Posted on December 5, 2009 - by Emma Stone

The Living End + Sucioperro + Failsafe

The Living End © Emma Stone

Cockpit
Leeds, UK
Saturday 28th November 2009

It’s nice to see that tonight, Failsafe have the following I think they deserve.  Seeing them play two weeks ago to a pitifully small crowd, I’m glad that they’ve now got a room full of people to perform to.  Sticking to their new album, they blast out tracks such as ’Only If We Learn’ and ’A Common Goal’.  New song ’Something To Someone’ is now firmly encased in their set list, played with even more vigour and impeccable timing than the first time I heard it. Unfortunately a slightly too short a set and I would have preferred to hear a couple older tracks off their first album, but definitely a great start to a great evening!

Main support band Sucioperro seems an unlikely choice to pave the way for headliners The Living End.  With riff heavy choruses and deafening drums, Sucioperro seem far more suited to a support slot with someone like “Biffy Clyro”. Nevertheless, they are an amazing band.  Bassist Stewart Chown provides backing screams that can surely only render him without speech for hours to follow.  ‘The Crushing Of Little People’s’ drum-intro reminds me strongly of drums leading to war, thundering over the heads of the crowd.  Singer JP Reid even sounds a little like aforementioned Biffy Clyro’s singer, Simon Neil.  However, ‘Don’t Change What You Can’t Understand’ has a slight change of pace.  The opening riff sounds similar to one Chris Cheney could have written himself, and the track overall is not as heavy as its predecessors, although the drums still resound mercilessly.  Sucioperro are a band that have definitely made it onto my radar, and deserve to make it onto yours too.

As the roadies begin to sound check and set up for The Living End, I admit I have to chuckle at the snippets of conversation I can’t help but overhear.  Ranging from bragging about who’s seen them the most and travelled the furthest to get there, to which member they’d fuck given the chance (Chris Cheney wins, just).

It’s easy to see that tonight’s audience is made up of diehard fans.  When the famous upright bass is brought onstage, I’m surprised it doesn’t get a standing ovation.  Seconds later, the lights go on, and the longed for Aussie trio grace the stage.  ‘Raise The Alarm’ lays the foundation for one of the most outstanding gigs I’ve been to in a long time.  Songs from albums old and new are pulled out of the hat, ranging from the newly released “White Noise” right back to their self titled debut.  Throughout the evening, obvious hits such as ‘All Torn Down’, ‘Who’s Gonna Save Us’ and ‘Prisoner of Society’ are sung back at the stage with such intensity, it’s hard to draw the line in the sound barrier from where The Living End stop and the crowd begins.

I’m not sure when the last time was that I attended a gig where the audience could perform the songs as word perfect as

The Living End © Emma Stone

the band playing them.  With a swiftness that beggars belief considering the size of the instrument, Scott Owens propels his double bass effortlessly around the entire stage.  Never does he miss a single note as he clambers on top of it, balancing precariously on it, defying any theory of gravity Newton sought so hard to prove.  As they close with title track ‘White Noise’, there seems to be no end of bodies surfing across the crowd, and no sign of the mosh pit desisting.

The obvious cries of “Encore!” begin, and we aren’t kept waiting long, unlike most bands, who would rather lap up the begging cries before returning to the stage.  An epic instrumental soundtracks their return, made even more impressive when Chris uses a bottle of his native Victoria Bitter as a slide, slopping beer all over the stage and his Gretsch equally, finally downing the rest to chants of “Chug chug chug!”.  After incessant requests for ‘West End Riot’ during the entire set, the demands are finally met, and the room erupts. Once again, every word is repeated word perfect.

Seeing them at Leeds Festival earlier in the year and leaving not overly impressed,  tonight  it’s obvious they’re far more suited to a smaller stage, and I find it hard to believe that they could have performed any better than they did tonight.  The only negative comment I can possibly make is that this tour is nowhere near long enough!