In September 2025, Melbourne legends The Living End released their 9th studio album. Titled ‘I Only Trust Rock n Roll’, the album is a step back in time sonically and an ode to some of their earlier works.
Almost two months to the day, the trio are back in their hometown for a headline show as part of the Live at the Gardens series. Playing at Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria, the rockers were set to give the local fauna a taste of what it’s like to be at a Living End concert.
This new tour is not your regular The Living End live experience. Split into two parts with new tracks and hits performed in the first set. Then, after a short intermission, the lads returned to the stage to perform their Self-Titled, debut album in full. And with rain forecast for the evening, it was sure to be an interesting experience.
Opening with the first single and first track from the new album, ‘Alfie’, the crowd were already in full voice. The collective sing-along continued with crowd favourite ‘Roll On’ before kicking into one of my favourites from the new album ‘Roller’. The hits continued in the first set with tracks ‘Pictures in the Mirror’ and ‘How Do We Know’. About halfway through the first set, the rain began to fall, and we donned our ponchos to stay as dry as possible. The rain didn’t deter those that were not prepared for the inclement weather and the Melbourne crowd continued to rock it out.
As a long-time fan (this was my 42nd show), it was great to hear some live rarities added to the set. ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ has only been played a handful of times in the last 15 years and is easily one of my favourite written songs of theirs, so it was a real treat to hear it live again. However, by far the biggest gift would be a track from their 2nd EP ‘It’s for Your Own Good’, with a performance of ‘From Here on In’. The first set concluded with new track ‘Misery’ and the trio left the stage for a well-deserved break before smashing out their debut album.
It wasn’t all back-to-back tracks with the classic Chris Cheney banter and story time mixed in-between songs. Half-way thru ‘Hey Hey Disbeliever’, Cheney talked of how the world has gone mental, fake news, AI generated music. Cheney shared, “You’ve gotta find what’s real folks … three guys on stage playing real instruments, that’s what’s fucking real!”.
Chris Cheney also loves story time, discussing how he was in Woollies one day and the Woolworths Radio played a familiar song, realising it was his own song, he joked that it was all over for him stating, “If you’re on Woollies Radio, it’s all over folks! And that was 20 years ago!”.
The Living End soon returned to the stage and kicked into their most well-known, first track off the album, and anthem of a generation, ‘Prisoner of Society’. Even with the break and the rain still pelting down, the gardens crowd were right back into it, singing at the top of their lungs.
For long-time fans, this album is engrained in our soul. Most of us could rattle of the track listing in order, and the lyrics are stored in the depths of our brains and can be retrieved at any moment. But for this tour, The Living End have tried to trick us, by shuffling the track listing around for a live setting. And it makes complete sense! With ‘All Torn Down’ and ‘West End Riot’ both on Side A of the album, they were shifted to the tail end of the setlist to keep the vibes high and the energy pumping. A brilliant decision from the lads because ‘West End Riot’ into the epic instrumental of ‘Closing In’ really slaps hard.
One of the best things about this outdoor format concert was it being all ages. With most fans now all grown up and have families of their own, it was so wholesome to see children rocking out as hard as their parents. Two very wholesome moments included a young boy on the shoulders of his mum, about 3-4 years old, looking at his hand, thinking hard and rotating his fingers in different combinations until he got the devil horns locked in and raised them in the air. The second was at the very end of the concert with closing track and crowd favourite ‘Uncle Harry’ seeing two kids screaming at the top of their lungs “Uncle Harry pissin’ in the bath” along with their mum and dad, and seeing their parents looking so darn proud.
This proves The Living End is an Australian icon and a band that transcends generations. Their music never feels dated and their new stuff is just as good live as their classics. With such an epic discography and a plethora of tracks to put onto a live set, I am never disappointed and constantly surprised by what these living legends can achieve. Even in the pouring rain, the Melbourne rock band were able to hold and maintain the constant attention of the weather-soaked audience.
The only thing that left me a little perplexed was the omission of the title track of the new album and the name of the national tour, I Only Trust Rock n Roll. The only reason I can think is the strict curfew the Botanical Gardens has, and they simply ran out of time, having to cut their encore short, only performing ‘White Noise‘ and ‘Uncle Harry‘. Whilst I would have loved to have dropped either of these to include the new track, I understood why the popular ones were kept.
Now, with the live performance aside, the Live at the Gardens as an event is not the best outdoor concert experience I have had attended. Most outdoor venues allow the usage of picnic rugs and BYO food. You know, classic cheese, crackers, deli meats, dips, chips and alike. However, the strict entry conditions for this event meant BYO food was not allowed and put me offside before I even entered. Picnic rugs were allowed; however, the dedicated section was right at the rear of the space, hidden behind Front of House, and quite simply heavily obstructed.
With the restriction on food, patrons were left with no other choice but to purchase from the food truck vendors on site. And even then, the options were extremely limited and rather expensive. $21 for a small bowl of Paella, I mean, c’mon. There weren’t any options for savoury food that wasn’t hot. Not even a bag of chips! Yes, there were plenty of alcohol options and even then, there was no soft drinks on offer at the large beverage stall. Meaning, if you wanted something non-alcoholic, you had to purchase from one of the food trucks and join the very long lines.
To add to the poor experience for the venue, the accessible area was tucked away to the right side of stage, not even on an elevated platform. Just chairs placed on concrete. And with the crowd right up against the fenced off area, standing right in front of you, if you were seated, you would definitely have struggled to see. There was also no water on offer for those on the barrier. At almost every show I have been to, security have water bottles or cups they would pass out to keep the packed barrier crowd hydrated. But not this event. When I asked security, he said they had not been given any to hand out. Very poor form from organisers.
Venue misgivings aside, The Living End put on one hell of a show, rain and all. With over 30 years of live experience, the legends show no sign of slowing down. New tracks, classic favourites and some live rarities, this concert is up there as one of my favourite live sets from the rockers. This new format of two sets suits them so well with the balls to the wall energy that they bring to every show, a cheeky break in the middle is exactly what they deserve. Chris, Scott and Andy as The Living End, is and always will be, my favourite band and live act going around.
Proudly Presented by Winterman & Goldstein, Cornershop Agency, Face to Face Touring and Triple M, The Living End’s I Only Trust Rock And Roll Tour was performed at Live At The Gardens at the Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria in Melbourne on Saturday the 22nd of November in partnership with MG Live. The tour continues on the 29th of November at Fremantle Prison in Western Australia before wrapping up on the 12th of December at the iconic Opera House Forecourt in Sydney. The Living End are also on the Blues Fest line-up in April 2026.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.thelivingend.com.au/shows
https://www.instagram.com/thelivingendaus
Photography by Grant Alexander.
