The Living End @ Metro City,Perth (16/9/11)

Sun 18th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Fourteen years on and still the Australian kings of rock, The Living End with support from Hunting Grounds and King Cannons took the stage at Metro City for a night of reminiscing, entertaining and one seriously captivating performance.

An impressive opening act came in the form of a six-piece rock n roll band; King Cannons. As patrons wandered in and found their spot for the night, they found themselves moving ever closer to the stage, heads turned away from the bar as they were intrigued by the soaring voice and eclectic instruments comprising of bongos, guitars, keys, harmonicas and drums. By the second song the crowd’s attention was drawn and interest formed towards the foot tapping, head bopping cohesive music. Hip swinging, shoulder shifting movements from singer Luke Yeoward complimented the ridiculously quick fingered strumming on his guitar.

As a group of young indie kids from Ballarat mounted the stage, there were confused looks around which continued as Hunting Grounds (formerly Howl) went through styles ranging from psychedelic to garage rock, with mashed up sounds trying to pass as music. Throughout the set, there was almost no response from the crowd, no one clapped, danced or sang along. Trading instruments during songs was a common occurrence as the vocalist swapped with the drummer to smash a cymbal repeatedly. There’s nothing worse than hipsters trying to rap to Beastie Boys, it was laughable. The highlight of the set was their new song; In Colour which brought a refreshing psychedelic twist with heavy keys and the set finished with the dismantling of the drum kit mid song as everyone jumped on a piece to smash it to finish.

As jazz music played over the speakers and the early arrivals anxiously waited for The Living End to appear on stage, Metros packed out comfortably. Suave as ever in a shirt and scarf Chris Cheney walked on the stage with sophistication and a rock attitude all in one. In the Morning was up first, it was surprising to hear such a slow song for an opening but the structured melody was enough to send chills down your spine. Plugging hits off their new album The Ending is Just the Beginning Repeating to start, Heatwave and Machine Gun didn’t have the greatest impact on the audience.

It wasn’t until the announcement “We are going to play an old one” was heard that the crowd really picked up their interest, enthusiasm and began behaving the way real Living End supporters should. Grinning with happiness and passion oozing from the stage to the crowd, Second Solution bellowed throughout the venue. It was The Living End as we knew them and without a doubt, they still had it.

Guitars were swapped and out came the acoustic as Nothing Lasts Forever travelled to every corner of the building, showcasing powerful, enticing vocals from Cheney.
Cheney’s fingers glided hypnotically quick through familiar guitar riffs as feet lifted off the floor, heads moved and thundering shouts of “Roll On, Roll On” could be heard. It continued louder and crazier through the obvious favourites; All Torn Down, Who’s Gonna Save Us? and undeniably their most famous, Prisoner of Society which turned into a sing-along frenzy.

Finishing with their latest single, The Ending is Just the Beginning Repeating, an encore was guaranteed and delivered in the form of a super-charged performance of White Noise. Hauling the gigantic double bass over his head, Scott Owen’s thundering bass lines are the novelty highlight of any Living End show, and as he strategically placed it down whilst playing Cheney climbed on top to finish the show on an ultimate high with West End Riot.