“Let’s have a fuckin drink and let’s get on with it!” Straight to the point but precisely what fans of The Living End had come to see. That was what the band’s frontman Chris Cheney said on a night that, amongst his technical wizardry on guitar, saw him spray a full bottle of beer all over his guitar before skolling the rest of its contents.
Screaming fans created a wall of sound as they belted out all of the energetic hooks of the band’s hits, while one frantic punter didn’t stop leaping and waving his arms until the band had well and truly left the stage at the end of the night.
The crowd was building slowly at the beginning of the night and Avalore began their set while most punters were still shuffling through the queue outside. The sharply dressed local power-pop outfit played an energetic brand of crowd pleasing rock but unfortunately a few mixing issues and the small crowd meant that they didn’t set the venue alight.
Home grown favourites End of Fashion took to the stage for the evening’s second course. “Cheers!” vocalist and guitarist Justin Burford said as he held his beer up to the building audience. The band were returning to the stage after a couple of months off and got off to a sluggish start that included a mid-song guitar changeover for Rodney Aravena.
A drum kit decorated with tiger stripes, a flashing light show and some warped effects-laden guitars failed to impress fans during the opening stages of the band’s set. It wasn’t until Lock Up Your Daughters that the girls in the front row began to move their heads and shake their hips. The band progressed through the second half of their set and played singles She’s Love and Oh Yeah and finally the crowd found a bit of voice. They were short but sweet and certainly drew a few loyal fans to the venue to see the band return to the stage. End of Fashion closed their set with The Game, a spicy little number that left punters licking their lips for the main course.
Anticipation grew rapidly as fans could sense that the main act were about to make their presence felt on the stage. Roadies had been meticulously placing cymbals, drums, amplifiers and a big double bass in place in front of a huge backdrop for the headline act. The band members came out dressed in black with a few trimmings in keeping with their signature rockabilly style. Cheney grabbed his guitar from a stage-hand and the band immediately burst into action.
Roll On delivered the first aural punch to the crowd and got the place shaking. Bass player Scott Owen took an early stand on his upright bass and fans cheered in appreciation. The trio delivered the first few songs at ripsnorting pace as Who’s Gonna Save Us and What’s On Your Radio induced a current in the crowd.
Just when a rest was needed, along came an extended version of All Torn Down — its building intro and ska influenced verses gave punters a chance to catch their breath. The night continued in cracking style as the band played old favourite From Here On in and continued with Monday, a mid-set highlight that the fans could identify with.
The set built up towards its climax as the band hit the crowd with Second Solution and Long Live the Weekend. Mixed in with the old and new of the band, Cheney showed his chops off with a few extra-curricular licks before leading the three-piece into a rousing performance of classic tune Prisoner of Society.
The band went off for a short break but the feeling in the air suggested they were always going to come back out onto the stage. And when they did, the atmosphere was electric as they played three more songs, finishing off with West End Riot.
After over a decade in the game, The Living End showed Perth they still had it, delivering with all guns firing. Three years on from their last proper national tour, the Metro City crowd was hungry and the band’s ’getting down to business’ attitude fed them exactly what they needed — a night of rock ‘n’ roll mayhem.
