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Live Reviews : Soundwave Festival @ Olympic Park, Sydney 23/02/2014

By on February 26, 2014

After a night of a battle against insomnia, I was all set for ‘that time of the year’. For music lovers across Australia, Soundwave is of a ritualistic importance you could say and not a day that anyone would give anything to miss. This year’s pre-Soundwave atmosphere has had quite a few ups and downs with a few bands pulling out, some putting up demands that seemed unreasonable, constant set time changes etc. But none of that matters when there are close to 50,000 people gathered one one side of the city to enjoy a day of music, courtesy of the boss AJ Maddah.

Soundwave Festival 2014

I got to the Olympic Park quite early, almost an hour and a half before gates were scheduled to open, so I grabbed myself a nice, rather huge breakfast, fully aware of the excessive amounts of running around I had to do during the day. I had to wait till much later to collect my media pass, though I was actually hoping to get in with all the other media peeps, before the thousands of eager fans lined up to check out all their favourite acts. I was also grateful for the near-perfect weather, it was bright, sunny and later during the day there were occasional pleasant gusts of wind to help you fight off the heat. I could feel the excitement, the energy and the anticipation around me and that’s probably one of the things I love about gigs and concerts, the adrenaline rush you get from being there and seeing other people lose their sanity, is something else. Also, I have literally given the words ‘Red Indian’ a whole new meaning, given that I wasn’t too liberal with the sunscreen. But it’s all part of the game I’d say. I came back from this epic day looking like I had just been to fight a war.

Speaking of war, that brings me to the beginning of my Soundwave day, which begun with the Swedish Viking metal lords, Amon Amarth. I’ve been listening to this lot for years now, but seeing them live? MASSIVE difference. And the ‘massive’ element would be justified with the size of their Viking ship, brought all the way down here just for Soundwave. With a majestic presence, front man Mr. Johann Hegg raged into the first track of the set, inducing some heads to windmill almost instantly. Considering it was only 11.00 am, Johann said to the crowd- “ Sydney, we’re your alarm clock this morning, are you ready?” Yup, everyone was. Opening their set with the brutal ‘War Of The Gods’, they also played songs off their latest album such as ‘Father Of The Wolf’, ‘Deceiver Of The Gods’ and ‘As Loke Falls’. It was only 11.30 am and there was already a mosh mob who went bonkers. Drinking what I think was beer out of a horn, standing on their ship and causing an absolute riot that early in the morning warrants complete appreciation for this band. “ Mr Mikkonen, please start the last song”, Hegg requested, also informing the crowd that we were all true Vikings and to sing along to ‘ The Pursuit of Vikings’, even if didn’t know the lyrics and just screamed. So much humour, so much energy and so much metal.

I didn’t have to go far to check out my next band, and just switched to the other side of the field to witness the absolute insanity that is Mushroomhead. I’m going to be a little less wordy here and say ‘ Oh My Friggin Lord’. If you’ve never seen or head these guys, it is an absolute must on your music bucketlist. Without any prior warning, 8 masked men jumped on stage and hardly into the first song of the set, the crowd was going insane. Running up and down the stage in all their masked glory, this nu-metal/shock rock band from Cleveland, Ohio were a crazy bunch kicking of their set with the massive ‘Bwomp’.  Mushroomhead know how to pull off a maddening, live show with their amazing stage presence, brilliant and extreme theatrics, outfits and  of course,  their unique blend of  metal and rock with a definite punkish feel. I’m not too much into this kind of music but Mushroomhead and their fans showed me why it’s so awesome. We even got a new song off their upcoming release called ‘We Are The Truth’ featuring Jackie LaPonza of UnSaid Fate. All I can say is, if Slipknot and Limp Bizkit had babies, Mushroomhead is the result.

From industrial I went to metalcore at Stage 6 just in time to catch a few songs of Anaheim’s August Burns Red. I’ve always loved these guys and the creativity in their music. If you listen to their albums, you’ll find that each one does differ albeit not too significantly from one another, and isn’t just one big mix up of ‘core’ music sounds. There was quite a huge crowd gathered for them, as they played songs off their latest release ‘Rescue and Restore’ as well as a couple of tracks of ‘Constellations’ and ‘Messengers’. It was breakdown central and the crowd loved it!

Torn between watching TesseracT on the same stage and Alter Bridge, I decided I’d catch TesseracT in Melbourne and headed off to see one of my favourite rock bands. There’s something about this band that makes you feel good and like you can pull through life, no matter what goes down. From the early days of Creed, I’ve always been a huge fan of Tremonti. Needless to say, him and Brian Marshall were at their best as was Scott. Basically three fourths of Creed plus Miles Kennedy equals AWESOME. Miles reminds me a lot of my other main man Eddie Vedder, charming, brilliant voice and humble. Playing a couple of songs off  ‘Fortress’ their latest album, and some from their older releases, Alter Bridge put on a riff-fest and clearly love what they do and like to keep it simple.

I made my way towards Graveyard, to catch some classic Scandinavian rock. I only heard Graveyard for the first time a couple of months ago and I really liked what I heard then as I did yesterday. Think of all the good things from jazz, rock, and folk music and clubbing it together. You get Graveyard. Looking like they just straight out walked from the 70’s, These Swedish rockers have such a calm and pleasant stage presence to go along with their feel-good music. I’m not too familiar with their music but watching them live has made me a bigger fan! ‘Sydney are you ready to Rise Up?”  was a cue that it was time to get my metal on for the day at Stage 3 to check out the awesome Testament. There was an insanely huge crowd gathered for the American thrash metal titans going crazy for the constant bombardment of ruthless riffs and licks. Chuck Billy’s strong and intimidating figure commands the utmost respect as does his vocal prowess. I was standing quite far back given the crowd and the sound. It wasn’t the best I’d heard that day but that didn’t stop them from proving to everyone that they are the pioneers of the genre and that’s how it will always be. We were blessed with a good mix of songs from the Testament treasury, the set featuring ‘ The New Order’, ‘Native Blood’ and ‘The Formation Of  Damnation’.

Post-Testament, I caught Blue Mountain’s Red Bee, Sydney’s local act. I’ve seen these guys before and they give a power-packed performance leaving no space on the stage untouched. A much better stage presence than what I saw last time, their set was energetic, with people enjoying the heavy grooves and riffs that they have to offer. The band has a sense of humour and seemed quite at ease, pausing for occasional banter and conversation with the crowd in between songs. They ended their set with the vocalist declaring three parts to the final song: Clean Tone, Slightly Distorted and the ‘Lose Your Effing Shit’ part. There was a good, appreciative crowd enjoying the heavy tunes from Red Bee.

Also on Stage 4 were the awesome Volbeat who I saw after stuffing my face with food. A note to the wise, muesli bars are a good idea during music festivals. I was waddling around before I could actually make it to another stage. The Danish rockers are not a band you want to miss. This five-piece band put on an adrenalin induced set, making good use of the space on stage and who launched into ‘Hallellujah Goat’ followed by the riveting ‘16 Dollars’ ‘The Hangman’s Body Count’ and ‘The Mirror and The Ripper’ among others, the crowd singing along at easy to their favourite Volbeat tracks.

In dire need for some more metal, Satyricon was next on my list. Classic Norwegian black metal, mad headbanging, in the middle of the afternoon was just perfect. There was quite a huge turnout gathered to witness the furiously fast and wicked rhythms that Satyricon was pummeling out at unforgivable speeds, hitting out infamous tunes like ‘K.I.N.G’ and ‘Our World rumbles Tonight’. As far as I can remember, there was no pauses during their set except for when the charismatic main man Satyr who had everyone at his command, told the crazed crowd that it’s been five years and they’re happy to be back. Just the general atmosphere in which they create their music is stunning and you cannot help but have a deep respect for these Norwegians.

Trivium are basically all the best genres in music put together in one sweet four-piece band from Florida, USA. Technical, melodic and progressive, their music has this sort of hypnotic hold on you. Matt Heafy has a strong voice and that was exhibited, with Trivium treating their Sydney fans to a few tracks off their new album ‘Vengance Falls’.  Given that I had to run from Satyricon to Trivium and then straight to Stage 5 for Clutch, I couldn’t catch a whole lot of these guys, but the couple of songs I did watch were brilliant, Heafy and co making it sound like they were playing their music straight off a CD.

Heading to stage 5, I was pretty keen on seeing Clutch, given my love for rock and having heard good things about their live shows. To keep it short and simple, if you like rock and roll, Clutch are a must watch/listen. Over 20 years together and this band still sounds as fresh as ever. Another thing I noticed was the fan base for this four-piece outfit. There were people of all ages rocking out to some classic Clutch tunes from their 2013 album, Earth Rocker. I love when bands get creative and mix their music up a bit without losing the core of what they’re about. And this is exactly what Clutch does. Neil Fallon is one of the most talented musicians out there, and was switching from his harmonica to keys to guitar all while performing his vocal duties. Tim Sult and Dan Maines provided a strong backing on their respective guitars while Jean-Paul Gaster threw in a good measure of fast groovy beats. This is one band that really work well together and I had so much fun watching them.

From one band of rock veterans to another, Stage 1 was calling me with the distinct sounds of William Duvall’s trippy vocals. This is another band I’ve been eager to see live and that eagerness was justified. They sounded absolutely amazing live. The set kicked off with one of my favourite tracks ‘Check My Brain’, one of the catchiest Alice In Chains tracks got the crowed psyched, pumped and ready for more! It was a gem of a set featuring other classic tunes like ‘Nutshell’, ‘Man In The Box’, ‘Them Bones’ and ‘Hollow’ from their latest album. Jerry Cantrell is a musical mastermind with his fancy harmonized vocal instrument providing some pretty awesome backing vocals. Alice In Chains are have this cheeky elegance, keeping the banter to a minimum and just doing what they do best. Probably one of the most chilled out bands on stage as well, with drumming sensation Sean Kinney casually smoking a cigarette, Cantrell and Inez exchanging a few giggles in between. The ever popular hit ‘Rooster’ was the crowd-pleaser of the set and was the perfect end to my teenage fangirling and an Alice In Chains show.

It was back to Stage 4 to be a part of the Down madness. Before I say anything else, this band blew me away from the start. Phil is an eccentric, straightforward and brutal individual keeping crowds going without any sign of a pause. Pepper Keenan, Patrick Bruders and Bobby Landgraf were shredding their respective guitars at relentless speeds, grooves and licks psyching the life out of the insanely huge crowd watching Down. Jimmy Bower is by far one of the best drummers of all time. Phil Anselmo is just out to have a good time and he does that through his music. Constantly tripping on the crowd, an excessive amount of yelling obscenities, it was clear that this band has a huge fan base because of their raw, heavy sound. ‘Eyes Of The South’, ‘Lifer’ , played as a tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Jeff Hanneman,, ‘Ghosts Along The Mississippi, ‘Lysergik Funeral Procession’ were just some of the few tracks played during their set. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the insanity caused by Down, it annoyed me when even after being ushered off stage twice they went on to play two more songs that seemed to last an eternity, while all the eager fans had punctually gathered for Gojira for metal brutality, French Style.

You know how sometimes you dream constantly about one particular thing, but it always seems so out of reach? My dream finally came true yesterday. After a six year wait and then a further 25 minute delay courtesy of Phil from Down and their extended set, Gojira were standing right in front of me. I have a special connection with this band, not something I can explain very well or that I express very often, but the love I have for them is like no other. Their soundcheck went on for about 40 minutes, but just seeing their name on the stage, watching Mario beast his kit even before they started and the Duplantier brothers popping in and out of the stage gave me so much peace. One phrase I use on a regular basis in my music journo is ‘the calm before the storm’, and no band exhibits this better than these lads from Bayonne, France. The familiar tunes of ‘Explosia’ and ‘The Axe’ belted out by Joe, Jean and Christian on their guitars backed up by the effortless drumming of Mario were enough to get me started. I was standing next to a fellow Gojira lover, with hair that was twice as long as mine, and we were whipping the life out of people’s faces windmilling and headbanging like nothing else mattered in the world. There was also some serious moshing and circle pit action happening, which luckily enough I came out from alive with only a couple of bruises. Joe, Mario, Jean and Christian are the most charismatic people you’ll see in a metal band and it’s no wonder these guys have a huge fan base. Joe informed us that they’d be back soon for a headline tour. Playing more classic favourites such as ‘backbone’, ‘the heaviest matter of the universe’ ‘vacuity’ and of course Flying Whales, Gojira were on fire from start to finish and watching them was the happiest I’ve ever been.

Surprised that my jugular hadn’t popped from all the headbanging and my body was still in one piece from shoving people, I walked as quick as I could for the brutally awesome DevilDriver. I love them, they’ve got such a massive sound and really, they’re just one of those bands that are hard to avoid and not listen to. Dez is quite the frontman, and interacted with the crowd making everyone cheer even harder. He has so much energy you can’t not move around, headbang and go all apeshit. We got to hear four songs from their latest album ‘Winter Kills’ including ‘the Appetite’ and the  cover of AWOLNATION’s ‘Sail’. I would’ve watched just DevilDriver yesterday and been happy. Definitely one band you need to see at some point.

Stage 4 was delayed quite a bit, and given the constant change in set times, I kept my fingers crossed and headed towards Stage 3 again, hoping to catch some of the legendary Rob Zombie. Unfortunately he had just finished as on stage were Devil You Know. No complaints given that I was excited about watching this supergroup comprised of ex members from three of my favourite bands. And watching the hilarious Howard Jones stir up quite a frenzy. “Enjoy yourselves Sydney!” he told the crowd. His humour was definitely one of the highlights of watching this band, as he commented on how the weather “suuuuucks” here. There was constant friendly banter with the crowd before the ex- Killswitch Engage led a riot, jumping on the stage and just generally having the time of their lives. Again, another band that makes me appreciate the world of metalcore music.

After a hilarious 20 minutes of watching Devil You Know, I literally ran towards Stage 5 again, and at this point I think my legs were just moving by themselves, didn’t have to do much. Much to my happiness considering I thought I had missed them, I saw The Dillinger Escape Plan causing havoc and honestly there are absolutely no words to describe these guys. As I entered, front man Greg Puciato was standing on top of something on the side of the stage and then jumps back on pacing up and down like a crazy person. Mics were thrown about, drums were hit with guitars, it was hands down the most power-packed, fast and energetic performance of the day . Their famous ‘One Of Us Is A Killer’ got the crowd going absolutely ballistic, it was a sight to behold! The lights during Dillinger’s show were stunning as well, adding to their crazed antics on stage. Needless to say, I was stoked that I managed to see them live, even if only a few songs because they are really something else when it comes to the genre of mathcore.

Moving to the other side of the stage, I noticed the infamous ‘Heartagram’ instantly. His Infernal Majesty a.k.a HIM from Helsinki, Finland are by far one of the coolest rock bands out there. Reminding me of Ghost, Ville Valo and his mates are an iconic bunch, or what I like to call, the ‘love metal gurus’ representing the sheer awesomeness that is the world of Finnish music. Probably one of the things I love most about them is the unpredictability behind their music. With each song they played, you’d hear something different. Some HIM favourites were rolled out such as ‘Your Sweet Six Six Six’, ‘All Lips Go Blue’ and ‘Poison Girl’, fans of all ages singing along with the looks of bliss attainment on their faces. Throaty growls, beautiful piano melodies, and elements of classic rock thrown in, versatility is what makes this band stand out. Their set included tracks from albums covering the length of their illustrious career in 60 minutes. Mika “Gas Lipstick’ Karpinnen came to the front at the end of their set and hailed the fans of Sydney in gratitude which I thought was a really nice gesture. He’s Finnish,, enough said.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day and  I still can’t believe how amazing the line-up is. AJ said that nothing would trump 2013, but he really outdid himself with the bill for this years Soundwave. I have one more stop at Melbourne and I’m really excited to catch more of these awesome bands. A huge shoutout to everyone at Soundwave who helped organise and run the event and Metal Obsession for giving me a chance to cover this amazing event! Can’t wait for 2015!

About

Prarthana is a vegan, Indo-Aussie, heavy music addict, fluent in sarcasm and metal. Traveling is an obsession as she enjoys taking in the history of various countries and following her favorite bands. She's either eating, teaching grammar or learning an instrument, when not occupied with windmilling in the faces of other humans.