Shihad Tickets

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.