Festival Review: Homegrown 2025 Saturday Part 3 @ Wellington Waterfront – 15/03/2025

Wellington sure knows how to party and Homegrown 2025, once again brought to us by Jim Beam, was no exception to the rule. With this being the last ever Homegrown to be held in New Zealand’s capital city, thousands of beautiful people were keen to attend and give the groundbreaking festival the send-off it truly deserved.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara locals and one of the hardest working indie rock bands in Aotearoa, Sure Boy, warmed up the City Stage with a set of upbeat songs they describe as being Mum Rock, or in other words music that your mum will enjoy.

Right from the start the incomparable Beth Stewart’s sultry and soaring vocals captured the attention of a small but growing audience, with Sure Boy’s fun performance a great way to break down people’s inhibitions. Their tongue in cheek songs such as Lemon Lady and Post Party Pepsi in particular ensured the audience were jiving along.

The all-girl band’s rendition of the hit song Nature, voted New Zealand’s top song of all time and made extra famous by The Muttonbirds, would have you believing that a female vocalist was in mind when Wayne Mason first put pen to paper.

You could tell by how relaxed and in charge Sure Boy were during their performance that they fully enjoyed playing through their set of well-rehearsed songs.

The Park Stage could be found just a short stroll along the waterfront, where Sunshine Sound System were just finishing up their freestyling DJ set, the perfect intro for the next group, Sub-Tribe. This seven-piece band, some hailing from Sydney Australia, took to the stage with nice atmospheric guitar and flute, relaxing the crowd and creating the right mood for a good time.

The prolific musician and frontman, Te Oranga, led his band of casually dressed professionals on a persuasive journey of laid back old-school reggae peppered with tasty samples, smooth upbeat skank and heavy downbeat masterpieces that got the growing audience up and moving.

Lyrically rich with Māori verse often accentuating an already powerful message, Te Oranga’s exceptional vocal delivery and dancehall style rapping in uplifting standouts such as Honey, Womankind and Rubba, took no prisoners. By every measure, the consummate performer knew how to work the crowd, handing merchandise to those up front and giving shout-outs to the Warriors and his fellow musicians, Shapeshifter, who were set to appear on the Park Stage later that night.

Cooking from the very beginning of their set, with numerous tasty horn stabs breaking up their often delicate skanking, Sub-Tribe’s super sampled bass heavy performance drew in an eager audience who were all too pleased to be chilling in the sun with some resoundingly good vibes.

It was still pretty early on in the day when Shepherds Reign attained the coveted Homegrown Rock stage for the very first time. Hailing from South Auckland, and on the beginning leg of a nationwide tour with Alien Weaponry, Shepherds Reign executed a performance that has cemented them as one of New Zealand’s finest heavy metal acts to watch live.

Some people might be a bit intimidated by this band, but that didn’t stop the enthusiastic crowd from getting right into opener, Samoa mo Samoa, with a small but dedicated mosh forming early in the piece. Sounding heavier than ever before, Shepherds Reign were soon shaking the very foundations of Wellington’s waterfront with a set of awe inspiring songs that you have to witness to truly believe.

Their gig didn’t go without a hitch though, with a surprise announcement by singer Filiva’a James that another founding member, Shaymen Rameka was about to depart the band. The announcement didn’t stop Shepherds Reign from firing on all cylinders, especially during their last song, Ua Masa’a.

Make sure you catch one of the best metal acts in Aotearoa, the consistently touring Shepherds Reign, at a good music venue near you.

It’s been a while since Alien Weaponry have gigged in New Zealand and straight out of the gate you could see that they’ve honed their skills even more while touring around the world. The increased definition in their sound allowed festivalgoers to hear exactly what was happening on stage, and it wasn’t long before the crowd was fully amped and completely losing their minds to Alien Weaponry’s metal masterpieces.

Lead guitarist and singer Henry de Jong’s vocal was particularly powerful during one of the band’s latest singles, essentially a protest song against online isolation, 1000 Friends. Alien Weaponry enthralled the audience with their new material, especially the brand new song, Te Riri O Tāwhirimātea, a supremely powerful piece of epic proportions. The unconventional structure in combination with their tried and true thrash, enhanced by some ferocious death metal techniques, made certain the audience was moshing like there was no tomorrow.

Mau Moko, another single off their soon-to-be released album, Te Rā, was also well received, and just before Alien Weaponry played Rū Ana Te Whenua, bassist Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds gave an appreciative shout-out to Shihad’s drummer Tom Larkin. Tūranga gave props and attributed Alien Weaponry’s presence at prestigious gigs like Homegrown to Larkin’s exceptional production skills on their groundbreaking debut album Tū, which is a must have for your music collection.

It’s exciting times for Alien Weaponry, who seem pretty relaxed about their incredible success. Featured on their much-anticipated third studio album is Taniwha, a collaborative work with Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe. This is a colossal metal song that Alien Weaponry performed at Homegrown with a reverence and accuracy that the subject matter rightfully deserves.

Alien Weaponry flawlessly smashed through both their new and older material to the delight of a super excited audience, with all three members at times harmonizing in Te Reo, making for an incredibly unique and powerful show.

The upbeat Elemeno P might be a hard act to follow, but that didn’t seem to faze the members of I Am Giant who took to the main stage just after the sun had set on Wellington’s spectacular waterfront. After introductions from The Rock’s Mel Abbot and Bryce Casey, I Am Giant got straight down to business with Let It Go, off their debut album, The Horrifying Truth.

I Am Giant were fully in command, relaxed and really enjoyed the response from their numerous fans in the audience. If you were up the back, their slower songs might have you thinking that crowd participation had ebbed away slightly. But if you were up front and looking back at the audience you’d see that hundreds of fans knew the words off by heart and were singing along with Edward Martin, whose captivating lyrics and stage presence demanded everyone’s attention.

Judging by their impeccable performance at Homegrown, I Am Giant won’t stay away from a stage for very long. So make sure you catch this fine band when they’re next on tour. After all, you can never have too much Rock and Roll.

The crowd was packed just before Shihad took to the Rock stage for their last ever Homegrown gig, which made getting to the next act on my schedule a bit more difficult than anticipated. But it was well worth the effort to catch Shapeshifter at the Park Stage.

You could tell that something truly magical was in the air as the iconic and well-loved band prepared to play their set. With an almost full moon shining down, and audience anticipation incredibly high, Shapeshifter wasted no time harnessing the abundant spiritual energy in the air into an outstanding live show. The intensity of their performance grew increasingly stronger with every song they played.

Although their craft was perfected some years ago, Shapeshifter are still having the time of their lives with MC extraordinaire, Paora Apera, AKA PDigsss, working hard to ensure everyone in the crowd was having a blast. Knowing their songs so intimately provided Shapeshifter with the opportunity to improvise parts of their inspiring set, which helped to keep their fans, both young and old, fully enchanted.

The mix master himself, Tiki Taane, worked the front of house PA system to its very limits and knowing their sound was in good hands seemed to afford Shapeshifter with the ability to really let loose during their superbly energetic show.

Shapeshifter was the perfect act to see out celebrations on the Park Stage and have added significantly to the legacy of Wellington Homegrown as one of the finest festivals ever to be held in New Zealand.

First Image: Photo Credit: Sure Boy by Morgan Dysart
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