Gig/Concert: Soundwave Festival
Venue: Steel Blue Oval, Perth
Date: 1 March 2010
Headliners: Faith No More, Jimmy Eat World
In one word: Sweltering

With positive memories of the swift organisation of the 2009 Soundwave Festival it was with disappointment that several of the opening bands for this year’s show played to empty fields due to a bottlenecked, one-gate entry system. On a boiling hot day, this was a rather unwelcome start for many. However, once inside, forgiveness was granted by the thousands of early comers to what has become one of Australia’s premier rock festivals.

Soundwave 2010 headliners Faith No More

From its inception as an extreme-sports competition side-show, Soundwave now boasts a reputation for attracting bigger names than the more established touring rock-circuses, and the final leg of the 2010 installment was no exception.

Opening proceedings on the main stage were Canadian phychobetty rockers Creepshow. Their horror-filled lyrics and empowering message was a hit with the ladies in attendance and a good proportion of the gents as well. Pausing briefly to announce their glee at Canada taking gold in the men’s Olympic ice hockey, the delivered an otherwise breathless set and seem to have secured many new fans in the process.

Moving to the enclosed circus-tent that was Stage 3, fellow Canadians The Weakerthans delivered a solid performance, though their blend of folk rock and alternative seemed a little too mellow for most. Front man John K. Samson’s strong vocal performance with support from some standout slide-guitar and trumpet playing was enough to retain interest, but it seems the band would have benefited from an afternoon billing once the punters had expended some energy on the louder, faster bands on the bill.

The living cartoons that are The Aquabats! provided some welcome energy and comic relief, delivering an hilarious set of upbeat ska-punk full of sweet, sweet sax licks and ‘pickitup-pickitup’ percussion. Reaching its peak with a flawless rendition of “Pizza Day” this was a set, and indeed a band just made for summer festivals; filled with some of the most gratuitous crowd-pandering in recent memory. Forget rock-stars, these men are superheroes.

Hardcore sextet Set Your Goals had the crowd riled up back at Stage 3, with the first serious crowdsurfing of the day, followed in quick succession by New York’s Glassjaw whose standout bass-playing thanks to four-stringsman Manuel Carrero set them apart from the slew of generic hardcore/screamo American bands playing this tour. Mainstage counterparts, and yet more Canadians, Alexisonfire sadly lacked any real individuality or crossover appeal outside of the hardcore kids.

The geeky charm of Motion City Soundtrack front man Justin Pierre was a welcome show of honesty, with the band’s brand of mid-western rock reminiscent of bands like Armchair Martian or the Eels. Single “This is For Real”, and “When You’re Around” whipped the crowd into a frenzy though sadly Pierre’s high-end vocals showed signs of road-wear towards the end of the set, with a few blue notes detracting from an otherwise rock-solid set.

Ska veterans Reel Big Fish were next up, and though vocalist Aaron Barrett remains the band’s sole original member, they delivered essentially a best-of set which washed a wave of nostalgia over their mainly 25+ year old fan-base. The set featured the band’s hits “She Has A Girlfriend Now”, “Where Have You Been?” and the classic “Beer” (which comically ended on ‘shave-and-a-haircut’) plus covers of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” featuring trumpeter Scott Klopfenstein on lead vocals. Whilst the weather was a little too warm for the energetic skanking typical of ska shows, they still managed to keep the crowd moving and offered some welcome relief from the doom and gloom of the ‘serious’ bands on the tour.

Due to some technical issues, AFI were late to start their set as the sun thankfully begun to set. With all the pomp and flair that has become expected of their live show, Davey Havok and crew delivered on expectations with their gold and black ‘Hollywood of yesteryear’ themed stage show. The deafening roar that emanated from the pit when singles “Girls Not Gray” and “Miss Murder” began proved them successful as the evening’s first real headliner, though the inclusion of synth/electronica sampling in “Love Like Winter” was somewhat distracting, given that no keyboardist or sampler was visible on stage.

Havock would later re-appear on stage to add backing vocals to Jane’s Addiction set, which while technically proficient and visually stunning didn’t seem to do much for anyone besides the band’s existing (albeit large) fanbase.

Last-minute additions to the bill, Arizona’s Jimmy Eat World came out to a strong reception, though their particular brand of mid-tempo pop-punk seemed better suited to an afternoon set on a side-stage rather than the second-to-last mainstage performance, and the band struggled to keep the crowd’s attention for the full hour of their set. Standout tracks included “Bleed American” and “Too Much Talking” from their 2000 split-EP with Perth’s own Jebediah, members of which were in attendance to witness their friends’ set. Stopping briefly to lead the crowd in a mass-greeting to Gallows who were playing on the stage next door, the band kicked back in with “Big Casino” and ended on their most successful single, “The Middle”.

After what seemed like an eternally insufferable 10 minute break, the living legends that are San Francisco’s Faith No More took to stage 1 to see out the night in their truly unique and breathtaking style. Front man and musical prodigy Mike Patton played the role of ringmaster with pinpoint precision and after a slow and classy start, the set delved groin first into the band’s extensive back catalogue, including their definitive version of the Commodores’ “Easy (Like Sunday Morning)”. Though the band may look a little older than most remember from their early 90s heyday, they certainly didn’t sound or act like they’d aged a day, and were a truly jaw-dropping experience to see out what was the biggest installment of Soundwave yet to be seen.

If 2011 is to compete, the promoters best start praying for a Beatles reunion.

© Steve Pass, Music Vice

Gig/Concert: Soundwave Festival Melbourne
Venue: Royal Ascot Showgrounds
Date: 26 February 2010
Headliners: Faith No More, Jane’s Addiction
In one word: Belter

Whereas Big Day Out contained a grand mix of what can only be described as bogans in Australian flags, Soundwave contained a much wider array of people such as emo bogans, metal bogans, ska bogans and punk bogans and of course obese chick bogans; but that’s OK, they’re generally nicer and I saw a lot less trouble throughout the day.

I made it into the venue worried if I was going to miss Gallows and when I got to stage 6 I noticed no ginger singer up front so I assumed I’d missed them until I saw a flash of orange and ink standing on some people at the back of the crowd….oh yes, this is what I’ve been wanting to see!

I’m not much of a mosher but I threw myself into the circle pit and nearly lost my hat 20 seconds in, what a feeling seeing such a great band and being surrounded by guys covered in blood and sweat. The crowd-surfing was insane and the energy went over the top when the band played “In the Belly of a Shark” and human pyramids ensued.

Human pyramids at Soundwave

Up next Sunny Day Real Estate played a good set to a small crowd on the main stage. I’m obviously aware of them from Kerrang’s bleetings over the years and of course Nate Mendel’s membership of a much more famous band.

After over an hour queuing for an ATM and food (I know, I’m an idiot) I caught Eagles of Death Metal from the side of the drinkers area and how I got in there sans wrist band I don’t know. Their crowd was reasonably big but their show was somewhat clichéd and uninspired with the usual bullshit rock n’ roll call and response stuff which got tiring very quickly.

Glassjaw played a tiny show to no more than a few hundred which I joined just in time to hear that famous song, the one that was called….err….oh…hmm never mind. I’ll be honest I never liked them in the first place and found their set weak and plagued by bad sound and an uncharismatic performance by Detective Daryl Columbo or whatever his name was.

Clutch on the other hand were a pleasant surprise to me who only attended to rub it in his girlfriends face, opening up with some bluesgrass rock n’ roll and then moving towards their more traditional droning they played an excellent set which was one of my favourites from stage 4.

After some considerable in-head arguments I went down to see Reel Big Fish and as cheesy as they are, they were one of the best bands of the day. I had a great laugh singing along to old songs I used to love and witnessed the band playing the same song in country, death metal, punk and rock and roll stylies.

If anyone heard Rolo Tomassi’s Hysterics album they’ll know I and the minuscule crowd there were in for an epiphany of the loud variety. Eva Spence moved around like an awkward robot stripper and sang like a sea-lion car alarm (ow! ow! ow!) to the brutal electro art-grind behind her, the energy they omitted was just fantastic and I can’t wait to see them play their own club shows one day.

Placebo played a surprisingly bad set, well when I say bad I don’t mean it was bad but disappointing for the kinda guy like me who wanted to hear old songs/ the festival best of. Despite this I still enjoyed them but poor Brian Molko didn’t look too healthy these days.

For the brief amount of time I saw Meshuggah they played a hellishly good set, brutal as fuck and inside stage 4 the sound was thunderous albeit plagued by muddy echoing.

I witnessed AFI out of curiousity and came out very impressed as they took to the stage in black and gold with young David Havok looking very healthy dressed like Elvis in his gold lame jacket. “Girls Not Grey” got the biggest response of the day and although I wasn’t a great fan at the time I still sang along like a total bellend.

Anthrax played to a thunderous roar and were surprisingly low down on the bill where I would say Trivium should’ve headlined then Scott Ian et all just below. It was the same in the case of the punk stages where Gallows played second in the morning to the biggest crowd I’d witnessed all day. Anyways, Anthrax were as fantastic as you would imagine and truly amazing to see such legends of their genre in action, Soundwave really got it right bringing them over.

Jane’s Addiction were just fantastic also, maybe not a band I’d ever listen to nor claim to be a fan of, I enjoyed their show immensely and attending with an uber fan I caught their whole set. Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro have such a fantastic chemistry on stage it was truly a delight to watch…even if this reporters eyes averted to two tied up Asian burlesque dancers…oocha! The show ended on a nice moment as the sun set with an acoustic version of the classic “Jane Says”.

The Aquabats played an absolute belter of a show full of audience participation, an alien Cyclops in a foam suit, a beach party and MC Bat Commander doing an impossible looking backflip at the end of the show.

Jimmy Eat World played the classics but were no replacement for My Chemical Romance which I imagine would’ve been insane – the insult to MCR’s fans was also rubbed in by still leaving their name on Soundwave merchandise. I don’t think were was one person who couldn’t enjoy “The Middle” here tonight and I had a great time singing along to a teenage classic.

With Big Day Out last year it was Fantomas and their incredibly weird set to a tiny audience and this year we’re at Soundwave with Faith No More with an incredibly big crowd playing all the classics like “Epic”, “Easy”, “Midlife Crisis” and even a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface”. Personally I’m not a fan of Faith No More’s more traditional songs and enjoyed thoroughly the weird bits albeit being left disappointed by the lack of nudity or Mike Patton eating his shoelace.

The addition of chatroulette on the big screen was another symbol of how groundbreaking and perverse the ever creative Mike Patton is and how important he still is to music today. All in all, I had a great day and kudos to the Soundwave guys for making the show run so smoothly and for the most part lacking any trouble, and the security staff were also extremely respectful of everyone – bring on 2011!

© Danny Crombie, Music Vice