Valley Studios - Fri Aug 1

Several dozen young punters remain desperately queued outside the Valley Studios as 8.30pm approaches, but it appears that the venue's capacity has been reached. Tonight's show serves two clear purposes: a chance for underage fans to witness one of Australia's most reputable live bands, and an opportunity for The Living End to warm upbefore a captive audience ahead of tomorrow night's scheduled Splendour In The Grass performance.

As expected, the Melbourne trio rise to the occasion with ease. They burst into a Run To Paradise cover that's cut short before the chorus and leads into Roll On. Young fans mosh, sweat, grin and sing as one, while more seasoned concert goers hover at the edges of the throng and survey the scene. "It's good to have new songs to play!" announces frontman Chris Cheney, after playing the title track of their fifth album, White Noise. It's perhaps their weakest single yet, and compares unfavourably to fellow newies How Do We Know, Loaded Gun and Make The Call.

The Living End have never attempted to distance themselves from their early material; Prisoner Of Society, All Torn Down and West End Riot are all performed with passion and vigour. Cheney's guitar solos in these songs are still exhilarating, ten years on: arguably, the band has yet to surpass the quality of their sterling debut album.

ANDREW MCMILLEN

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