It’s Saturday the 14th of June. Punters fill the Hifi Bar for the Melbourne leg of Shihad’s Beautiful Machine tour. The venue is suddenly packed, support acts Calling All Cars and Young & Restless have hyped everyone up nicely, the boys have finally graced the stage, and are warmly welcomed. As always Shihad make sure we know just how happy they are to be playing for us. They start with some newer tracks then please us all with some gems from The General Electric. Wait and See had the crowd jumping so hard the walls seemed to pulsate with every slap of Karl Kippenberger’s hand against the bass. Despite the sweltering heat, my skin was covered in goose bumps when Karl took a break and Jon, Tom & Phil treated us to an acoustic version of Run. A warm yellow glow swept over a sea of arms swaying in the air and the venue was filled with the sound of hundreds singing it like an anthem. Absolute magic.

Jon Toogood has always had quite a charismatic on-stage presence but he was particularly entertaining at this gig. The gratitude he showed towards the crowd was absolutely heart-warming. There was sincerity in his eyes that I haven’t witnessed in quite some time, with bands seeming increasingly arrogant these days, more interested in their haircuts or their jeans being tight enough. Jon was funny and animated, cracking jokes and interacting with the crowd on a whole new level. Another big highlight was when the boys played The Metal Song - we were witnessing the second time it had ever been played live (according to Jon) - the first time was apparently the night before in Brisbane. Surprising, considering The General Electric was released nine years ago now.

The show was everything a show should be. There was an unstoppable mosh pit, multiple crowd surfers at a time, girls climbing on stage for nothing more than a high-five and every punter roaring, whistling, furiously applauding and cheering after the last chord of every song. I sang along at the top of my lungs and still couldn’t hear myself.

I didn’t even mind that my camera batteries died during Young & Restless and I was missing some incredible photo opportunities (thankyou Hifi Bar for finally improving your lighting). My tolerance was even slightly higher for the people who chose to watch the set through the screen of their mobile phone, instead of marvelling at the raw, live rock band in front of them.

The only complaint I have of the night – not relating to Shihad’s set what-so-ever – One Armed Scissor by At the Drive-In played during sound check, and I heard a girl ask if it was Shihad.

All in all, absolutely brilliant night – it has settled nicely into my Top Ten. Even though I did lose a large percentage of my hearing!