Concert Review: The Living End f/The Shake
Grade: A
If you were at the Main Space of the Knitting Factory in Manhattan on the night Nov. 19, then you were sore the next day. Period.
After a disappointing turnout in Levittown the night before, Australian legends The Living End played to a packed and raucous crowd for its second date in New York, part of a United States leg of a yearlong world tour that has taken the band throughout their native Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe.
The opening band, The Shake, enthusiastically ran through its set of Oasis-inspired alt-rock music. The band, with two guitars, layered harmonies and a bass player with a fondness for ridiculous faces as he rocked out, also factored in a large Buzzcocks pop-punk influence, with the result sounding like a very young Green Day. The Shake’s 45-minute set was interrupted off and on by a fan bent on ruining any opening band’s night, even getting the lead singer to challenge him to a fight, and the bassist offering to sell tickets.
The Living End took to the stage to thunderous applause, something not found in Levittown. Guitarist/vocalist Chris Cheney strolled to the mic and yelled, “New York City—alright!” and the show quickly kicked into gear with the band playing the opening track “Til The End” off their latest release State of Emergency. The punk-inspired mosh pits started instantly, and did not stop until the set ended. The band’s sound is a mixture of British punk, rockabilly and straight-up rock and roll, but in America, most of the fans are punk rockers.
Instantly feeding off the frenzied crowd was bassist Scott Owen, who moved his tremendous checker-bordered black upright bass around the stage, leaning into the fans, even standing on his bass. His animation tends to fuel the rest of the band, and Cheney, as well as drummer Andy Strachan, kept up a frenetic pace throughout the set, with the crowd seeming to drive the band faster and faster.
The set leaned heavily on new material from State of Emergency, as the band is touring in support of the album, which was released July 11 in the US, on Adeline Records, owned by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day fame. The band is getting promotional support from the record label and from MTV as well, as the network has played the videos for “What’s On Your Radio?” and “Wake Up” on their university-exclusive channel MTVU.
The hour-long main set featured a live staple, called “E Boogie.” This song is an instrumental that allows the band to show off their virtuosic musical talents collectively, as well as individually, as each member gets their own time to solo. Most notable is Cheney’s, as he takes a beer bottle and slides it along the neck of the guitar, making an obscene amount of noise, with beer frothing around him. Cheney chugs the remnants after his solo, much to the delight of the crowd.
The band returned to the stage for a three-song encore, and the pace slowed down a bit for the aforementioned “Wake Up.” Then the band took requests, and elected to play their fastest song, “Carry Me Home,” which includes a feverish solo by Cheney before becoming a rapid-fire song about drinking until one cannot feel anymore. “West End Riot,” a classic off the self-titled debut, ended the show, as Cheney stood on Owen’s bass while each one played their respective instruments until it appeared that they would break.
The show ended too quickly, with the crowd begging for more. The band had to move on, the tour demanded it, though The Living End will always have a second home in New York.
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