Between three bands pulling out, threats of cancellation, a re-worked timetable and various other very public problems, it hasn’t exactly been a good week for Soundwave. But when all is said and done, the festival’s head honcho AJ Maddah has, for the last seven or so years, put on one of the most successful and best-attended festivals in Australia.
This year, Maddah said it would be a ‘rest year’ from the monster lineups of years past as the touring cycle refreshes. But with a roll call featuring the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Mastodon, Rob Zombie, and Green Day, punters who arrive are forgiven for thinking it’s business as usual.
Amon Amarth may be playing first in the heat of a muggy Brisbane morning, but when you’ve been in the game for 22 years like these professionals, you’ll play whenever and wherever the stage is. The band throw everything they have into an onslaught of thunderous, melodic death metal.
Judging by the size of the crowd, festival organisers may have seriously underestimated the popularity of Scots Biffy Clyro as they take to the main stage amid cries of “Mon the Biff” just before midday. Opening with the enormous riff of ‘Stingin’ Belle’, the shirtless lads seem to have a set tailored to the faster and heavier tastes of the Soundwave crowd, with the frantic rock of ‘That Golden Rule’ and the schizophrenic crowd-pleaser ‘Living Is A Problem ‘Cause Everyone Dies’ following in quick succession.
In the auditorium outside the stadium, Tesseract are one of the first bands lucky enough to play in the air conditioning. The British act attract a sizeable crowd keen to catch some melodic prog-rock and escape the overwhelming humidity. Appearing for the first time in Australia with new vocalist Ashe O’Hara, this is the first chance for Aussie fans to see if he is as good as he sounds on the album. For the record, he is. The singer’s powerful voice melds beautifully with the polyrhythmic drum patterns and crushing guitars, and the aggressive screams are punctuated by breaks of soaring melodics during lengthy and clean ambient sections.
AFI’s Davey Havok is a consistent performer. With only a 45-minute set, the lead singer and the rest of the band seem to have more energy than they know what to do with. Havok leaps across the stage screaming and raising his hands in the air like an evangelic healer as excited fans try to push to the front of the stage. Curiously, AFI’s set spans their last three albums, moving from their punk roots well into their dystopian rock era, leaning heavily on Sing The Sorrow and new album Burials before finishing with ‘Miss Murder’ from 2006’s Decemberunderground record. Here’s hoping they return for a long overdue headline tour in the near future.
It’s not always the clashes that are the problem at Soundwave. It’s the sheer distance between stages, and with Gwar on Stage Four and Satyricon on Stage Seven, and one starting as the other one finishes, it’s impossible to catch a full set.
When it comes to Gwar, it’s pretty clear that it’s not just about the music. In fact, they could probably get away with playing electrified nursery rhymes, as long as their token coating of fake blood running about 15 rows deep makes an appearance. When a mannequin of Tony Abbott appears on stage, front-thing Oderus Urungus breaks character, laughing and asking a stage hand, “Who the fuck is this dude?” before slicing his head off with a sword and setting off chapter two of the afternoon bloodbath.
If there’s one truth in the world, it’s that black metal can really lose its appeal in the harsh light of day. At least the cloud cover and occasional drizzle are keeping things suitably grim for Satyricon. The band launch into ‘Now Diabolical’, setting windmills spiralling across the stage and spilling into the crowd. They have elements of black metal, but the act willingly explore groove and rhythm, and closer ‘King’ is a perfect blend of all the factors that make Satyricon one of Norway’s greatest exports.
The next act doesn’t need a backdrop. Alice In Chains walk out onto the stadium stage as feedback emanates from Jerry Cantrell’s stack. They don’t mess around, and instead the band rip into the Dirt classics ‘Them Bones’ followed by ‘Dam That River’. The Seattle four-piece act cherry-pick classics from the 90s and group them alongside new tracks from the past decade. Singer William Duvall continues where he left off when AIC last hit these shores in 2009, showing what a ballistically talented and worthy replacement for Layne Staley he is. Duvall dedicates ‘Nutshell’ to Staley and hammers the point home, giving every lyric the same painful edge and providing the most sombre singalong of the day.
It’s a disappointing to see the last strands of Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Work’ ringing out with all the furore of the album to a barely-full front section. Credit to the band, they still give it everything. The band from Arizona get their recent tunes out of the way early before delving into their back catalogue of crowd-pleasing favourites, ranging from the manic joy of ‘A Praise Chorus’ to the hopeless depression of ‘Hear You Me’ before closing with the obligatory rockers ‘Bleed American’, ‘The Middle’, and ‘Sweetness’.
Green Day have a winning formula for live success. 1: Extend songs with solos and banter to the point where ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’ becomes a 10-minute endurance test. 2: Scream the city you’re in. Repeat often, and 3: Call and response at every opportunity. Those who saw Green Day play in this stadium for Livid in 2000, rest assured – the songs may be different (and some, say, not as good), but the band still know how to get a crowd moving, proving to be one of the most entertaining bands going around.
Billie Joe, Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool, and touring member Jason White kick things off with ‘99 Revolutions’ and ‘Know Your Enemy’, which are lapped up by those at the foot of the stage. Armstrong bolts from one side to the other, posturing with his guitar all the while. It’s 40 minutes before Armstrong announces the promised arrival of Dookie, playing six songs off the hailed album, before launching into ‘2000 Light Years Away’ from Kerplunk, ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’ from Nimrod and a chaotic rendition of ‘Brain Stew’ from Insomniac. It may as well have been Livid 2000 all over again!
Before Billie Joe can come out with the acoustic guitar and threaten us with ‘Time Of Your Life’, it’s time to head to Mastodon.
The stage is running ten minutes behind schedule as Mastodon stride out in front of a sea of tired metalheads. “We are Mastodon from Atlanta, Georgia,” bassist Troy Sanders declares before ripping into ‘Black Tongue’ and beginning a captivating performance of prog-metal. The crowd, not content with their full day’s worth of ear-bleeding metal, scream for a final rendition of ‘Blood And Thunder’ – but it’s not forthcoming, as Mastodon depart with the monstrous riff from ‘March Of The Fire Ants’ still ringing in the crowd’s ears.
What a day! If this is what a ‘rest year’ feels like, how amazing is the lineup for 2015 going to be?
