2008 was a pretty full-on year with heaps of memorable events. You just had to watch the intro video to tonight’s show to be brought up to speed with what went down.
It was also the year in which The Living End revived their career (after a secret split) and put out, in my opinion, their finest body of work – the uber-rockin’ White Noise. The John Agnello-produced, Brendan O’Brien-mixed album shied away from their punk-a-billy roots and delivered a collection of tracks that were filled with so much energy, depth and killer hooks, it would make most 21st century rock bands blush.
And, as has been heavily documented, the album (and the resurrection of the band) all started with the slammin’ riff to the opening track, How Do We Know?. Last night, it kick-started 50 minutes of solid and sweaty good times.
Maybe it was because it was the first show the ‘Big Red Ticket’ holders got into, or because I was more entrenched in the mosh pit this time, but the atmosphere at tonight’s White Noise show was off the tap. Whether it was hundreds of people chanting back the chorus to the title track, bouncing up and down en masse to Raise the Alarm, or getting “down and dirty” as Chris Cheney requested for the ace Make the Call, the pace didn’t let up in the slightest.
And there were a few minor flourishes outside of the album-tracks-only setlist as well. As has become the norm, the pounding Hey Hey Disbeliever was interspersed with a snippet of Billy Thorpe’s Most People That I Know (Think That I’m Crazy). There was also a brief rendition of The Seekers’ Georgy Girl as the band got in the groove for the final track, the reggae-tinged Sum of Us, which finished off with a super-charged verse at the end.
Oh, and to top it all off, the show was being filmed – and the band are filming “for the next few nights” as well. DVD or Documentary next year, anyone?
Kiel Egging is covering six consecutive shows in the Melbourne leg of The Living End’s Retrospective Tour for Music Feeds. Check out his reviews of other shows here.
Review: The Living End (The Living End), Corner Hotel – 11/12/2012
