After a week of questionable Melbourne weather it was good to see the sun managed to get him/herself a ticket to Soundwave in Melbourne this year. Traversing the public transport system got me to the Melbourne Showgrounds early enough to avoid any long queues and let me set myself of for what was sure to be a massive day. Unfortunately with a dead phone I either had to rely on luck in finding anyone I knew or go lone wolf. I chose the latter.
My Soundwave was kick-started on stage 3 with Zebrahead playing to a reasonably small and mostly underage crowd. Vocalist Ali Tabatabaee stirred up the crowd quickly and saw me get involved in some early moshpit action, playing a lot from their latest album Get Nice! as well as an assortment from their extensive back catalogue.
Zebrahead are seasoned veterans in crowd entertainment, throwing a lot of crowd interaction into their short set including inciting the crowd to cause themselves some damage in the moshpit, having the crowd all sit down then jump up to crescendo bridge, asking for the world’s largest circle pit and a Hawaiian mini-bar servant serving band members cocktails throughout the set. In all agreat fun set by Zebrahead, missed by most, but not me.
Unfortunately Zebrahead running overtime meant I missed most of The Black Dahlia Murder over on stage 4. But what I did catch was a massive crowd rocking out to large, jovial frontman Trevor Strnad and co. blowing out waves of raging metal.
Back over to stage 3 Unwritten Law came out banging. I didn't plan to stay long but couldn't resist hanging and rocking out to the likes of Seein' Red, Save Me, Lonesomeand Up All Night (song trivia: Up All Night was written by the band while on tour in Australia back in 2000).
Sticking around too long meant I missed the start of Hyro Da Hero on stage 5, but my first introduction to the act live was the chaotic scene of band members bouncing off everything on stage, a guitar hitting the roof and Hyro belting out urban anthem Ghetto Ambiance (a personal favourite), no less than what I expected. The rest of the set was no less explosive, HYRO encouraging the crowd to enjoy the energy but keeping it safe for everyone, and ending in a mass group hug mid-Sleeping Giants.
Realising (and kicking myself that) I'd missed GOJIRA, I took to the bar to get ready for my next stop, Meshuggah. Lines were huge in the main 18+ area so I missed all of HELLYEAH but caught some of Shadows Fall before the Swedes hit the stage. Weary of my aging body's limitations and the massive sea of bodies in front of stage 4 I resigned myself to the grand stand with a smoke and Canadian Club & Dry.
Having not seem the band before I was interested to see/hear how Meshuggah performed live. I wasn't disappointed as an intricately detailed wall of sound washed over me with a delicate aggression I'd never really experienced from anything else. It was truly surreal. Mind blown.
Snapping out of my trance it was time to explore the venue having limited myself to just three stages so far. Unfortunately there wasn't much happening and I found myself wasting time catching glimpses of Bush, Bad Religion and Limp Bizkit on the main stages; all putting on pretty lacklustre performances. I guess they have/had their fans but I can’t help but think I would have preferred fewer bands playing longer sets than reformed bands playing covers of their own music.
Anyway, eventually it was time for my one trip to stage 7 for The Dillinger Escape Plan. Man, these guys can riot. It took all of 2 minutes for frontman Greg Puciato to climb the stage scaffolding, while guitarist Ben Weinman took to the top of the looming bass amps. The crowd was actually rather subdued for about five songs before DEP hit some older material that trebled the size of the rambunctious moshpit.
Greg and Ben took to the crowd in the final songs of the set, creating a vortex of bodies holding them aloft as they swam across the moshpit. In all, another amazing live music experience.
Needing another break (read: drink and cigarette), I kicked back as Slipknot did their thing. It was pretty impressive as they wound their way through classics and newer material, all 9 touring band members in full flight with all the vigour expected from years of watching their DVDs. Highlights included #3 (Chris Fehn) climbing the sound booth in the middle of the crowd, #1 (Joey Jordison) lifted and spiralling drum kit and #6 (Shawn “Clown” Crahan) bashing his keg drums with a baseball bat along to some flame blasts.
As the night wound up I went for another wander catching Madina Lake putting on a show, something I didn't expect to be interested in personally but their performance sucked me into the joyful crowd. It was good to see bassist Matthew Leone back in action after the horrific attack he suffered causing great head injuries back in 2010.
Moving on I found Watain setting the stage alight literally. Then Machine Head stepped up and did so metaphorically. After a long day I was easily distracted and keen to keep moving so I also caught some Black Veil Brides tearing up the stage in anticipation of Raised Fist topping off a great day.
Amenities and services were up to standard. There were long lines for alcohol at times but that can be worked around for the highly organised, or just worn by the rest (most) of us and were no worse than any other festival in the country.
Overall, a very well organised festival with plenty on offer for all types of rock, punk and metal enthusiasts. This year was a little bit late-90s, early-00s revival, some questionable acts but plenty of punters happy to live out their high school dreams and tick off their bucket lists.
Published on Sludge Factory
My Soundwave was kick-started on stage 3 with Zebrahead playing to a reasonably small and mostly underage crowd. Vocalist Ali Tabatabaee stirred up the crowd quickly and saw me get involved in some early moshpit action, playing a lot from their latest album Get Nice! as well as an assortment from their extensive back catalogue.
Zebrahead are seasoned veterans in crowd entertainment, throwing a lot of crowd interaction into their short set including inciting the crowd to cause themselves some damage in the moshpit, having the crowd all sit down then jump up to crescendo bridge, asking for the world’s largest circle pit and a Hawaiian mini-bar servant serving band members cocktails throughout the set. In all agreat fun set by Zebrahead, missed by most, but not me.
Unfortunately Zebrahead running overtime meant I missed most of The Black Dahlia Murder over on stage 4. But what I did catch was a massive crowd rocking out to large, jovial frontman Trevor Strnad and co. blowing out waves of raging metal.
Back over to stage 3 Unwritten Law came out banging. I didn't plan to stay long but couldn't resist hanging and rocking out to the likes of Seein' Red, Save Me, Lonesomeand Up All Night (song trivia: Up All Night was written by the band while on tour in Australia back in 2000).
Sticking around too long meant I missed the start of Hyro Da Hero on stage 5, but my first introduction to the act live was the chaotic scene of band members bouncing off everything on stage, a guitar hitting the roof and Hyro belting out urban anthem Ghetto Ambiance (a personal favourite), no less than what I expected. The rest of the set was no less explosive, HYRO encouraging the crowd to enjoy the energy but keeping it safe for everyone, and ending in a mass group hug mid-Sleeping Giants.
Realising (and kicking myself that) I'd missed GOJIRA, I took to the bar to get ready for my next stop, Meshuggah. Lines were huge in the main 18+ area so I missed all of HELLYEAH but caught some of Shadows Fall before the Swedes hit the stage. Weary of my aging body's limitations and the massive sea of bodies in front of stage 4 I resigned myself to the grand stand with a smoke and Canadian Club & Dry.
Having not seem the band before I was interested to see/hear how Meshuggah performed live. I wasn't disappointed as an intricately detailed wall of sound washed over me with a delicate aggression I'd never really experienced from anything else. It was truly surreal. Mind blown.
Snapping out of my trance it was time to explore the venue having limited myself to just three stages so far. Unfortunately there wasn't much happening and I found myself wasting time catching glimpses of Bush, Bad Religion and Limp Bizkit on the main stages; all putting on pretty lacklustre performances. I guess they have/had their fans but I can’t help but think I would have preferred fewer bands playing longer sets than reformed bands playing covers of their own music.
Anyway, eventually it was time for my one trip to stage 7 for The Dillinger Escape Plan. Man, these guys can riot. It took all of 2 minutes for frontman Greg Puciato to climb the stage scaffolding, while guitarist Ben Weinman took to the top of the looming bass amps. The crowd was actually rather subdued for about five songs before DEP hit some older material that trebled the size of the rambunctious moshpit.
Greg and Ben took to the crowd in the final songs of the set, creating a vortex of bodies holding them aloft as they swam across the moshpit. In all, another amazing live music experience.
Needing another break (read: drink and cigarette), I kicked back as Slipknot did their thing. It was pretty impressive as they wound their way through classics and newer material, all 9 touring band members in full flight with all the vigour expected from years of watching their DVDs. Highlights included #3 (Chris Fehn) climbing the sound booth in the middle of the crowd, #1 (Joey Jordison) lifted and spiralling drum kit and #6 (Shawn “Clown” Crahan) bashing his keg drums with a baseball bat along to some flame blasts.
As the night wound up I went for another wander catching Madina Lake putting on a show, something I didn't expect to be interested in personally but their performance sucked me into the joyful crowd. It was good to see bassist Matthew Leone back in action after the horrific attack he suffered causing great head injuries back in 2010.
Moving on I found Watain setting the stage alight literally. Then Machine Head stepped up and did so metaphorically. After a long day I was easily distracted and keen to keep moving so I also caught some Black Veil Brides tearing up the stage in anticipation of Raised Fist topping off a great day.
Amenities and services were up to standard. There were long lines for alcohol at times but that can be worked around for the highly organised, or just worn by the rest (most) of us and were no worse than any other festival in the country.
Overall, a very well organised festival with plenty on offer for all types of rock, punk and metal enthusiasts. This year was a little bit late-90s, early-00s revival, some questionable acts but plenty of punters happy to live out their high school dreams and tick off their bucket lists.
Published on Sludge Factory
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