The last time I saw The Living End was on their tour for ‘State of Emergency’ back in 2006. I am not sure what happened around that time as I missed the release of ‘White Noise’, ‘The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating’, and ‘Shift’. The only reason I even knew that they were going to be in St. Louis was that I make it a habit to look at each venue every couple weeks to see who is coming to town so I do not miss them. When I first looked at the Old Rock House’s website and saw The Living End was playing I had to do a double take and make sure it was the same band I was thinking and boy was I happy it was.
We show up about twenty minutes after the doors opened and the crowd is very small. I make my way to the front of the stage and talk to a friend a bit and another photographer I know. Local punk veterans Ultraman opened the show. I have seen Ultraman open for many punk bands over the years in St. Louis They are probably one of the best punk/hardcore bands to come out of St. Louis.
By the time The Dollyrots take stage the venue is slowly filling up. The Dollyrots have a classic pop-punk sound. Front woman Kelly Ogden with a beaming grin talks to the crowd and tells them that she thinks that she might be dreaming as she had just woken up from a nap just minutes before coming on stage.
After The Dollyrots left the stage I took a look around to see that the Old Rock House was now near full. I was really happy about this as I hate to see bands come to St. Louis and have a bad turn out as it seems many bands pass over St. Louis. The band took no time getting the crowd going with the fist pumping opener ‘Carry Me Home’ off of 2000’s ‘Roll On’. From its frantic intro and bridge the song is a fist pumper until it’s over. A small mosh pit started to my right and fans are singing along. The band chugs along at neck breaking speed over the course of the first four songs and finally slows down for ‘With Enemies Like That’. Lead vocalist/guitarist Chris Cheney really disserves more recognition for his guitar work. In Australia he is always ranked in the top five guitarists from Australia but outside of Australia most people have never heard of him. The band played a good mix of songs off their catalogue with exception of ‘The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating’. The band was as tight as I remember them eleven years ago and can’t wait to see them live again.
- Carry Me Home
- Raise the Alarm
- Roll On
- Hold Up
- With Enemies Like That
- Monday
- All Torn Down
- End of the World
- Up the Junction
- How Do We Know
- Who’s Gonna Save Us?
- Prisoner of Society
- E-Boogie
- West End Riot
Encore:
- Uncle Harry
- Second Solution
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