The juggernaut that is Soundwave is here yet again, returning to Sydney’s Showgrounds for the second year running. With a year to get themselves ready (you may recall the festival’s move from Blacktown to Olympic Park was a rather last minute affair in 2011), the festival provided punters with an inspired new layout, jam packed lineup and a day that seemed to go off without hitch.
The updated layout included no less than three indoor areas – perhaps in anticipation for rain, or to provide a place away from the sun – no doubt applicable (and welcome) for both. Thankfully, however, aside from a few drops, the former stayed at bay, keeping this day a hot and steamy (albeit overcast) one for the sold out crowd. I also experienced next to no lines (employed by my usual tactic of searching out an alternate where one line looked long), and though sold out, the crowds never felt too full on. In spite of the music in hand, it was a pretty relaxed kind of day.
Following some unexpected delays at the box office, we arrived just in time to find out we’d missed seeing Slash‘s surprise appearance alongside Alter Bridge. It was only for one song, but from all accounts it was a thrill for everyone who had the pleasure of witnessing his prowess on the geetar. But then again, most of us had that pleasure last year as well! A welcome surprise all the same.
The first band I caught were Relient K, one of many bands playing Soundwave with whom I hadn’t heard of before the festival added them to their lineup. I feel like I should have heard of them however, what with the pop rock/punk group forming in 1998 and all. Had I stayed to the end, perhaps I would have heard something I loosely knew, but since discovering their origins in Christian Rock and Christian Punk, my ignorance seems to have an explanation. In spite of this background, their schtick is a standard affair for the pop rock and pop punk genres, though their fanbase, who seem to know every word to every song (including newbie “Sahara”), are understandably dedicated. The music is impressive for the genre and easy listening, even for the uninitiated. A great set.
Performing nearby, The Dangerous Summer bill themselves as more “straightforward rock” compared to modern popular music. Though this could be argued, they seem to sit in some grey area where they have pulled in influences from bands like Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy and even Manchester Orchestra. Nothing wrong with what they pull out, but it’s certainly attempting to be just as popular as the second band on that list, making any claims otherwise a bit naff. Semantics aside, this is a solid band who were putting on a terrific show, with music as accessible as Relient K before them.
Likewise, A Day To Remember were keeping their fans happy with a high energy set, giving the usual “Australia treats us better than any place in the world” banter. Bush followed, opening with “Machine Head” and “Baby Come Home”, performing a set which was tight and professional. Frontman Gavin Rossdale played his part perfectly (as he always has), and digressed that it has been a while since the band were in the spotlight: “for the people who don’t know who the fuck we are thanks for sticking around”. But it would be fair to say that by the time the crowd had sung along to tracks like “Glycerine”, “Comedown” and even a cover of “Come Together”, this was a band who the crowd knew well indeed. A solid, albeit all too brief set from the established musicians.
Following Bush in the main arena were Bad Religion, a band who have been doing the same thing for 30 years, and here’s hoping they never stop, sounding as good as ever on the Soundwave stage. They were also mightly complimentary of their Australian fans: “…you continue to be wonderful crowds as we continue our graceful aging”. Their jam packed set included “21st Century Digital Boy” “Los Angeles is Burning”, “Let Them Eat War”, “Fuck Armageddon… This Is Hell!” and “American Jesus”. The fact a band like this still commands attention on the main stage is precedence to the ideology that good music (and bands) never die. This is one band who I feel plan to be around producing music until the day they do.
One of the most anticipated sets of the day was from recently reformed Limp Bizkit (aka the detractors of Courtney Love), who were today returning to the same venue where tragedy struck 11 years ago, with a new album in tow (the first in almost as many years) and a new signing to Cash Money Records. With the first lyrics of their set “Oh no, guess who’s back?” (from “Why Try” off their latest record Gold Cobra), they seemed ready to prove themselves worthy of a return to the stage. Say what you will about Limp and Fred Durst, but they know how to deliver a great show, and certainly proved themselves worthy with a high energy set and a brilliant crowd reception.
Everyone was expecting a mention of the tragedy aforementioned, in which Jessica Michalik died during their set at the 2001 Sydney Big Day Out, and Fred certainly delivered in that respect. He dedicated the show to Jessica, while her father George watched on from the photography pit, and a friend of hers watched from side of stage (reportedly). A banner was revealed featuring Jessica’s name, as was done in Brisbane the day before, with the whole Australian tour being dedicated in her honour. Though the initial sentiments came across as sincere, Fred couldn’t help himself and he ended up using it as an opportunity to pass the blame onto Big Day Out promoters, before launching into “Hate Me”. You can listen to the full spiel below which a punter e-mailed to us shortly after the event:
Fred passed blame again later in the show, though seemed to be at a war of words with himself when he preceded the comments with “it’s real fucking easy to pass the blame, to point the finger… BUT…” and went to remind the crowd that it was the promoters, not Limp Bizkit, that fucked up that day. Whatever his version of history is, that wasn’t the time or the place for it, and ended up overshadowing what was otherwise a touching tribute.
He then sincerely thanked the fans for their support, before passing out some water and changing the subject to his love of Steel Panther. He also praised Soundwave for “having their shit together – everyone is having a good time”. Though my favourite quote of the day was this one: “do you have different words for Vagina here in Australia? *pointing at guy on shoulders in the crowd* Is that guy the word for vagina?”. Insert photo of Fred looking VERY proud of himself, and then launching into “Nookie”.
The rest of the hit friendly set included “My Generation”, “Livin’ It Up” “My Way” (which I didn’t realise I knew word for word), a very brief interlude featuring “Jump Around” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Fred: “I love Nirvana I don’t give a fuck” – fair enough!), “Faith” and “Rollin'”. In between the two final tracks, he managed to get a few tits out in the crowd, which were rather distastefully shown with Jessica’s banner in the background on the screen. But tits all the same. At least he did’t do “Behind Blue Eyes”.
All this criticism of how Mr. Durst handled himself in speech should not take away from the fact that this was one of the best sets of the day. He just really needs to talk less.
Marilyn Manson followed and proved a rather disappointing affair for many. Though there are suggestions from some that he was “boo-ed” off stage by Slipknot fans, I’m not sure where that commentator was positioned as I didn’t see or hear anything of the sort. All the same, it comes as little surprise. My general feeling of the crowd is that they felt disinterested by the whole thing. On paper, this shouldn’t have been the case. “Disposable Teens” and “The Dope Show” came early, and Twiggy Ramirez sounded phenomenal. But ultimately it seemed that Manson just wasn’t into it, and this sentiment carried out onto the crowd.
Marilyn Manson is a man who for many years was the master of his field. An eccentric performer and phenomenal artist with celebrated vision – not to mention controversy. And who can forget his appearance in Bowling for Columbine which showed a great deal of insight into his character. But these days you can’t help but feel like you’re watching a shadow of what Manson was ten years ago. He remains an apt performer but when placed alongside someone like Alice Cooper – an idol of Manson’s who continues to play his own character so well – he just comes off looking lazy; either sucked in by his own ideology or too fucked up to care. Maybe that’s just the sort of aesthetic that he’s going for in his “new direction”, but it’s a shame. I’d just love to see him find that creative fire again which he seems to have lost – at least in the live environment. The rest of the set included “Rock is Dead”, “Personal Jesus”, “Mobscene”, “Sweet Dreams” and finally “Beautiful People”, which was performed as an encore.
The high energy antics of Dillinger Escape Plan could not go unwitnessed and so I headed over to catch the end of their set next. Indeed, both themselves and the crowd were going wild, but unfortunately the average sound in the venue (due to reverb and the fact it was way too loud) didn’t hold me in for too long. Though stage seven seemed to be at the mercy of the echo, Jack’s Mannequin in the building next door kept their crowd enthusiastic with a well mixed set. Andrew McMahon was his usual charismatic self, jumping on the keys as I walked in the room and working the crowd well with an anecdote or two!
Zakk Wylde, widely regarded as one of the worlds best guitarists, brought his Black Label Society project along for Soundwave and showed off all his moves on a sweet guitar with a LOT of amps behind him. Though the music as a whole doesn’t do much for me, I could watch Zakk play guitar for hours. The man is a golden god. Rumour had it that Slash was going to reappear with Zakk during this set, but I unfortunately wasn’t able to stay long enough to find out one way or another.
Back in the main arena, as Slipknot (pictured above) brought the flames and the theatrics to deliver their unique brand of rock, I had the privilege of getting a birds eye view of proceedings thanks to the Ele[V]ator, a Jagermeister bar, suspended above the crowd. What a unique way to experience a festival, to say the least. Thanks to Channel[V] for having me along! Here’s a photo of my view, which does little to capture the experience:
The festival’s headline act, System of a Down, followed and closed out the night in the main arena, delivering what was, in my humble opinion, THE set of the day. The band showed that their time apart did nothing to slow them down. They sounded as good as, if not better than ever. And they couldn’t have opened it better, either, with the opening note of “Prison Song” sending the whole crowd (myself included) into a frenzy.
They barely stopped for a second the rest of the set, fitting as much as they possibly could into a 90 minute feast of their finest tunes, featuring brilliant instrumentation (their incredible drummer, John Dolmayan, is of particular mention) and excellent lyrical delivery (oh how I love Serj…). Here are just a few of the tracks that made it into the set, a wonderful mix of their entire back catalogue: “B.Y.O.B.”, “Revenga”, “Needles”, “Deer Dance”, “Radio/Video”, “Hypnotize”, “Question!”, “Psycho”, “Chop Suey” (which went OFF), “Lonely Day”, “Bounce”, “Kill Rock N` Roll”, “Lost in Hollywood”, “Forest” and “Science”. As you can see, more than enough to keep the fans happy. It’s also worth mentioning that this was the best sounding set of the day mix-wise. This is a band who know how to get the job done… and better than most.
The above was just a small splattering of the bands on offer at Soundwave. There was music to fit the taste of just about any rock fan, and when you combine that with a day that is run well, there really can be no complaints. See you next year! And Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, you’ll be seeing them next weekend. Tickets still available to the two latter…
Photo by Johnny Au.
