This was a night of anticipation. Both Pacifier and Fur Patrol were back in Wellington and with one gig booked out at the Starlight Ballroom a Sunday one was quickly added to the agenda; and tickets for it were also selling fast.

By Rebecca ThomsonThis was a night of anticipation. Both Pacifier and Fur Patrol were back in Wellington and with one gig booked out at the Starlight Ballroom a Sunday one was quickly added to the agenda; and tickets for it were also selling fast.

By Rebecca ThomsonFur Patrol's set was good but, while the band has improved, their performance was not exactly spectacular. However, Julia Deans did have the misfortune of suffering from winter ills and a loss of voice earlier in the trip. The Furs seem to have taken a leaf out of the Pacifier-book and they turned out a much rawer sound. This new sound seems a world away from melodic tunes like Lydia but it suits them well, and they warmed up the crowd nicely.

Pacifier's set was being recorded for DVD, and the bright lighting along with a high energy tight performance from the boys made the gig feel like stadium rock - it would not have looked or sounded out of place at the Wellington Stadium..

Sunday saw an older, and old-skool, crowd come out for the event; and Pacifier played to the crowd bringing out favourites from earlier albums as well as songs from theie recently released Pacifier album.

While the new album is over polished, live it's a different story. With rawness and depth tracks like Bullitproof, Run and Comfort Me take on a whole new meaning, and really show the extent of the band's improvement.

Pacifier brought AC/DC influence songs from their Killjoy album for an extended encore. It was as if the band was having as least as much fun, if not more, than their audience and it was nice to see. It's as if John and boys are happiest when their audience is happy, and happy they were - with many grinning from ear to ear like silly monkeys and as screaming out "Shihad Shihad" (so much for the name change). Pacifier ended their set, and the evening, with an exuberant rendition of "Home Again" and it was indeed good to have them home again.