Gem of the Week: The Living End

My gem this week is Australian punk/psychobilly band The Living End.

This is a great band that I dug out from my collection to feature because I’ve always admired their style which fuses 50’s rock, punk and rock-a-billy all into one.

I first got into The Living End in 2002 when I was in a band and listening to everything experimental and punk hardcore for inspiration. I heard their hit Prisoner of Society and I liked it right away and bought their album Roll On (2000).

I loved that album and listened to it a lot. My favorite tracks included Astoria Paranoia for its catchy drum opening and Roll On. My other favorite album is Modern Artillery (2003) I absolutely loved the track End of the World.

I was fortunate to see them live in 2006 when the band had released their State of Emergency album. I carry a memorable experience of how-spur-of-the-moment decisions got me to that show.

Basically, I had found out the band was playing in Detroit a day before their show and on such short notice I didn’t have much hope that I would make it to the show. I also worked retail then and was working that day until 9:00 p.m.  At work I started telling my manager about how upset I was that I was going to miss seeing this great band live because I found out about it too late. My manager sympathised with me and decided to let me go home early so I could make it to the show. I couldn’t believe my luck, so I called my then-boyfriend-now-husband to pick me up and we raced to the show hoping they didn’t sell out of tickets. We walked in just as the openers finished playing and tickets were still available! We paid at the door and I’ll never forget how awesome It felt to know I wasn’t going to miss this after everything that happened.

I can say first hand that they put on a great live show! The Living End put that punk rock attitude, rock-a-billy swagger and hardcore energy in their performance. Another cool thing about them is the bassist plays an upright bass and it’s a different touch that I liked about their stage presence.

Since 2006 and aside from touring with The Warped Tour, I have noticed The Living End has not played Detroit since then.

I am really glad I made it to that show and even though I don’t follow their music as closely these days, I still have great albums by them that are gems and I’ll never forget the memory of going to their show.

Below is an old clip of the band performing on Letterman shared from Raffaello.35’s You Tube Channel.

Tags: living end astoria paranoia, living end end of the world, living end prisoner of society, living end state of emergency, living end warped tour, The living end, the living end modern artillery, the living end punk, the living end roll on