The audience at Homegrown 2025. - Photo by Aaron Gascoigne
The weekend beginning Friday 14 March 2025 was one of historic farewells in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. After 18 years of growth into the behemoth it became, Homegrown music festival staged its final festival on the Wellington waterfront, with plans for the future unknown. Hometown heroes Shihad would also be playing their last gig, crowning a 37-year career. Or would they? (No spoilers.) The Saturday also marked the last time pop singer Mitch James would perform, having announced a move away from music into “a new venture”, late last year.
Shihad's last bow at Homegrown, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Homegrown expanded its format this year, delivering 50 acts across five stages on the Saturday, with the Jim Beam Park Stage also used on the Friday night. This certainly gave a firm impression that it is not capability of scope the festival is lacking. Wherever it pops up next, it is definitely going to be a brand worth watching. The common thread of conversation seemed to be that Homegrown fans, especially if they are also Shihad fans, are the kind of fans who take music seriously enough that they will go – as Synthony would prove within hours – “where the freaks are”.
Friday 14 March 2025
Arriving on the Friday afternoon in time to get a seat under a much-appreciated sun umbrella, I met Cara, a 58-year-old house-trucker and relief teacher attending the festival for the sixth time, and happy to be there alone. She had nothing but praise for the festival: how well it has been run, how amazing the staff have been, the friendly crowds – and the quality of the food outlets. Although my weekend would ramp up to a much more hard-rock level than the chill time Cara and I spent singing along to Stan Walker together, that first encounter with a friendly stranger played out over and over again, and everything she said about Homegrown rang true.
I enjoyed the kaupapa Māori foundations, and the Pacific kaupapa, at the heart of several acts
Facilities were excellent. Acts ran to time. Support staff were friendly and attentive. Entry screening was painless. Security and crowd care were amazing. Spending much time at the front of the Jim Beam Rock Stage, I benefited from several free bottles of water, while lollies and bananas were also on hand for the weary.
Over the years, Matt Harvey – drum and bass pioneer, and manager at Southeast – has performed at Homegrown as Concord Dawn, and with Shapeshifter and Kora. He emphasised how Homegrown time is also a great experience for bands behind the scenes and on stage. This was also obvious to the audience, as bands gave shout-outs to one another, sometimes joining or playing multiple sets, or clearly visible at side of stage to see their favourites.
“As Concord Dawn, we were already playing down in Wellington for Mark [Wright], back when it was the X-Air,” Matt recalled. “We were lucky enough to headline the Electronic Stage at the first Homegrown in 2008, and to close the Dub and Roots Stage in the event’s second year, 2009. I have been back – either as a performer, manager or punter – nearly every year since.
“Kora and Shapeshifter, who I now manage, were both involved right from the get-go, as well as some of my favourite humans like Tiki [Taane] and Nick D and many, many more. It’s always felt like a family affair, the “closing party” of summer for a lot of local artists, and a time to celebrate our community and catch a great selection of the world class music Aotearoa has to offer.”
A commonly shared feeling on Friday night was sadness that this would be the last Homegrown. Everyone I spoke to was looking forward to seeing either Shapeshifter or Shihad. In the meantime, on Friday, things couldn’t get much more celebratory than hearing Che Fu & the Kratez opening with ‘Chains’. ‘Misty Frequencies’ also went down a treat.
As King Kapisi stepped up “representing the hip hop side of things” one of the extremely stylish Katayanagi Twins – who were DJing between sets – wandered the audience, dressed all in black, and a huge fur hat with ear flaps. She looked for all the world like she had just stepped out of the pages of Vogue. Which, one day, she quite probably will. DJ Raw joined Kapisi and Che for ‘Screems From Da Old Plantation’.
It was great to hear these guys leave the stage with a resounding, “Haumi ē! Hui ē!,” uniting the crowd in response, “Tāiki ē!” I enjoyed the kaupapa Māori foundations, as well as the Pacific kaupapa, at the heart of several of the acts, and flowing from many turntables. You really recognised the whenua you were standing on at all times because of this.
Stan Walker began with the same coalescing refrain, then proceeded to roll out a smooth slew of hits, including ‘Take it Easy’, ‘I Choose You’ and – even though he often professes to hate it – ‘Black Box’, which the crowd loved. ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ met the mood of the night (not to mention the sponsor’s product) beautifully, eliciting some soulful harmonising from the swelling crowd.
“You’re loved. You’re beautiful. You’re incredible. And your life is worth living,” Stan told us, in prelude to ‘Back to the River’. ‘Aotearoa’ with its promise – “Ka whawhai tonu mātou mōu” – provided an upbeat and stirring anthem of solidarity. ‘He Kākano Ahau’, a song Stan has been singing his “whole life”, was divine.
With saxophone, trumpet, keys, drums, two backup singers, some seriously deep bass, and guitar, I counted 13 people on the stage by the end of Stan’s electrifying set, with both the United Tribes and Tino Rangatiratanga flags flying.
“It smells like Snoop Dogg’s bong out here,” I texted home as the sun went down
Drum and bass duo Lee Mvtthews got the first rave of the weekend going, but it wouldn’t be the last.
“It smells like Snoop Dogg’s bong out here,” I texted home as the sun went down, which did much to set the family’s mind at ease about why I wouldn’t be home all weekend …
The crowd was so friendly that I was quite amazed to see aerial photos the next day showing the full 7000 strength of it; there had been no struggle for space at all. I met a lovely 25-year-old in the happily pounding mass who recognised, with a huge show of sadness and pidgin sign language, that I was not drinking. I wanted to tell her I was on acid – my favourite way to confuse drunk people – but was feeling too warmly towards her, and settled for telling her not to worry for me. She didn’t know many bands playing that weekend, having won her ticket from The Edge, but was looking forward to Shapeshifter.
Synthony at Homegrown festival in Wellington, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Speaking of which, P Digsss was emceeing on the stage for Synthony, which got things off to an epic start with a huge rendition of Fat Boy Slim’s ‘Right Here, Right Now’ that showed Orchestra Wellington meant business. This was orchestral music like you’ve never heard it, outside of – perhaps – an UNKLE album, framed by eye-popping graphic and lighting effects. Mind blowing.
Synthony at Homegrown, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Guest singers joining Synthony included Slave, who did his own ‘Swing’; a banging romp through Timmy Trumpet’s ‘Freaks’; and James Reid of the Feelers, who offered up a rousing ‘Stand Up and Be Counted’. The crowd was happy to get on board.
Things had gotten off to a great start, and a beautiful full moon lit up the walk along the waterfront back to the train station. That moon would be the backdrop to an unforgettable moment the following night.
Saturday 15 March 2025
Aunty El DJing at the last Homegrown held in Wellington, Saturday 15 March 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
I arrive at the Grins Lagoon Stage bang on 1pm for party starter Aunty El, and there’s not a punter in sight. Still, she’s all smiles and her blend of Pacifica styles, a touch of Snoop, and a huge dollop of Barry White provided a welcome way to catch my breath on arrival. It’s the second time in the weekend I’ve heard Savage’s ‘Swing’, and a welcome flashback.
Julia Cooper of Dr Reknaw, Saturday 15 March 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Around the corner, at the City Stage, around 200 people have gathered for a performance by Dr Reknaw (say that backwards). The easy skanking, hippy vibe – delivered by sisters Julia and Sophie Cooper – went down a treat, and ‘Sisters of the Plant’ signalled permission for the smell of said plant to envelop the audience. The audience had doubled in size before they were done, no doubt happy to hear this groovy four-piece was going into the studio on Monday.
Sophie Cooper of Dr Reknaw, Saturday 15 March 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
As for me, it was time to slap on some free sunscreen at the More FM courtesy tent, before taking a vibe check on the waterfront. I met two girls who — although their matching embroidered Shihad singlets were handmade by a friend — knew where I could find the Shihad merch tent to get myself suitably kitted to my affiliate tribe. Carnival rides were doing good business, and the George FM Container Rave was sucking in clean punters, and spitting out dirty ones. Tempting, but numbers were swelling, and I realised it was time to get myself back to the Rock Stage, if I wasn’t going to risk it reaching capacity (which it did). Forgoing the Steinlager Electronic Stage was my one regret, because the footage coming out of it – shout out to George’s Sin and Brook – looked bonkers.
Shepherds Reign at Homegrown, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Shepherds Reign were my personal big discovery of the weekend. I saw them perform twice over the weekend, and their singer three times. I appreciated their fusion of traditional Polynesian styles, Gagana Sāmoa, and some wickedly hard pāte action, served on a hairy bed made of the heaviest metal. The idea that they are on tour with Alien Weaponry as I write makes me shiver at the brute, indigenous power both bands wield.
Troy Kingi at Homegrown, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Powerful in a funkier way were Troy Kingi and the Cactus Handshake. They hover pretty close to Leatherman and the Mojave Green material, delivering stomping renditions of ‘Cash Flow’, ‘Lizards are the Last’, and a stomping finale of ‘Ride the Rhino’. Covers of Eagles of Death Metal’s ‘Speaking in Tongues’ and Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘God is in the Radio’ were fitting accompaniments to Leatherman’s Palm Desert ancestry. An insistent chant of “shout out to the bassist” started around me – that would be for Marika Hodgson, and much deserved. In the absence of Earth Tongue’s Ezra Simmons – who recorded on the Leatherman album, but is not with the band today – a suitable sub was found by bringing Shepherds Reign singer Filiva’a James back on stage for one song.
Marika Hodgson performing with Troy Kingi. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Alien Weaponry are about to release a new album, and were premiering some fresh material. They tore into their latest single, ‘A Thousand Friends’, ‘Holding My Breath’, ‘Rū Ana Te Whenua’ and ‘Te Ara’, from their first album. Randy Blythe from Lamb of God was sampled in for new single, ‘Taniwha’. They got a good fierce chant of, ‘Haumi ē! Hui ē! Taiki ē!’ jamming, and it occurred to me what a fantastic leitmotif this was providing to the day. In all the different ways I heard it called, every time, it joined, united, and bound together the Homegrown tribe, and the subtribes of all its followers.
Alien Weaponry playing at Homegrown on Saturday 15 March, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
Although Lewis de Jong – on guitar and lead vocals – is often seen as a front man, older brother Henry, on drums, kicked things off, and the fearsome display of mana wielded by bassist Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds elevated him beyond that of backing vocalist. Tūranga seemed to be the most performative of the trio, and that’s really saying something. Alien Weaponry joined many bands in shouting out props to Shihad, acknowledging their debt to the band, and Tom Larkin (who co-produced their debut). They ended with a terrifying stab at ‘Kai Tangata’. There had been a wall of death and a circle pit (although Shepherds Reign probably started that).
I needed a bit of a break after all that excitement, but was not going to risk leaving the Rock Stage and not being let back in. Congestion was building, but near the entrance I found a chair to rest in, commiserating with a fellow older punter whose lower back was also killing him. I felt like my feet were bleeding into my shoes, I’d been jumping up and down on them for so long, but that passed.
“Ah, well,” he said, after we’d had a little rest, and I’d taken a couple of Voltaren, “we better get back on with it.”
I felt like my feet were bleeding into my shoes, but that passed
I couldn’t see my way clear to a water station, so opted for an indulgent Coke and chips fix, which was easily had. Queuing for the toilet facilities, I met a woman about to see Shihad for the sixth time on this tour. She had – like me – followed them since the beginning. She wondered if Jon Toogood remembered a gig she’d seen him play at Wellington’s James Cabaret, where he got hot enough to remove his clothes piece by piece until he was playing completely naked. I wondered if that was true, but would see it told to Jon later in the weekend by another punter, and he did indeed corroborate it, adding that there would be no chance of it happening now.
After a few hours of lead heavy vibes, Elemeno P went down like popping candy. Sweet, and nostalgic, they unrolled a streamer of blazers, including ‘Nirvana’, ‘Every Day’s a Saturday’, and ‘Fast Times in Tahoe’. They performed two gorgeous covers of entirely different stripes with The Verlaines’ ‘Death and the Maiden’ and Chappell Roan’s ‘Hot to Go’, pleasing both ends of the broad age spectrum immensely.
Just when they had me convinced this had to be a perfect Saturday night, member of parliament Chris Bishop bowled in wearing a Shihad T-shirt, and I shuddered to realise we were dressed alike. It unsettled me enough to motivate a relocation, and the only way was forward (well, around, really, if you want my trade secret to infiltrating the front row).
I Am Giant are monsters of rock, and no strangers to the Homegrown stage, or to sharing a stage with Shihad. As I was getting myself physically, psychologically, and situationally positioned for the night’s finale, I copped a mighty earful of them dishing out the kind of blistering rock that that absolutely means business. There were plenty of The Horrifying Truth T-shirts in the crowd, and they were making that place move as one. It also felt fitting to have them at the final Homegrown, given the event’s early days melding extreme sports and hard music at X-Air, and I Am Giant’s history of extreme sports soundtrack contributions.
The final acts for Homegrown 2025 were Sir Dave Dobbyn on the City Stage; Sons of Zion on the Grins Lagoon Stage; Shapeshifter on the Jim Beam Park Stage; The Upbeats on the Steinlager Electronic Stage; and Shihad closing the Jim Beam Rock Stage, at capacity. Because it is not possible to split oneself into five pieces – not that it was any kind of decision for me – I chose an excellent vantage point on the corner of the stage barrier, from which to see Shihad end their 37-year stampede through New Zealand music.
Jon Toogood with Shihad performing at Homegrown for the last time, Saturday 15 March 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
There was an enormous amount of care and respect being displayed among the audience members in the Rock Stage audience. Even on the rails – right down the front, where I ended up – tall people made way for shorter people, and rowdy elements were quickly weeded out by tank-like security guards. I friended up with a fellow sober guy, who’d seen Slipknot in Auckland earlier in the week, and was clearly living his best rock and roll life.
“I like to remember the gigs,” he explained to me of his smart lifestyle choice.
“Can you hold strong if they start pushing?” a female security guard asked me as the anticipation began crackling for Wellington’s favourite sons.
“I can,” I assured her. I have, after all, had 37 years’ practice.
Shihad guitarist Phil Knight performing at Homegrown for the last time in 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
The big screen behind the stage hosted a series of Shihad fan-made videos, and there was Chris Bishop again. Stories often reflected those I’d been picking up from punters about Homegrown as a whole. Someone said they’d met their partner at a Shihad gig, and they had made two Shihad-loving babies together. I was reminded that Shihad had lasted the exact amount of time I’ve been with my own partner, and raised two Shihad-loving babies of our own, punctuated by around 20 of their shows, and a steady diet of their albums on the stereo.
The Homegrown Rock Stage lights up for Shihad's Pacifier - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
The set took a chronologically backwards approach beginning with ‘Tear Down Those Names’ and ‘Feel the Fire’, from Old Gods, making its way to ‘Churn’ and ‘Screwtop’ via plenty of hard hits and crowd favourites. Seeing the area light up with swaying cell phones for ‘Pacifier’ was incredibly moving; it was a feat more likely to have been executed with lighters in the year of its release, a quarter-century ago. Just the thought that every light represented a fan who cared enough to lift it, along with their voices. They finished with ‘Run’, and ‘Home Again’, Jon extending the mic-stand out over the audience to sing along into.
Shihad bassist Karl Kippenberger performing at Homegrown for the last time in 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
I was struck by how hard Shihad work to engage their audience, spending plenty of time showboating for the fans from the edge of the stage, and swapping places with each other for different views (for both them and us). One sight I will never forget is legendary bassist Karl Kippenberger, far out on the edge of the stage wings, playing his heart out under a day-gone full moon. Likewise, the way Jon, Karl, and guitarist Phil Knight were punctuated along the stage by intermittently pulsing, mighty flame jets.
It was thrilling stuff, and I found myself wondering if it was, perhaps, the best set I have ever attended. Somewhere in the middle of this ebullient mayhem, Jon let the cat out of the bag about a surprise Shihad show which would take place at Meow Nui in less than 20 hours’ time, with tickets being released an hour after Homegrown ended.
Shihad performing at Homegrown in Wellington, 2025. - Photo: Bee Trudgeon
So, for me and hundreds more, it was home to sleep, then back to town to do it all over again, with the addition of the Boondocks, and another welcome audience with Shepherds Reign.
Sunday 16 March 2025
Shihad played Churn and Killjoy in their entirety on the Sunday, followed by a sprawling set of songs selected spontaneously by both the band and the 1000 lucky fans packed into the pulpit of Meow Nui, a former church. Again, the audience treated each other like family, and in many cases were. I met a lovely father and daughter duo on the rails, and he had seen Shihad 80 times.
Three-and-a-half hours after Shihad took the stage for the last time, with whānau in the wings, it didn’t feel like anyone wanted to leave. But it was the end of the weekend, and the end of two eras. Everyone’s throats were screamed hoarse, my palms were actually bleeding – due to possession by Tom Larkin’s drumming – and my feet badly needed to be put up. Bed called.
what will Homegrown’s post-Homegrown move be?
Jon Toogood has a solo album – Last of the Lonely Gods – to promote, but what will Homegrown’s post-Homegrown move be? Matt Harvey is not alone in hoping it will live on. I thought about a guy I’d met upon leaving on the Friday night, telling everyone how he had met his partner at a distant Homegrown, taking the loss really personally, like their lucky charm was broken. That narrative was like a sample that kept repeating, with surprisingly little variation. A lot of people have found someone there, even if that someone has been themselves.
Matt Harvey sums up: “During COVID, when the borders were shut, a lot of promoters began booking more local artists, and Homegrown, as well as government funding, kept them in business. Now, a lot of them have turned their backs on local music, or book Kiwis as openers only. Homegrown can hold their head high as an event that shows our talent can headline events and kick ass. It shows that our people love local music, and I hope their awesome and hardworking team can deliver their vision again in a new location.”
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