Suburban Living’ one their more well-known singles (and Rock 1500 entries) had the crowd rockin out, horns raised high while Ferrier worked the strings with fingers possessed; Holdom the image of pure perfection behind the drums as he worked the skins as if his life depended on it, eliciting an intensity level of sound that most others could only hope to achieve. The Skinny Hobos love their fans, and as such are always keen to embrace them within their folds – so tonight Holdom requests the crowd to have some fun with a go pro they have brought along for the evening, tossing into the waiting hands of the crowd who went to town capturing footage of themselves, the band and all the exuberant entertainment in between. But never forget that our hairy hobo boys are also complete gentlemen, as they graciously thank Shihad (tongue-in-cheek) for opening as well as closing for them, along with gratitude towards The Rock itself for having them on stage tonight. The boys getting serious for a moment as they point out that tonight is pretty emotional for them as they realise their dream of playing the Powerstation stage dedicating their performance to their sound tech Danny Champion who is about to jet off around the world.
‘The Merchant of Tirau’ sounds better than ever as they follow it up with an outstanding loop jam; for a moment it as if they transcend space and time, lost in their own world of musical genius, oblivious to any other material object around them. Finishing with the brilliant ‘Jacked The Ripper’ Holdom announces “Ladies and Gentlemen, now’s the time to go fucking insane – jump!!” the fans needing no further motivation as they move in unison, shaking the very bones of the building itself as Farrier plays his guitar behind his head before dropping to his knees in servitude to the deities of rock music themselves. It would be safe to say that the Skinny Hobos certainly made a few new fans tonight, with a live performance to end all others.
While the ever hard working stage techs quickly get about setting up, the audience entertain themselves with impromptu karaoke sessions to the house music being provided by The Rock; others nipping off to the photo screen to grab a pic with Roger Farrelly himself, 2017’s officially crowned Hottest Radio Hunk.
As the lights drop, the crowd cheers, the boys from Shihad striding out onto the stage in trademark plain black clothes, grins firmly planted. “How the fuck are ya” Toogood addresses the crowd, their overwhelming response letting the band know just how ready they are for the Shihad boys. “I want you to count us in, I go 1, 2, you go 1, 2, 3, 4!” the fans enthusiastically following instructions to the letter as Shihad’s set kicks off with the in-your-face ‘You Again’. If you have never seen Shihad live then you must rectify this at the next available opportunity. Not only is the band bona fide rock legends, they also put on some of the best live shows that you will ever have the pleasure of experiencing. Ask any fan in the audience and many will tell of how they may have lost count of the number of times that they have seen Shihad perform live, but never once have they ever seen a bad show; an absolute testament to the members themselves who have been performing together since 1991 when Karl Kippenberger joined the band on bass.
Moving quickly through the first few songs Toodgood screams into the microphone “My mind’s sedate motherfuckers!” as he rips out the opening chords on his black and clearly well-loved guitar, sending the fans into a mosh pit frenzy as they raise their fists into the air and belt out the chorus. ‘Pacifier’ sees a slightly calmer vibe pass through the crowd as Toogood encourages everyone to get their arms in the air and sway them side to side; everyone feeling the love as Toogood leans forward halfway through the track to quietly murmur into the mic “God I fucking love you guys”. And make no mistake, this is no pretence, Toogood genuinely appreciates his fans as does the entire band; and they have never had an issue with vocalising this, again a testament to their characters as a whole and as New Zealand musicians.
Delving into the past and pulling out one of the classics “Deb’s Night Out’ saw Phil Knight pull out the Korg keyboard to play the wonderful synth undertones of the song, Toogood within seconds disappearing and reappearing on the upper balcony, precariously balanced on top of a stool as he let loose on guitar thrilling fans around him as they gazed on in awe. After Phil “lays a cable in his pants” due to how hard the crowd rocks the Powerstation (c’mon it wouldn’t be a Rock Party without at least one poo joke) Toogood announces that now that they have got the pop ones out of the way “it’s time to get heavy motherfuckers” as they move into songs from their latest album. It is at this pivotal moment that we truly see Shihad come alive; yes these stalwarts of rock always give it their all at each and every single live performance, but like most bands worth their weight they are ever evolving and their last album FVEY released in 2014 saw Shihad move into a newer and far heavier phase of their career.
‘Think You’re So Free’ with its lyrics that speak of searching for a leader who will speak the truth, turned the ferocity dial to 11 as the grinding guitars rode the waves of Tom Larkins outstanding performance on drums. Quickly following this up with both ‘FVEY’ (this song has to be heard live to truly appreciate the brilliance of the composition) and ‘Cheap As’ where Toogood has the crowd sing “cheap as fuck” in return to the chorus line “cheap as” and the band are truly glowing with an inner light powered by their obvious elation of playing their latest material.
Leaving the stage only to return a few moments later to deliver a loudly demanded encore, Shihad close the night with ‘Sleepeater’ and ‘Home Again’ – sure they may have played it earlier in the night, but not a single person in attendance tonight was going to complain about the song that is truly a New Zealand anthem.
What better way to end the night.
Skinny Hobos:
Shihad:
Were you there at the Powerstation for this amazing rock party? Or have you seen Shihad or Skinny Hobos perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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