The Living End have always had a reputation as an awesome live band, and that reputation, plus the fact they haven’t been to Cairns for a couple of years, assured the ‘sold out’ sign went up at Brothers Leagues Club the afternoon of their show.
Unfortunately, I only caught the last song of Red Riders set, so to comment on their performance would be unfair.
Main support act End Of Fashion, although solid, were not spectacular. Had they started their set with the same intensity as they finished it would have been a great effort, but their music seemed a little same-ish and one dimensional after a while. New song ‘Biscuit’, with its bass driven up tempo sound provided the brightest spot of their performance and showed there is some hope for the future.
The Living End graced the stage to rapturous applause and delivered hit after hit to the eager crowd. This three piece has more stage presence than most four and five piece bands and it took only three songs for bass player Scott Owen to perform his trademark standing and playing on the double bass routine.
All the old hits were there with ‘All Torn Down’ and ‘Prisoner of Society’ sending the crowd into a moshing, screaming frenzy, while ‘Second Solution’ was still as fresh and vibrant as it was when released 8 years ago.
Newer material such as ‘We Want More’ with its traditional Living End rockabilly style and ‘Into the Red’, a scorching rock number from start to finish, proved there is still a hell of alot of life left in the band.
Considering their recent hectic touring schedule which saw them travelling far and wide, the band looked surprisingly fresh and unjaded, and it was humbling to see a successful band like this genuinely thank the support acts and punters for their continued support.
By the time they had finished with the one-two of ‘Tainted Love’ and ‘West End Riot’, the Living End had reaffirmed their status as one of the countries finest musical exports.
The former punk brats may have grown up but they have lost none of their rebellious angst.
