Fasterlouder.com.au, 05 December 2005, Gig Review

Article by: Pinupgrrl


The Living End, Youth Group @ The Annandale, 1/12/2005

Tonight sees us at The Annandale, among the fortunate few able to secure tickets to perhaps the worst kept secret gig in town. Melbournians, The Longnecks (The Living End that is) have a reputation of bringing down the house. With the fellas set to debut a whole lot of new material in the lead up to the release of their new album State Of Emergency in February, it’s no surprise that the crowd is abuzz with anticipation.

First up are Youth Group who are greeted by an already packed house, admittedly a tough mix of The Living End diehards and industry types. The lads put on a good show, playing mostly from their second album, the emotive vocals of Toby Martin as powerful as ever and supported sublimely by his band members. Their percussive textured indie guitar sound washing around the room with subtle dynamics which seemed to have Sarah Blasko dancing appreciatively.

The queue at the bar towards the end of Youth Group’s set is testament to the fact that many are here for one reason only: The Living End. And from the instant the boys explode onto the stage it’s a full frontal punk pop assault that makes for a truly memorable experience for everyone lucky enough to see them in this intimate atmosphere. I think I saw Chris Cheney dive for a drink once in the whole set, and a mid song attempt at a swig of beer ended with it flying through the air, such was the intensity and fast paced hammering we were happily subjected to tonight.

Opening with Tabloid Magazine, it’s game on with the room already a heaving mass. Straight into the new stuff with Long Live The Weekend, a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… type of lyrical hook that as cliché as it sounds still has a unique feel to it. Money In The Bag, another newie along the more rockin’ four on the floor style that’s as captivating and as punchy as any of their older material, even on first listen. What’s On Your Radio, stripped back and letting the cool vocals and descending progression breathe felt special live and took on a different feel from what I’d heard, hmmm, on the radio. There’s no doubt after hearing it live that it was an awesome choice for a single.

Roll On; fists in the air, full house chanting! All Torn Down became an epic. It has to be said that Chris Cheney’s guitar prowess is not only astonishingly technical but brilliantly entertaining. With a huge build up to a solo that had his rhythm section, Scott Owen and Andy Strachan poised with eyes trained on their frontman, seemingly reading his mind through an obviously improvised section climaxing with a roar of guitar … this guy has chops. Chris has been known to say; “I’m conversant and capable in many styles but have not truly mastered one of them…” whoa, it doesn’t matter ‘cause what you do is your own mastery. A fusion of everything from the finger picking of Chet Atkins, the simple power of Steve Jones, the lead of Angus Young, and as good a feel as any great rhythm and blues guitarist. In our age of plastic idol it has to be said that great instrumentalism will always shine and entertain. Scott Owen on double bass, with impeccable back up vocals and all the right moves never fails to impress and Andy Strachan on drums, simply a phenomenal player; powerful, expressive, precise, a great sense of style and able to wing it when Chris calls a drum/guitar duel mid set.

In fine old school punk fashion the boys slip seamlessly into a neatly dressed cover of Girls Talk… nice one. Red Letter is another newie which is a stand out for me and is in keeping with the simple straight up rockin’ vibe that the new stuff is sounding like, at least tonight anyway. There really isn’t a lot of their rockabilly or even punk roots going on in these new tunes, just rockin’ pop delivered with venom, but that’s not to say that they have ignored their early influences. Case in point, tonight we are treated to a classic old country cover (who’s name I couldn’t catch but which was damn familiar) showcasing Chris’ finger picking skills and subtle control it then explodes into a full blown psychobilly shuffle that has at least a few quiffs up the back jumping with glee.

Encore time and the band roll out the heavy ARTillery. A call for audience participation sees Chris exchanging banter with a lucky Scottish fan who claims to have travelled all the way ‘round the globe to catch this gig and requests The Room which they bravely attempt despite Chris admitting that they hadn’t played it since recording it in 2003. And it seemed to be going great until; “Ugh fuck” from Chris, they blew it. Hats off for trying, it only added to the excitable vibe of the night.

Closing with Second Solution there’s no doubt in my mind that those who don’t normally dance, did… with more than a couple climbing onto the bar to do so. And who was that young fella dancing up there? No matter, he was hollering along with all the mighty rock and roll attitude he could muster as though he was in live music heaven which incidentally sums up the mood of the crowd as we file to the bar to recover. The house was truly rocked tonight.

The Living End have been around for some time now and have negotiated the transition from proud rockabilly band to one of the finest acts that Australia has to offer with their trademark unwavering energy. Long live… “The End”!.