Live Review: The Living End, Bad//Dreems, 131's

One of Australia’s greatest living rock bands, The Living End, proved they’ve still got it Saturday night as they tore up the Enmore Theatre stage to launch their latest album Shift. 

Ahead of the headliners were tattooed Melbournian punk rockers 131’s. A band still in its infancy, it’s clear that these guys are starting to build some real momentum, with hits like This Ain’t Culture. Adelaide rockers Bad//Dreems followed and brought a bevy of groupies with them. 

But, it wasn’t until Chris Cheney, Scott Owen, and Andy Strachan took the stage that shit really got loose. There was a significant shift in atmosphere as soon as the boys struck their first chord, surrounded by a dramatic smoke and lights display, sending the crowd into a state of mayhem.

"You’re at a fucking rock'n'roll show so go nuts.”

Cheney riled up the crowd, saying: “It's time for the people on the floor to put on a little show for the people upstairs. You've only got one life so make it count – you’re at a fucking rock'n'roll show so go nuts.”

And the crowd obeyed as an aggressive mosh pit broke out in the centre of the floor and didn’t let up until the boys struck their final chord. 

As bodies were flying and people were crowd surfing to the sounds of Second Solution, a man in a black hoodie managed to get his way up onto the stage to dance beside Strachan, completely unbeknownst to the security guard directly in front of him. 

While there was no denying the crowds enthusiasm for the classic The Living End songs from their youth, songs from new album Shift had darkness and a rawness that had the crowd going wild.

The guys finished the night with an encore of How Do We Know, West End Riot and Carry Me Home, with Cheney delivering an impressive guitar rift while balancing on Owen’s double bass.