Mitch James plays the homegown on Saturday, the latest edition of the planned event for Wellington Waterfront, which has been his home for 18 years.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
Homegown ended with a bittersweet bang on Saturday night, while fans and artists said goodbye to beloved Wellington Festival, which featured New Zealand’s best and brilliant talent.
After 18 years, the festival is saying goodbye to its home on the waterfront, and is expected to be moving to a new place for 2026.
This year’s festival lasted two days, with artists such as Synthony and Stan Walker starting the party on Friday night, before the 5 stage of Saturday, with a schedule, with a lineup, shalyifter, Drax Project and Kaylee Bell.
Shihad, playing what turned out to be his penultimate show of all time.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
Saturday’s event was full of people, with Shihad’s night performance drawing larger queues than I have ever seen for any act at the festival.
It was supposed to be the rock band’s final show, but at the end of vocalist Jon Toogood revealed that the band would play another show tomorrow night at Wellington’s new place, Meow Nui.
Toogood also thanked fans for their support for the band’s substantial career, saying it was an amazing ride.
Shihad.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
Shihad finished the set with the 1996 ‘Home Again’ anthem.
It was also the final show of pop singer Mitch James. The singer who announced his music retirement last year, also thanked his fans for following the journey and joked that he could become the object of a documentary one day.
Mitch James at home.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
Meanwhile, Drax Project debuted some new songs to straight on the crowd’s approval, and vocalist Shaan Singh showed how bright jazz could be when he played a flame saxophone.
Shaan Singh – In front – illuminating – during the drax set set.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
New Zealand’s Queen Kaylee Bell caught fans stepping on a storm with hits like ‘boots’n all’. Complete with one side of the line dance, you would think you were at a show in Nashville … if it weren’t for the lack of cowboy boots in the crowd.
Kaylee Bell takes the country to the house.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
And the rock band Elemeno P, decided to rewrite the story, changing the lyrics in his 20 -year song ‘Ohio’, to ‘Geronimo’.
But during this year’s sets, he published a common theme, with several artists expressing his sadness in homegrown toppling the curtain in his time on the edge of Wellington and gratitude for being part of the final festival.
Drax project.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
Homegown is really a festival for everyone, with acts that cover genres such as pop, rock, hip hop and drum and bass.
Whether or not your absence leaves a hole in the capital is yet to be seen. But all that comes next is to follow a difficult act to win.
Shihad’s “Final Set”
For decades, in Aotearoa’s music rock scene, Shihad has been Benchmark – the band to be measured.
Purious, percussive, dynamic and fearfully tight – for over 35 years, the quartet has been afraid against every corner.
On Saturday night, in his last show, the closing for the New Zealand music festival rock stage in Wellington – Shihad left his audience wanting more.
Shihad.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
The band’s set list was tracked behind the extensive melodic rock of singles – such as ‘Feel The Fire’ of 2021 – for the percussive explosion of ‘Screwtop’ – from 1993’s 1993 debut Scout.
Along the way, bangers as General Electric’s ‘My Mind’s Sedated’ and ‘Alive’ Pretty machine) Keep the crowd howling and beating your feet in the concrete of Wellington’s waterfront, converted at the 2025 homegown rock stage.
Each song was made with the fearless commitment that gained Xihad fans around the world.
But perhaps, the roads on the road mean that tonight, every night, the band never really disappoints their guard.
‘You Again’ stands out as a highlight of the scenario – possibly the biggest moment in New Zealand.
A scam of anger and poorly controlled disappointment – where the band cannot fail to reach their listener.
But other moments are cleaner, more refined and more controlled than the band’s younger distortion and anger.
Moments before the end, the vocalist Jantoogood raises the lid at another show to follow the set of the night – in the most intimate place of Meow Nui of the capital.
Photo: RNZ/ Krystal Gibbens
Is this the night when the shihad long -winning fans rewarded with a worthy of the band’s legacy? Or will the aluminum stands and the concrete and the last days of the capital mark the end of the ‘Hell YES’ of New Zealand’s most difficult children?
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