Kiwi rock legends Shihad won't be offering punters any support when they go on a national tour later in April, just almost two hours of the meanest time imaginable.
The band starts its The Meanest Tour at Altitude, in Hamilton on April 4, plays Mount Maunganui on April 6 and winds up at Wellington's Stone Village on April 14.
After almost 20 years producing some of the finest rock ever made in NZ, Shihad the tour will feature songs from its double CD greatest hits collection The Meanest, which is crammed full of 38 slabs of outstanding Kiwi rock and after selling more than 250,000 albums, and headlining some of the biggest stages around the world there's little else for the band to achieve.
So with a back catalogue of singles and hits that easily fill the double CD it's no surprise that as the band goes out on tour to celebrate The Meanest, they include the notation that there'll be no support.
Instead they will be playing a 100-plus minute set to give enough time to cover the bulk of hits and favourites from their entire catalogue.
The tour set embraces the two dominant personalities of the Shihad live experience.
The first half set sees the band working from a crowded front of stage in homage to the close proximity in-your-face intensity of the rock bars and clubs where their music was informed and first played.
This part of the story recreates the unrefined fervour of the countless early career gigs' if less than salubrious surroundings' that gave potency to the band's live performance, while presenting the raw classics from their debut EP Devolve and their first three albums Churn, Killjoy and the self-titled Shihad.
The second part of the shows embrace the big stage era where Shihad grew wings and a swagger and ramped up production. Incendiary live performances followed and nothing short of a legend status bestowed as they strode the many arena stages at home and abroad - the Big Day Out, Rhythm & Vines, Rippon, Rock am Ring, Roskilde etc. Albums from The General Electric, through to Ignite comprise this era and the many live favourites and radio hits within are given a thorough belting by Shihad while fittingly accompanied by aforementioned ramped up production.
Drummer Tom Larkin said the band is looking forward to playing for Tauranga fans once again at Brewers Field, but also recalled some gigs in years gone by that were a little more rustic.
"We used to stay at BP truck stop there in the early days. It was clean and all but it was just bunks for the truckies. And there was a tuck shop downstairs where you could get bad steak and eggs at three in the morning. I remember there were always noise control complaints," he said.
The band played at a number of small venues, that popped up and were shut down within about six months, he said. Before some better venues started arriving in more recent times, meaning the band could relax a little more when thay got here.
Larkin, based in Melbourne, said the band has had about a year away from being Shihad while working on their own projects.
Singer Jon Toogood has been recording and performing with his new band The Adults, while Larkin has taken a more managerial role, overseeing Kiwi band Cairo Knife Fight as well as a couple of Aussie acts.
Larkin said he can't wait to get back behind the drum kit with Shihad on home shores. "It's awesome," he said.
The Fine Print
What: Shihad, The Meanest Tour
When: April 6
Where: Brewers Field, Tauranga
How: Tickets are from Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.co.nz
Prices: $52.50