One last song: Homegrown and Shihad bow out in style
Sunday, 16 March 2025
REVIEW: Farewell, Homegrown. And farewell, as well, to Shihad.
Two Wellington icons, signing off after one last incredible party.
It was, in theory, bittersweet. Sweet as the the sun shined and five stages blared with the amazing talent of New Zealand’s incredible and diverse music scene. Bitter because, well, it’s the end of an era.
But you can’t dwell on what was, and what may never be again, when you’re standing in a moshpit that’s head banging and bouncing to one final rendition of Home Again at Homegrown.
If you’ve missed the news: Homegrown, Wellington’s biggest music festival, is leaving Wellington. It’s going somewhere else, (maybe Hamilton?), after 18 years.
And Shihad, the Wellington High rock prodigies who went on to become one of the country’s most successful ever bands, are turning off their amps after 37 years together.
Their headline spot, as the final act on the Homegrown rock stage, was set to be Shihad’s final performance together. But midway through the set, front-man Jon Toogood announced they would be playing a last-minute gig at Meow Nui on Sunday night.
Some in the crowd questioned why Shihad ever claimed this would be their final show. They’d paid a lot and waited all day for this moment, the *final show*, for it to turn into the penultimate performance. It also raised the question: Does a band that keeps adding gigs to their farewell tour actually want to retire?
Toogood said they wanted one last opportunity to play their original albums, Killjoy and Churn, in full. They would then take an hour of requests at Meow Nui.
He was as exuberant as ever. And Shihad’s fans, as rowdy as ever. Many of the original crowd were there, 50-something-year old rockers going hard. They were joined by teenagers and everyone in between, who bonded over eternal hits such as Pacifier and Run. When the band finished playing Home Again as their encore, the crowd was far from ready to say goodbye ‒ with the chant “one more song!” continuing. Truly, you’ve got to wonder if Shihad will ride again?
Had it not been for Homegrown’s 11pm curfew, they probably would’ve kept going. This retiring band looks like it still has a lot left to give.
To farewell its home, Homegrown did something different this year. It held a pre-party on Friday night, which set the bar very high for Saturday’s all-out festival.
Orchestra Wellington headlined Friday night’s concert, performing as Synthony with special guests including Savage and The Feelers’ James Reid. Shapeshifter’s P Digsss and his iconic voice MC’d. Their live orchestra meets dance music bonanza was a pick’n’mix of delight and surprise.
As all five stages opened on Saturday, for 20,000 guests, Dartz kicked off on the Rock Stage. It was the Wellington band’s first time playing at Homegrown, before they head off to Melbourne next month.
And Elemeno P were back with all their classics, such as 1157 and Fast Times in Tahoe, as well as a tribute to popstar Chappell Roan as they covered Hot To go. Bassist Lani Perkis was, as always, a star performer.
The crowd was packed for bi-lingual thrash metal band Alien Weaponry. It looked way more squished than when they played at Homegrown last year, with many in the crowd wearing Shihad T-shirts. Fans smashed into each other during an intense circle pit, moshing, and a ‘wall of death’ where the crowd split and ran straight into each other.
Despite it looking at times painful, chivalry shone through. If someone fell, they were quickly picked up and usually given a short hug by a smiling stranger. Any loose items looked like they were returned to their owner. A few blown up condoms floated above the crowd.
Over at the other stages, in a very Wellington-turn of events, Porirua legend Aaradhna was joined on stage by the saxophone-playing ‘Wellington Tree’.
Drax Project cemented their place as this generation’s Wellington sweethearts. Lead singer and saxophonist Shaan Singh blew pyrotechnics from his saxophone. His incredible voice filled out the Park Stage at Waitangi Park, which was the main stage for Homegrown.
The young band has grown a sizeable fanbase, enough to fill major venues, and has shown they’re keen to set their own course as they infused their latest reo Māori lyrics into their lively performance.
P Digsss then returned to Waitangi Park, to finish off the night with Shapeshifter and arguably their best performance in Wellington.
At the end of the weekend, that was a blockbuster finale for two Wellington icons.
Anna Whyte is a senior Post reporter. Glenn McConnell is a former music critic and culture journalist for Stuff.