Living End ready for Bledisloe battle

Another Trans Tasman battle is brewing, but this one won't be conducted on a rugby pitch. Chris Schulz talks to Aussie rockers the Living End ahead of their upcoming New Zealand tour.

A Bledisloe battle is looming, but there won't be a rugby ball involved.

This time, the traditional Australian vs New Zealand rivalry will be played out on rock stages around the country as two Australian bands - The Living End and Airbourne - team up with New Zealand's Shihad and Luger Boa for a seven-date nationwide tour.

The frontmen for two of the groups are talking up a good game ahead of the joint shows, which hit Dunedin, Christchurch, Napier, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Wellington in the first two weeks of October.

In a recent interview, Shihad singer Jon Toogood told the Sunday Star-Times he was "worried" about the challenge.

"The Living End have been touring their arses off in America and are really on fire right now but we have the advantage of being on home turf, so it could go either way," Toogood said.

Front man and singer for The Living End, Chris Cheney, told Stuff.co.nz he was eager to "add fuel to the fire".

"I'm sure there will be rivalries," he said. "We've never done a tour with Shihad or with Airbourne but we're really good friends. I'm interested to see the hometown boys so it's going to be a great tour."

Toogood has every right to be worried. The Living End have just finished a run of European festival dates playing to thousands of fans in Finland, Germany, Sweden and Oslo - and were billed on the main stage at Britain's Reading and Leeds festivals.

Piling on the pressure is the Apra Song of the Year award the Aussie punk trio won for last year's catchy single White Noise. The album White Noise also picked up the Aria award for Best Rock Album.

Cheney - who is joined in the band by double bassist Scott Owen and drummer Andy Strachan - said some of the band's best shows had been played in New Zealand.

"The first show we ever did at (Auckland venue) The Powerstation was pretty nuts. It was one of those 'people hanging off the rafters' kind of things. And there was one in Wellington that was really rough, but in a good way.

"We've always done quite well there and people have kind of embraced what we do. The thing that sells this band more than anything else is getting up on stage and playing live and I feel like we've done a lot of great shows in New Zealand.

He admitted crowds in New Zealand were always "lively".

"We've never really done a show there where the audience has been tame, and that suits us," Cheney said.

Despite celebrating their 15th anniversary this year, Cheney said they were playing harder and faster than ever.

"The songs don't sound right unless you're putting in 110 percent. It's a really physical thing - you've got to put your whole body into these songs.

"The worst thing about a rock n roll band is when they become complacent (but) I don't think we have at all.

"I feel like our shows are more firing than they've ever been."

Yikes. Shihad and Luger Boa - you have been warned.

Shihad, The Living End, Airbourne, Luger Boa
October 1: Edgar Center, Dunedin
October 2: Town Hall, Christchurch
October 4: Town Hall, Wellington
October 5: Pettigrew Green Arena, Napier
October 7: Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland
October 9: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
October 10: TSB Stadium, New Plymouth
More information: Eventfinder.co.nz

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- © Fairfax NZ News