Shihad, Cog, Peabody @ TheForum, 03/09/2005

Thu 8th Sep, 2005 in Gig Reviews

With so much anticipation and excitement I had for partaking in this gig, it seems I wasn’t to be disappointed.

For what I would consider for so early in the evening, a large happy crowd of punters had already gathered and eyes glued to the huge screen up on the stage. This was where May Dayz the surf documentary, filmed by Tim Bonython and containing several Cog songs, was showing, capturing the attention of most. For me it was a nostalgic return to when I used to watch these flicks years ago.

The lights dimmed and the spectacular kicked off, it was ‘theatre rock’ with a dreamy start with mesmerising guitar and vocals as the members of Cog took to the stage one by one, almost as if easing us into the night.

The sound Cog produced was incredibly clean and crisp almost came across as polished. The band certainly were enjoying themselves and put heaps of energy into their show. To be honest I am not all that familiar with the band and their material but it was clear that a large proportion of punters did!! For all that was put in, the band produces a huge and awesome vocally driven sound.

There seems to be a fair bit of controversy generated by this tour, and given I caught onto that quite late I couldn’t tell if it was due to the title of the tour ‘Homeland Security’ or due to loyal fans of both bands getting feisty. Either way, both Shihad and Cog acknowledged it, with Flynn, the lead singer of Cog pleading ‘we are just two bands that respect each other and get along and we are not rivals’.

Taking the mood up a notch, Flynn demanded ‘ok people lets take it over the top’ as they played some tunes from their latest offering The New Normal. Ending their set with Burn Hollywood Burn. No matter where one was positioned in The Forum tonight, the sound ROCKED!

After witnessing the vast array of t-shirts on display such as Hatebreed and Insurge, to name a few, and watching as more people squeezed into fill the space, this venue was packed, yet sedate. Not calm for long as Shihad burst onto the stage with Jon Toogood leading the way with his usual rock and roll moves.

This evening all four members of the band were wearing a uniform of black shirt and pant affair until, of course, Jon ditched his shirt entirely, a little later on. Beginning with Empty Shell the band  were here for a good time and so were we. I haven’t seen them in as large a venue as this and being here reaffirms the band can stir the crowd into a frenzy in both smaller and larger venues.

Playing The General Electric Jon departed the stage mid song and climbed high into the upper levels of the venue pointing at the roman statues that surround the balconies and generally keeping the punters amused… he loves to climb. The punters loved every moment of it, hyped for one of Shihads’ singles Alive, off their new album Love Is The New Hate. The band seemed to revel at the sight of the stage diving and crowd surfing inspired by their awesome tunes.

Toogood, up to his usual tricks and getting all touchy feely with the fans up the front. They played their current single Shot In The Head which totally kicks it live, and sent the room into a spin. Comfort Me and None of the Above in which they dedicated to anyone who has lost someone. The room went ballistic when the familiar sounds of Pacifier started cranking.

As all good things must come to an end, Shihad left the stage only to return a short time later for the first encore in which they gave us Saddest Song In The World. One of the best points of seeing these guys live is that they actively encourage a bit of crowd participation, and it was during Run that we had that chance for a little sing-a-long, with Jon holding the microphone out. The end was nigh, but not without Jon throwing himself out into the crowd for his own little bit of crowd surfing. As Jon says, ‘keep on rocking’.