Live Review: The Living End

The Living End

Upstairs at the Corner Hotel, framed gig listings from the '90s adorn the walls in the corridors leading to the toilets. Not surprisingly, The Living End feature prominently. There's the time they opened for Blink-182 in April of 1997 and, a few frames down, the time, a few months later, they supported Bodyjar on their Open Wreckage Tour. Most of the bands they share these black and white listings pages with have since disappeared: The Superjesus, The Lucksmiths, Def FX and Ricaine – all distant memories. It's testament to The Living End that they're still playing, let alone returning to the Richmond venue that helped forge their career. Tonight they do so in aid of their retrospective tour, which sees them perform their 2000 album, Roll On.

Where their debut, two years prior, was on their own terms, Roll On had the fingerprints of EMI. Ultimately it sounded like a major label record – polished and elaborate. When performed live tonight the sheen is gone, the band thrashing out the songs with a refreshing rawness. Opener Roll On is a declaration, as much about the band saying 'We're back' as the industrial wharf dispute it was commentating on. Beginning with a riff that sounds suspiciously like Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols, it builds on the momentum of their debut and is the perfect start to any setlist. Pictures In The Mirror follows and it's one of their finest works in an extensive catalogue. The album is a fan favourite, evident by the show's early sold-out status and the need for an extra date to be added.

Chief songwriter Chris Cheney admits to listening to Midnight Oil, The Angels and AC/DC at the time of writing and it shows. But, again, there's the elements of ska (Blood On Your Hands), pop (Revolution Regained) and bar room singalongs (Uncle Harry) that has seen the mass appeal of the trio. Lyrically it's much the same as the debut: riots, revolutions and redemption. Cheney's lyrics are vague, as only speculations suggest their true meaning: Don't Shut The Gate perhaps referencing the plight of refugees and Killing The Riot, the stolen generation. 

Tonight, at just over an hour, is their most entertaining set of the week and hard to believe it's the sixth night in a consecutive run of dates. Covers of Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues, The Stray Cat's Rock This Town and Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love enhance the atmosphere and offer a snapshot of the artists that inspired the album, something the previous nights have lacked. But ultimately, where these retrospective shows have worked has been when the band's best albums have been performed. There's no doubt The Living End is superb live, but it's the songs they will be remembered for and Roll On is full of those.