Soundwave Faces 10pm Curfew In Perth After Single Noise Complaint

Soundwave 2013 kicks off in less than two weeks, and the popular hard and heavy touring festival has already announced the timetables for its kick-off at Brisbane’s RNA Showgrounds and in Sydney, as well as yesterday announcing the set times for the Melbourne and Adelaide legs.

Which leaves the fifth and final date of Soundwave 2013 at Perth’s Claremont Showgrounds mysteriously absent, and now we may have learned why the set times have yet to materialise.

As Soundwave boss and serial twitterer AJ Maddah has previously cautioned, the Perth timetable for Soundwave would be “VERY different,” due to the fact that the Perth leg on March 4 will have a 10pm curfew, because – as The Music Network‘s Industrial Strength column puts it – “one, yes one, resident complained last year.”

Details are sketchy at this stage, but the Town Of Claremont’s lack of love for music festivals is well noted. Council representatives have been butting heads with music festivals in the area for some time, including labelling electronic music festival Stereosonic’s punters “the worst ever”, even after deciding to give the green light to the large-scale electronic music festival.

At the time of Stereosonic’s approval in November 2012, Chief Executive Stephen Goode said “They had no blemishes last year so their approval is in the system at the moment ready to be signed off,” adding that, “Soundwave is the one that’s caused all the angst and all the breaches of conditions.”
The local council in the Town of Claremont rejected both Soundwave and the Big Day Out’s applications to use Claremont’s Royal Showgrounds…

As previously reported, the local council in the Town of Claremont rejected both Soundwave and the Big Day Out’s applications to use Claremont’s Royal Showgrounds, effectively forcing the decision up to the Environment Minister, leading to hour earlier starting and finishing times; changes expected to be imposed on Soundwave, when 40,000 punters are expected to rock up to the Showgrounds on March 4th.

Complains that led to a similar 10pm curfew was placed on the Big Day Out in January for its 2013 edition, a decision handed down by Environment Minister Bill Marmion which was no doubt influenced by the local Town of Claremont council’s reports of noise complaints and general grievances over the 2012 iterations of Big Day Out and Soundwave.

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Speaking of the Big Day Out Curfew, Minister Marmion refused to have the late-night curfew appealed, saying that the final decision was reached after consultation between the Department of Environment and Conservation and Town of Claremont and City of Nedlands. Approving “a balanced set of conditions that allow the event to proceed, but provide for an earlier closing time to reduce the impact on the residents of the Town of Claremont;” as well as introducing strict noise monitoring during the one-day festival.

Mayor Jock Barker has also spoken openly about his distaste for hosting music festivals in the Perth town, telling Big Day Out organisers they were “not welcome’ by a number of local councillors, and adding “I don’t want to see it back [here]… I was happy to see the back of it. It does nothing useful for the town.”

“Soundwave is the one that’s caused all the angst and all the breaches of conditions.” Stephen Goode, Chief Executive

“We’re not anti-concert, I’ve got children and grandchildren and friends who go to concerts but we are opposed to the noise and the antisocial behaviour specifically related to those two events,” he said in reference to Soundwave and Big Day Out.

In Tone Deaf’s opinion piece on what’s really at stake from Perth Council’s aggressive tactics towards the Big Day Out and Stereosonic festivals, Martin Molony, the chief executive of The Royal Agricultural Society, the proprietors of the Claremont Showgrounds, said the ongoing struggle has been a source of embarrassment: “we’ve got well-known, international acts and they should be supported from the highest levels of government,” said Molony.

As for Barker’s claims that the festival noise had ‘vastly breached’ local sound limits? “For 20 or 30 seconds, by one or two decibels,” says Mr Molony, “If we want these big name acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers to come here, we need to give a little bit of leeway.”

The outspoken AJ Maddah has yet to comment on the mysteriously absent Perth timetable on his twitter feed, instead busily dealing with requests over Soundwave tickets and resales, but you can bet he’ll offer his ‘unique’ perspective if the his mammoth lineup and festival is put under strict conditions.

You can view the mammoth Soundwave 2013 lineup, and playing times for Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide below:

Soundwave 2013 Lineup

METALLICA/ LINKIN PARK/ BLINK 182/A PERFECT CIRCLE / THE OFFSPRING / PARAMORE / SLAYER / GARBAGE / CYPRESS HILL / BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE / TOMAHAWK / STONE SOUR / BRING ME THE HORIZON / KYUSS LIVES / ANTHRAX / KILLSWITCH ENGAGE / SUM 41 / DRAGONFORCE / ALL TIME LOW / FLOGGING MOLLY / GHOST / DUFF McKAGAN’S LOADED / BILLY TALENT / MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK / MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE / THE AMITY AFFLICTION / THE VANDALS / SICK OF IT ALL / KINGDOM OF SORROW / FOZZY / THE LAWRENCE ARMS / SLEEPING WITH SIRENS / CANCER BATS / THE BLACKOUT / GALLOWS / MADBALL / FUCKED UP / VISION OF DISORDER / PIERCE THE VEIL / PERIPHERY / THE SWORD / SHAI HALUD / OF MICE & MEN / THIS IS HELL / MISS MAY I / DANKO JONES / LUCERO / WOE, IS ME / THE WONDER YEARS / POLAR BEAR CLUB / WHILE SHE SLEEPS / CEREBRAL BALLZY / THE EARLY NOVEMBER / SUCH GOLD / SIX FEET UNDER / THE DEAR HUNTER / CHELSEA GRIN / DEAF HAVANA / RED FANG / VERSUS THE WORLD / THE CHARIOT / CONFESSION / ORANGE GOBLIN / CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK! / SYLOSIS / MEMPHIS MAY FIRE / CROSSFAITH / NORTHLANE / SHARKS / O’BROTHER / MILESTONES / LIVING WITH LIONS