Red Jezebel frontman Paul Wood decided to lend a touch of class to the evening’s proceedings, with a shirt, tie and slick velvet jacket – smooth, like the Perth quartet’s brand of indie rock is smooth, and incidentally fitting in nicely with the Capitol’s seedy red lounge bar decor. They played a neat, professional set to an appreciative crowd – surely this band’s time for serious airplay is fast approaching?
The main stars of the day were not far behind. As the lights came up, only three Shihad band members stood on stage – and then a spotlight revealed vocalist Jon Toogood on the other side of the room near the sound desk, where he stayed for the first song, Empty Shell.
The Kiwis were welcomed like long-lost hometown boys as they belted through old songs and new, leaving barely enough time for the mosh pit to catch its collective breath between tracks. Toogood’s unassuming demeanour would have won the crowd over, had they needed any such assistance; which they did not: It was arms (and legs) in the air from start to finish. Band members Phil Knight (guitar), Karl Kippenberger (bass) and Tom Larkin (drums) tend to take a back seat to the enigmatic front man, but it should not be overlooked that the Shihad boys form a tight unit.
Every song was a singalong punchalong classic, but it was The General Electric-era classics that got the biggest roars. Arms swaying for Pacifier, fists in the air for Comfort Me, pogo jumping for My Mind’s Sedate, screaming the words out to everything – this is a band that could do no wrong, and if they seemed a little taken aback by the enthusiasm shown, they were loved all the more for it.
The show was over far too quickly – and the punters, not surprisingly, wanted more. A chant went up for Thin White Line – which Toogood promised to play after slipping in a quick punk cover, despite asserting that they don’t normally play requests. Then it was really over, the sweaty crowd eager to believe Toogood’s promise that they’d be back sooner rather than later.
