Shihad “Bitter”

1995-shihad-bitterThe Big Day Out is a gift to bands. It lets them record a live video showing the band performing in front of a packed stadium. Shihad are always a massive crowd-pleaser at the Big Day Out, so it makes sense that they’d capture their 1995 performance in a music video.

The video looks like it’s been shot in such a way to avoid showing any Big Day Out branding. We never see a wide shot of the stage, and footage around the stadium is giving a choppy, black and white treatment to help draw attention away from the teens in jester hats (and indeed there’s no chance of me spotting myself aged 20).

At times there’s little sense that the performance in taking place in a stadium. They might as well be playing at the Powerstation (and, actually, that would have probably been a better location to shoot a music video).

But there is still heaps of live action. The video uses rapid cuts to disguise the live performance not matching exactly with the recorded version, but that pace matches the energy of the song.

We also see moshpit action – crowd surfing, stage diving, and a guy being pulled from the front by security. It’s like a perfect checklist of a mid-’90s music festival. Dudes, how’s the pit?

Best bit: the grungy brown filter making the sweaty teen audience at Mt Smart Stadium looking edgy and cool.



Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a more low key day out.

3 thoughts on “Shihad “Bitter””

  1. Love this video. The Big Day Out’s two main stages of ’94 and 95 had nice high-top roofing ….in fact stage 2 didn’t have a roof at all. Much nicer than those horrible domes that have become industry standard.

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