SHIHAD
Announces Surprise
Auckland, Powerstation Show
Wednesday, 12th March
Shihad, New Zealand’s most legendary rock band, has announced a surprise performance at the Powerstation, Auckland – Wednesday, 12th March, 2025. This one off special show comes fresh off the heels of the announcement that their Spark Arena show on Friday, 14th March has SOLD OUT. This is a monumental milestone for the band, marking the most tickets ever sold to a New Zealand headlined hard rock concert.
For this exclusive show, fans can expect to be treated to Killjoy (1995) and The General Electric (1999) played back-to-back – something different from their Loud Forever tour, which features a greatest hits set from the band’s full 10 album catalogue.
“After performing at the Powerstation countless times over the past 37 years, including our very first Auckland show in 1989, it feels only right to tread the boards one last time and say goodbye to a place that’s always felt like home to us, and say thank you to all who have supported us for so long.” – Shihad
The exclusive Powerstation show is on sale now and tickets are expected to sell out fast!
After rocking Auckland, Shihad will bring their final tour to an epic close at Wellington’s Homegrown Festival on Saturday, 15th March, marking their last performance of The Final Tour: Loud Forever.
SHIHAD: The Final Tour: Loud Forever 1988 – 2025
Wednesday, 12 March 2025, AUCKLAND – SPARK ARENA
Friday, 14 March 2025, AUCKLAND – SPARK ARENA – SOLD OUT
w/ The D4, Dick Move, Mim Jensen
Saturday, 15 March 2025, WELLINGTON – HOMEGROWN
Tickets on sale now from www.shihad.com
“This was a quality night of hard rock at its finest, and the rapturous reception Shihad received showed that they are going out with a bang, not a whimper.” – Otago Daily Times
“The hard working band showed why they were the beating heart of New Zealand rock, but never quite its stereotype.” – Christchurch Press
Forged in the fires of 1988’s thrash metal scene, Wellington’s SHIHAD quickly evolved into one of Aotearoa’s most beloved bands.
Their story begins with Devolve (1990), a high-octane four-track EP of Metallica-inspired thrash. A year later bassist Karl Kippenberger joined Tom Larkin (Drums), Phil Knight (Lead guitar) and Jon Toogood (Vocals and guitars) to solidify the line-up that would change the face of New Zealand music and earn the enviable reputation as Aotearoa’s most formidable live band.
The group broke through with its second album Killjoy (1995), which blended the colossally heavy riffs of debut album Churn (1991), with a newfound pop sensibility. This potent mix would become the signature SHIHAD sound.
Killjoy spawned two Top 20 singles, ‘You Again’ and ‘Bitter’, and won four Aotearoa Music Awards (AMA’s), to begin a winning streak that would see SHIHAD collect 18 AMA’s throughout their career and be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
Nine of SHIHAD’s 10 studio albums powered into the New Zealand Music Charts Top 10, with six (The General Electric (1999), Beautiful Machine (2008), Ignite (2010), FVEY (2014) and Old Gods (2021)) hitting the top spot, a feat unrivalled by any other local act.
Powering those albums are iconic songs, like ‘Run’, ‘The General Electric’, ‘La La Land’, ‘Pacifier’, ‘My Mind’s Sedate’, and instant classic ‘Home Again’, a signature anthem not just for SHIHAD, but for all Kiwis abroad.
Along with these soaring highs, SHIHAD experienced heavy lows; the fatal drug overdose of first manager Gerald Dwyer in 1996, drug abuse and alcoholism, and 2001’s reluctant but necessary rebranding as Pacifier after the 9/11 terrorist attack made cracking America all but impossible with the name SHIHAD. But no setback could withstand the crushing power, purpose and propulsive momentum of the band.
Live, SHIHAD were truly an oversized presence. 2005’s free gig at Auckland’s Aotea Square is legendary, they owned the prized sunset spot at music festival Big Day Out for years, headlined major festivals like Rhythm and Alps and toured with metal icons like Faith No More, Black Sabbath, Motorhead and AC/DC.
With gaps between albums increasing, growing commitments outside the band and the member’s inability to give SHIHAD the time, focus and dedication it needed and deserved, the group made the hard call to conclude the band. While opinions within differ, the group are united in agreeing that half-assing SHIHAD was never an option.
But SHIHAD’s story is not over just yet. The upcoming LOUD FOREVER tour offers both the band and its nation of fans the opportunity of a fittingly loud and raucous farewell.
“We need to pay homage to the legacy of this band and also to the people that have supported us,” Toogood says. “We’re gonna fucking hit it!”
– Written by Karl Puschmann
SHIHAD Online:
Website | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
