The Living End calls NZ fans: we'll get you out of the house'

The Living End are now counted among Australia's finest musical acts, and they're coming to NZ to rock the Shaky Isles again. Photo / Supplied

In their 15 years together, The Living End have gradually become as iconic as other Australian rock bands Midnight Oil and The Hoodoo Gurus.

Now, with five albums under their belts, they return to New Zealand for the seven-show Legal Tender tour alongside Shihad, Luger Boa and Airbourne, kicking off on October 1 in Dunedin.

Bassist Scott Owen attributes the band's longevity to lots of practice, lots of energy and a desire to improve.

"A band is a lot more worthwhile if it remains current rather than resting on its laurels and re-making the same record over and over again," he says.

"We still see ourselves in a way that we can always get better, we can always improve on things, even on songs we've been playing for 10 years, we still get into a rehearsal room and make sure we're playing them to their full potential."

Though Owen, guitarist and singer Chris Cheney and drummer Andy Strachan are now in their mid-thirties, they feel more energetic than ever before, Owen says.

"We're not the kind of band who are gonna get up on stage and play ballads, it just doesn't feel right for us.

"Maybe when we're, you know, when we're really old and our knees and hips and backs start playing up or whatever, that's the future for us. But not now."

Their most recent release, White Noise, was as fast-paced and loud as ever, and proved to be one of their most successful records to date.

The amount of airplay it received on commercial radio was "crazy" for a rock band, Owen says.

"The singles charts are normally dominated by American pop stars, and we're about as far from that as you can get."

Those pop stars are "pretty average", Owen says - especially when compared with some of the "really f***ing amazing" bands The Living End has played with, including Queens of the Stone Age, AC/DC and Green Day.

The bands on the Legal Tender tour lineup, too, are some of Owen's favourites, making that "four very good reasons" to head to a show.

In laidback, very Aussie style, Owen makes his final sales pitch: "Come to the gig, cos it gets you out of the house".

* The Living End play the Legal Tender tour with Airbourne, Shihad and Luger Boa in October.
Dates:

October 1 - The Edgar Centre, Dunedin

October 2 - Christchurch Town Hall

October 4 - Wellington Town Hall

October 5 - Pettigrew Green Area, Napier

October 7 - Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland

October 9 - Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

October 10 - TSB Stadium, New Plymouth

- NZPA