By Samuel Rubenfeld
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.
After a disappointing turnout in Levittown the night before, Australian band The Living End played to a packed and raucous crowd for its second date in New York, part of the U.S. 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. With two guitars, layered harmonies and a bass player with a fondness for ridiculous faces as he rocked out, the band also factored in a large Buzzcocks pop-punk influence, with the result sounding like a young Green Day. The Shake’s 45-minute set was interrupted by a fan set on ruining any 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.
Feeding off the frenzied crowd was bassist Scott Owen, who moved his tremendous black checkerboard upright bass around the stage, leaning into the fans, even standing on the instrument. Owen’s 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 even faster.
The hour-long set leaned heavily on new material from State of Emergency (the album was released July 11 in the US on Adeline Records, owned by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day fame) but also featured live staple “E Boogie.” This song is an instrumental that allows the band to show off their virtuosic musical talents collectively, and also individually, as each member gets their own time to solo.
Most notable was Cheney’s, as he took a beer bottle and slid it along the neck of the guitar, making an obscene amount of noise, with beer frothing around him. Cheney chugged 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 because the tour demanded it but The Living End will always have a second home in New York.
GRADE: A