Debate inevitably arises when going to see the Living End. Eight years since their first album of punkabilly Oz classics, they are still finding chart success and touring relentlessly, and thirtysomething frontman Chris Cheney continues to bleach his hair. But are they past their prime?
Arguments were quashed
in the heaving pit at the Kings Arms on Friday, reinforced by the queue outside the all-ages gig the following night at the Studio, and rammed home when the band opened with adventurous new song Til the End.
But their set was all about feeling young. Cheney has referred to the old favourites as juvenile but he has to admit that in a live setting they're the most thrilling.
Years of experience have sapped songs like Prisoner of Society and Second Solution of the raw power that made them famous, but they still drew the biggest crowd reaction.
Cheney's vocal is so smooth there are times you wish it would crack, but he played a ripper of a guitar solo before All Torn Down. Double bass man Scott Owen is always fun to watch - it's not every day your instrument is bigger than you are - and Andy Strachan rolled out formidably tight drum riffs.
The band seemed keen to reserve their vigour for the newer songs. What's on Your Radio? and We Want More rendered the biggest sweat quotient and proved they still have what it takes to write ballsy rock anthems that don't require gumboots to get down to.
But new song Nothing Lasts Forever was tame by comparison, leaving fans with little desire to rub their armpits on fellow gig-goers.
When they got down with a great country hootenanny, it showed off their adventurous side with more character and humour than some of the complicated, deeper tracks.
There's no state of emergency to be declared just yet. The Living End still know how to have a damn good time.
Where and when: Kings Arms, Friday night
