The sun's clocking out for the day, but inside Brisbane's The Tivoli, the action is just getting started.
The line outside is snaking down the footpath, packed with band tees, (I bet with cold beers in a chilly bin, if they could) and the kind of energy that screams, "tonight's gonna be LOUD!". The Tiv's vintage charm might fool a newcomer into expecting something classy – don't be that fool.Tonight (28 February), it's all about chaos, sweat, and ear-splitting rock & roll, courtesy of Fat Dog and The Tits, Battlesnake, and the legendary Shihad.
This isn't just any Shihad gig – it's part of their Loud Forever – The Final Tour, the last hurrah for a band that's been obliterating stages for three and a half decades, dropping ten studio albums, and racking up more awards than they can probably keep track of. This is the end of an era, and if you think they're going out quietly, you haven't been paying attention.
Shihad isn't just a band; they're a cornerstone of rock in the southern hemisphere, their music etched into the hearts of fans who have been screaming their lyrics back at them for years.
These aren't just songs – they're battle cries, anthems of rebellion, resilience, and raw power that have carried generations through triumphs, heartbreaks, and everything in between. Yeah – upfront declaration – I am a fan!
The carousing commences with Fat Dog and The Tits. This band is hitting different, its pure Brisbane punk distilled into seven chaotic geniuses wielding instruments like weapons. They're not just playing music; they're detonating it.
Fat Dog and The Tits - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Frontperson Samantha 'Fat Dog' Taylor isn't so much singing (at this time) as unleashing a full-throated Aussie snarl, while Keisha Wheeler McMullen's clarinet is somehow making itself right at home in the punk pandemonium. It shouldn't be working, but holy heck, it is.
Their tracks are hitting like a sledgehammer to the ribs, and before anyone knows it, many of the gathering crowd are a writhing mess of limbs and beer sloshing through the air. Fortitude Valley is already echoing with clarinet madness interspersed with an ocker twang – this band is about to be everywhere.
Quickly, Fat Dog and The Tits' gear is removed as the front half of the stage looks roomier. Where their drum kit was, now stands a red LED illuminated cross, glowing ominously, as monks drone through the speakers.
For the uninitiated things are about to get a whole lot weirder – I say this, as when I first photographed them as a support on the Smashing Pumpkins' The World Is A Vampire tour, I was left gobsmacked.
All seven members of Battlesnake slither onto the stage, cloaked in pure metal absurdity, in full-blown cult leader garb: robes, wings, sequins, the whole damn spectacle – and the music? It's '80s power metal cranked to 11, complete with a pink keytar and a flying V that's screaming blasphemy in the best way.
Battlesnake - image © Clea-marie Thorne
The set list is a war cry: 'The Battlesnake' roars with twin-guitar glory, 'Motorsteeple' and 'I Am The Vomit' summon fists to be raised toward the roof. Their namesake track and 'The Key Of Solomon' take more punters as new fans.
By the time they're done with 'The Atomic Plough', they're tearing 'Nightmare King' that morphs into AC/DC's 'Let There Be Rock'; while there is some unnerving disrobing occurring onstage (no, not all the band) and like a possessed roadie in reg grundies, they're hurling themselves either onto the barrier to get up close to the crowd or leaping off the bass drum – giving new meaning to let there be 'rock' wink, wink.
Sadly, no photographic evidence exists to support this new definition due to editorial censorship—use your imagination. Then, the moment everyone's bracing for. The lights drop, the crowd a swirling maelstrom of adrenaline, and boom, in the true style of rock & roll arriving few minutes later than scheduled – Shihad.
Jon Toogood (vocals, guitar), Phil Knight (guitar), Karl Kippenberger (bass), and Tom Larkin (drums) step up like they own the place, because, let's be real, they do.
Shihad - image © Clea-marie Thorne
A collective force is ready to detonate our ears with 'Tear Down Those Names' and 'Feel The Fire' from 'Old Gods' (2021) blasting out first, setting the tone for a set that's part history lesson, and no doubt what will also be part riot.
Toogood confirms the band is doing a back-to-future set list; next they rip into 'FVEY' (2014), with 'Think You're So Free' and the punishing title track shaking the walls as Knight's guitar work blazes, each riff sharp and resonant, while Kippenberger's basslines provide a pulsating foundation. Larkin's drumming, both relentless and precise, propels the performance forward with unyielding force.
Shihad are always mastering momentum, and tonight's set list is rolling through their evolution like a freight train: 'Ignite''s (2010) 'Sleepeater' has Kippenberger giving us the low and hefty basslines and 'Ignite' continues to melodically stoke the energy in the room.
Shihad - image © Clea-marie Thorne
'Beautiful Machine' (2008) offers us a moment of melodic reprieve with 'One Will Hear The Other' and the title track. Then Toogood tells us how 'Love Is the New Hate' (2005) is part of the angry era. The chugging riffage is cutting in with 'Alive', Larkin a beast on the tubs. 'All The Young Fascists' hammers home just how politically charged these guys are.
The crowd loses its collective mind when they tear into 'Pacifier Live''s (2003) 'Comfort Me', 'Everything', and 'Bullitproof'. Then, it's a wrecking ball run through 'The General Electric' (1999) – 'Intro' setting the scene before 'My Mind's Sedate' is detonated into a full-blown crowd sing-along.
Toogood is commanding the sea of bodies, instructing everyone to whip out their phones, lighting up the room for a massive sing-along to 'Pacifier' – the crowd swaying and rocking their glowing screens side to side. It's a moment. The song's anthemic chorus prompted a full-throated sing-along ahead of 'Thin White Line' that lifts the pace as Larkin keeps the beats barreling through with relentless assault.
Shihad - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Deep cuts? Oh, they're bringing 'em! Led with 'La La Land' from 'Shihad' (1996). While Knight encounters a frustrating tech moment moving from keys to guitar, (or as Toogood would say, "a mic drop moment"). Toogood tells us a story about when his guitar got knocked out of tune right before taking the stage – no fingers pointed, LOL.
'Deb's Night Out' from' Killjoy' (1995) is dedicated to their longtime fan Deb, who made a special request for it. Also making the cut is 'I Only Said' from 'Churn' (1993). While Toogood gave us the heads up that he wouldn't be climbing up on the balcony or speakers tonight, Knight climbs the stairs to the mezzanine to be among the fans before leaning over to play to the crowd below then retreats to the stage to continue to play like the machine he is.
We get a very short side trip while Toogood is recounting some of the big-name artists they supported in their earlier years, including that one time touring with Pantera; and just when it's feeling like they're wrapping up with maybe one more song, the encore is instead turned into a slamming, final knockout punch: 'Run', a killer cover of Split Enz's 'I Got You', and 'Screwtop'.
Finally, the only way this night could possibly end is 'Home Again'. For a hot minute I'm transported to Big Day Out circa 2003 (the 'Pacifier' era) – one of the best live performances of this song! Except 54-year-old Toogood kept his shirt on this time. LOL. Honestly, they can probably hear the sing-along and feet thunderously pogoing on the timber subfloor in New Zealand.
Shihad - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Toogood stretches his arms wide, the crowd giving it everything left in the tank, and when the final note rings out, it's all grins, sweat, and the kind of exhaustion that feels like victory.
Shihad. Battlesnake. Fat Dog and The Tits. Brisbane is getting flattened. Walking out into the night, ears ringing, hearts racing, this is what live music is all about. No bullsh.t. Just pure, unfiltered rock & roll mayhem – no one would have it any other way.
For the fans who have followed Shihad through decades of reinvention, rebellion, and raw energy, tonight wasn't just another gig – it was a reckoning. They've left behind more than just music; they've carved out a movement, a tribe of diehards who have grown up, fallen in love, and raged through life with these songs as their soundtrack.
Although the final curtain is falling, and we are going to miss the F out of 'em, the echoes of Shihad will keep roaring long after the amps have gone silent.
More photos from the concert.
