When The Living End take to the Roche Estate stage for next year’s Red Hot Summer Tour, they will be hoping the show goes a little smoother than their last Hunter outing at Newcastle’s recent Scene and Heard festival.
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“That was a funny one, we only just made it onto the stage,” drummer Andy Strachan explained.
“We were on tour at the time and the truck broke down about three hours out of Melbourne. It was literally 40 minutes from when the truck arrived to when we played our first note. So what’s normally a two hour job turned into a 20 minute scramble, but we have an amazing crew and they pulled it together really well.”
Andy said the band, who have been long-time visitors to the region, couldn't wait to get back to the Hunter to play alongside Jimmy Barnes, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Richard Clapton, Diesel and Chocolate Starfish.
“When you strip back what we do, we just love playing loud rock and roll and you guys up there just seem to get it,” he said.
“It’s always great to play up in the Hunter, I think it’s a beautiful part of the world.”
The band are currently riding high on the back of their eighth album Wunderbar, which peaked at number three on the Australian ARIA charts.
The album, the band’s first recorded in Europe, was tracked in Berlin and Andy said it was one of the most positive studio experiences in The Living End’s career.
“We’re really proud of it,” he said. “When you set out to record a new album you have hopes and expectations but rarely do you tick all those boxes. This one just turned out so well.
“We called it Wunderbar because we were in Germany and it was literally a wonderful experience from start to finish. I really think you can hear that we are loving what we are doing on that record.”
This year has been an auspicious one for The Living End, with the band celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal self-titled debut album.
While Andy said he was blown away that the band were still around to enjoy the milestone, he was equally happy to see so many artists from that era still touring.
“It is amazing that it has been 20 years since that record, but what is also amazing is that there is still so many bands from that era that are still doing really well,” he said.
“It was a special time and I think it’s pretty hard for bands these days. They make an impact but it’s pretty hard to get past that first or second record, because there’s so much noise in the world, it’s harder to cut that path.”
The Red Hot Summer Tour will be on at Roche Estate on Saturday 2 February, 2019. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster on 136 100 or https://www.ticketmaster.com.au
