Alternative rock heroes Shihad farewell Australian fans with final tour

Keeping a band going is tough but as Shihad reveals, it is impossible when not everyone wants to keep touring.

The beginning of the end for revered Antipodean rockers Shihad came when their manager quit.

Usually bands cite the old “musical differences” for calling it a day.

But Jon Toogood, Tom Larkin, Karl Kippenberger and Phil Knight have called time after 37 years because they couldn’t agree on touring.

As the band kick off their final lap of Australia this week, co-founder Larkin said the band members were still close mates despite internal divisions over the past few years, which led to the split.

Kiwi rock legends Shihad call it quits with final Australian tour. Picture: Supplied.

“Our manager quit and we had to address why someone finds it too hard to work with us all,” he said.

“The ability for us to get into a room and write or record or play never felt like a problem.

“But it became apparent that to sustain Shihad, you need to be available to develop new works and to tour more elegantly and tightly, and there were forces in people’s personal lives and their obligations wouldn’t allow the space to do it really well.”

The disagreement over future touring plans came to head when they released their acclaimed 10th and final record Old Gods in 2021.

Frontman Toogood said with two young children, aged six and nine, he no longer wanted to spend eight months a year on the road.

“I’ve got a stepdaughter from my first marriage who’s 32 now and when she was young, I would spend nine to 10 months out of the year away from home and I didn’t realise the actual effect that had on her,” he said.

“Now I’m older, I don’t want to miss out on my children and I think they deserve to have a dad that’s there, you know?”

Shihad were darlings of the altrock festival scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Picture: Supplied.

The four band members were still at high school when they started playing gigs in New Zealand, forging a fierce live reputation as alternative rock dominated the pop charts in the mid 1990s.

They relocated to Australia to make their breakthrough record the General Electric in 1999 and after several years of constant touring here and through Europe, set their sights on building their career in the US.

After recording the Pacifier album in Los Angeles, their American management team urged them to change their name in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks because of its similarity to the Arabic word jihad.

The band adopted the album title as their new moniker but changed it back in 2004.

The band was forced to change their name for a few years after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“Karl and I were originally, ‘No way would we change the name,’ but the pressure was on and our guitarist Phil was genuinely frightened of touring in the southern states of America with the name Shihad, saying ‘We will get shot,’” Toogood recalled.

“In retrospect, that was not a crazy fear. Finally we caved because we were told we weren’t going to be able to release the record in America after wanting this dream since I was a kid.

“As soon as we did it, I felt compromised. People were calling us sellouts; even Frenzal Rhomb was threatening to take the name Shihad, which was hilarious.

“But luckily for Shihad, we do work best when we’re the underdog and some of those shows as Pacifier were among our best.”

As Shihad wind their way around Australia on the final tour, titled Loud Forever 1988 – 2025, Toogood said the band members are less caught up in the emotion of the occasion as they are in delivering a loud rock show that will ring in the ears of fans for years to come.

“I think it’s going to be emotional on that last show it’s because it’s in our hometown. But at the moment it’s more like we’re just doing the classic Shihad thing of going ‘How the f***k do we make this show amazing,” he said.

“I’m not thinking about legacy. I’m not thinking about past. I’m thinking about the show. I don’t like looking back – I want to know what’s next.”

Head to Shihad’s website for all concert details and tickets.