Over the past 11 years, for fans of pummelling metal, punk and alternative music, Soundwave Festival has been like Christmas. Saying that the 60-70 bands on each and every lineup are like presents and AJ Maddah is like Santa is about as far as that analogy goes. But this year, for festival goers, Christmas comes twice with the festival expanding to take in a two days per city meaning less stages but less clashes and longer set times.
The news earlier in the month that this is to be a one-off and the festival will next year revert to its usual one day, clash city tradition is a disappointing but with a lineup as monstrous as this, a one single day with an 11 hour window simply wouldn’t have sufficed.
After fending off a possible cyclone less than a week ago, Brisbane has turned on the sunshine and turned up the heat this weekend, and it’s Apocalyptica, five metalheads from Finland, three of them wielding massive cellos that lure a sea of black t-shirts into the sun as they tackle a symphonic version of Metallica’s Seek and Destroy. With the occasional use of a wah pedal and the occasionally picked string, Apocalyptica’s metal symphonies provide one of the most interesting acts of the day with not many in the crowd having ever seen a cello so thoroughly rocked.
[include_post id=”431510″]
Killer Be Killed pull a huge crowd to the metal stage for only their fifth show ever. They look like veterans. And, of course, they are. Within the first song, ‘Fire To The Flag’, the Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato had already scaled a side-stage speaker stack and as ‘Face Down’ finishes he is in the pit. The legendary Max Cavalera is rooted to the spot on stage delivering crushing riffs and the occasional vocal roar as the unique sounds of each band this supergroup is drawn from creates a thick melting pot of metal. As set closer ‘Snakes Of Jehovah’ wraps up, it’s hard to believe that this band has played together only a handful of times and may never do so again following this tour.
From this evidence, Papa Roach haven’t felt the need to modernise either their style, their stage movements or their inter-song banter in the 15 years since ‘Last Resort’ first polluted the airwaves. Frontman Jacoby Shaddix introduces ‘Between Angels and Insects’ with “this one’s for all the old school P. Roach fans in the house” and those with a decent long-term memory gathered at the front of the stage eat it up. Later, during a newer track ‘Blood Brothers’, Shaddix tries to arrange a ‘wall of death’ but its end result is as weak as the song deserves. Fans are gratefully devouring the older tracks but when threatened with something from Roach’s new album Fear, they seem strangely subdued until ‘Last Resort’ mercifully makes its inevitable appearance extinguishing any thirst for nu-metal the crowd may have had.
It’s a fact: Marilyn Manson works best after nightfall. Perhaps he should have been booked in the Slash timeslot or maybe closing a smaller stage because clearly, the fact that Brisbane’s sky is still on the bright side when he emerges from his on-stage closet, doesn’t do him any favours. But with a performance as languid, lethargic and downright sloppy as this, this particular show by the Pale Emperor may have been beyond saving. He hits all the right notes on big tracks including Disposable Teens, The Dope Show, Sweet Dreams and Irresponsible Hate Anthem but he just seems so disinterested in it all. The day after what was reportedly a quite brilliant show across town, this is disappointing from a man once declared the most dangerous in rock.
With a deep crowd stretching all the way back to the surrounding trees, an impressive light show and legendary status, Judas Priest might have been better suited to one of the main stages but frontman, Rob Halford is unbothered as he strides about the stage confidently in his floor length leathers hitting all his cues and every note of ‘Painkiller’ with the showmanship of a superstar. And so he should, he’s been doing it for 41 years!
From all the way at the back it looks like Slipknot’s stage is set up like a twisted Christmas pageant with what look like fairy lights lining the area. That is, until the rest of the the lights come up, the goats head emerges above the massive drum riser and nine masked mad men appear on stage with the two percussionists raised 10 metres off the ground on scissor lifts, kits and all. It is a true spectacle to watch as Corey Taylor roars his way through ‘Sarcastrophe’ and ‘The Heretic Anthem’ after which it’s time to check out a very bald man play something from the 90s over on Stage 4.
You can tell a lot from the way a crowd reacts to songs. When Billy Corgan launches himself full blooded into ‘Cherub Rock’ or ‘Tonight Tonight’ for instance, the mass of people in front of him explode into a mass of euphoric cheers. Whereas, when he announces that the next song is a new pumpkins track there is only tepid applause and the sight of people departing. Good on him for not being willing to trade on his 90s value exclusively. It would be so easy to play the hits but he’s an artist and as such, yearns for different things. That said the mid set run of ‘Disarm’, ‘Zero’ and ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ and set closer ‘1979’ could very well be the highlight of the entire festival and if you have to pay for that by listening to a couple of Corgan’s howlers, so be it.
And with that, it’s into the fray. With all headliners finishing at the same moment, there are now 40,000 attempting to depart very, very slowly through limited exits. It’s going to be a late one tonight but we’ve still got tomorrow to look forward to.
“Oh sweet Jesus my head!” Cry approximately half of the two-day Soundwavers in Brisbane this morning. Those who failed to pace themselves yesterday are paying the price today with hangovers, sore feet and near-empty pockets which goes some way to explaining the extra space available in the showgrounds and the nearly full pubs you pass on the walk in.
Early on the crowd seem quite subdued but, pay no attention, Slipknot may have been yesterday’s fiery headliners but there’s plenty on offer on day two to get the crowd worked up.
Terror Universal cut nightmarish figures as they take the stage in their elaborate masks. But in contrast to their appearance, what this collaboration between members and former members of Machine Head, Soulfly and Ill Nino offer is just a heavier take on nu-metal in the style of obvious mentors, Mudvayne. Vocalist, Rott’s attempts at melodics need work but his screams are strong but that can’t save this group. It’s been done before and it’s been done better.
Ironic hair metal revivalists Steel Panther are trying very hard on the main stage. And, if the goal is to attract a huge crowd and get dozens of young women to show their ‘titties’, they largely succeed. But they try so damn hard it’s hard to tell who’s in on the joke. While it’s important to remember that Steel Panther is satirical and tracks like ‘Pussywhipped’ and ‘Asian Hookah’ are legitimately catchy, but there’s only so many dick and tit jokes you can make before it wears thin and when that happens all that’s left is well performed but ultimately out-dated hair metal and a bunch of blokes in wigs.
From the moment they kick in to ‘Shock’ it’s apparent that nothing has changed for Fear Factory. Rumours of vocalist Burton C. Bell deteriorating voice have been hugely exaggerated as he sounds almost as strong as ever. The grinding guitar tone, triggered kicks and machine gun grooves are as quintessentially Fear Factory as Burton’s voice and consequently ‘Edgecrusher’ sounds huge and dominating and it inspires what looks like the most dangerous pit the festival has seen since last night.
On the main stage Antemasque are exactly what you’d expect. Essentially another chapter in the musical evolution of Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López , this latest collaboration is all frenetic energy, science fiction lyrics, false starts, false finales and the odd catchy chorus. Now apparently off the drugs, Cedric and Omar sip tea between songs (“for the enzymes and electrolytes”) as they jam out on tracks from their first album. More accessible than The Mars Volta ever was they still fall into the same traps live as their extended bridges stretch way beyond where their ideas are still interesting and they subsequently haemorrhage audience members during a 25 minute version of ‘Providence’ before ending with a more concise rendition of ‘People Forget’.
Suffering 15 minutes of technical problems (a less embarrassing way of saying they had trouble getting their film clips to fit on the screen) only served to raise the anticipation of Ministry’s first performance in Brisbane in more than twenty years (their 2006 tour was cancelled). Emerging on stage to Hail To His Majesty the set soon descended into an industrial hell-scape of heavy rhythms and loud chainsaw guitars. As Al Jourgensen and his cohorts grind their way through headbangers ‘PermaWar’ and ‘Rio Grande Blood’ there is so much going on that the line becomes blurred between what’s live and what’s sampled. Even some vocals sound pre-recorded but such concerns are not on the minds of the wall of bodies lined up from the fence to the sound desk as they thrash themselves front the start to set closer ‘Thieves’.
The crowd pack in tight as Soundgarden’s 7pm timeslot nears and surge forward as Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron take the stage, wasting no time before getting to the crowd pleasers with ‘Spoonman’ kicking the night off. The stage is sparse compared to nearly everyone else with a headlining slot this weekend. There is no room for pretence with Soundgarden. The video screen behind them plays variations on their logo as they pummel the thousands watching with hits ‘My Wave’ and ‘The Day I Tried To Live’ but it’s not until the incendiary ‘Beyond The Wheel’ with its insanely high vocal lines that Cornell is suitably warmed up and at his gravelly best. Perfectly rendered versions of tracks from Badmotorfinger, Superunknown and Down On The Upside follow including ‘Rusty Cage’, ‘Fell On Black Days’ and a crowd assisted ‘Outshined’. The set closes following ‘Slaves and Bulldozers’ with Cornell bent over his pedal board harvesting waves of feedback amidst broken guitar strings and whammy bars.
If Faith No More can be summed up in one statement it is this: Mike Patton is a God. No disrespect to other FNM members but it needs to be noted that age has done nothing to his voice, and in fact it may even be stronger than it was 20 years ago. The band is dressed in white and the set is decorated with all-white furniture and platforms with what is clearly too many flowers. Whatever they are going for, they will have made a local florist very happy. The back catalogue is hit-laden and therefore it’s no surprise when Caffeine runs straight into Ricochet, then Evidence, Epic, Get Out, Midlife Crisis, Last Cup Of Sorrow and the manic shred of The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies during which Patton hitches a ride on a security guard’s shoulders. Following Ashes To Ashes and Superhero, the band return to an treating punters to new track Matador.
After two days of solid action, the crowd – not quite dead on their feet but seemingly close to it – head for the gates with probably two things on their minds: 1) Sleep, and; 2) The announcement of next year’s line up is only about six months away!
