SANDPIT!

The Gig: Heavy T.O. music festival featuring headliners Megadeth, Anthrax and Motorhead
Where: Downsview Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
When: 24 July 2011
In One Word: Shaky

This was a strange one. A bunch of metal bands turned up to play music to a few thousand people in a big field way up at the nosebleed north of Toronto, inside Downsview Park. I arrived as a photojournalist to cover the festival for Music Vice but was denied the photographer wristband necessary to do this properly – I had no access to the stage side photo pit but I was told I could still “bring my camera” and take photographs from the crowd. Hmm. I did take a few photos during Anthrax and Megadeth, but other than that it was a pointless and too hazardous task to be taking photographs, so apologies for the lack of band photos. I’m sure you can find plenty of close-ups elsewhere of Lemmy’s fantastic beard. I’ll give the organizers the benefit of the doubt and scratch this one off as being too late to the waterhole with my initial media request.

Speaking of waterholes… Being denied the correct colour wristband I needed to do my assignment was a personal irk, but I had real sympathy for others who I saw at Downsview Park being denied something a whole lot more vital: water. During Motorhead’s set, shortly after 8pm, I heard a young guy complaining that he couldn’t get water. Apparently there were water stations on site but these had been drunk dry of all their H2O hours earlier ago in the day. By the time Megadeth came on at 9pm,  I heard lots more complaints about the lack of water being available. Reportedly some vendors were selling water at $2 a bottle then raising the price to $5, which is a disgrace. ‘Supply and demand’ should not come into play when it comes to a basic human right and need. Seemingly the only liquid readily available by the time Megadeth were on stage was beer, which is off course the last thing a dehydrated concert goer needs after being in a sweaty concert crowd all day during a heatwave.

This was the inaugural edition of Heavy T.O. and is also one of the very few major outdoor festivals that Toronto and Canada have had this year – it could have been a lot better. To be honest, it seemed almost like a carbon copy of Mayhem festival 2008, albeit with a different line-up. The bottom line is that Toronto and Canada are still waiting for a proper, major outdoor music festival that it deserves – Heavy T.O., with it’s limited genre appeal, was never going to be the answer.

As for the music? Well, there was a great array of thrash and heavy metal being delivered but I honestly could not get into any of it. As I reflected on Twitter; “I was in no mood for a metal fest today after the tragic events in the world. Life goes on, sure, but sometimes we should stop and remember.” Spare a moment of thought for the people of Norway during this time.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

Related internet links:
Heavy T.O.
Brian Adam Banks – Photographer

Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax have added additional dates to their upcoming American Carnage tour. The extra dates starts from 24 September, supplementing the existing Canadian and American summer dates, as well as European festival appearances.

On Leg Two of American Carnage, Megadeth will continue to roar through its landmark 1990 album Rust in Peace from front to back, while Slayer will rip the roof off by performing its much-lauded Seasons in the Abyss album, which was also released in 1990.  Anthrax recently welcomed back singer Joey Belladonna, who defined the band during its heyday, and now permanently back in the band, will be front-and-center.

A special pre-sale will launch this Wednesday, 14 July, and fans should log onto www.slayer.net – www.megadeth.com – or www.anthrax.com – to obtain the special code needed for the pre-sale, and then go to www.ticketmaster.com (http://knoxvilletickets.com/ for the Knoxville date) to purchase tickets.  The public on-sale will begin 23 July in most markets.

In the spirit of beating the recession, there will be pre-sale discounts on all tickets in most markets (see below for more details), and if that’s not enough, a limited amount of $10 tickets will be available in many cities – log onto any of the bands’ websites or onto Ticketmaster’s site for those details.

Confirmed dates for Leg Two of the American Carnage Tour are as follows:

SEPTEMBER
24    Verizon Wireless Theatre, Dallas, TX*
25    AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX*
26    Verizon Wireless Theatre, Houston, TX*
28    Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA*
30    Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN

OCTOBER
1    The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Atlanta, GA*
2    Hard Rock Live, Orlando, FL
3    Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, Miami, FL*
5    Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
6    1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD*
8    Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, Long Island, NY*
9    Toyota Pavilion @ Montage Mountain, Scranton, PA*
10    LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH**
12    Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY
14    War Memorial Coliseum, Ft.Wayne, IN*
15    DeltaPlex, Grand Rapids, MI*
16    Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI**
19    E Center, Salt Lake City, UT
20    The Pearl, Las Vegas, NV
21    Gibson Amphitheatre, Hollywood, CA*

* $10 discount for tickets purchased during pre-sale (excluding the special $10 tickets)
** $5 discount for tickets purchased during pre-sale

Canadian and American Carnage Tour/Leg One Dates

Canadian Carnage
JULY
23    Pavillon de la Jeunesse, Quebec City, QC  CANADA
24    Heavy MTL, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, QC  CANADA
26    Metro Centre, Halifax, NS  CANADA
27    Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB  CANADA
29    Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ONT  CANADA
30    John Labatt Centre Center, London, ONT  CANADA

American Carnage
AUGUST
11    Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY
12    Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
14    Tsongas Arena, Boston, MA
15    Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
16    Chevrolet Theatre, Wallingford, CT
18    Tower City Amphitheatre, Cleveland, OH
19    Joe Lewis Arena, Detroit,MI
20    UIC Pavillon, Chicago, IL
21    Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
23    Cap Fed Park @Sandstone, Kansas City, KS
25    Magness Arena, Denver, CO
26    Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM
27    Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
29    Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, San Diego, CA
30    Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
31    Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA

SEPTEMBER
1    Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
3    Wamu Theatre, Seattle, WA
4    Washington County Fairgrounds, Portland, OR

Scott Ian of Anthrax is giving fans a unique opportunity to win a trip to Sonisphere. Scott is holding a free online poker tournament on 30 June, where the winner will score a trip to Sonisphere in England.

The contest is open to anyone aged 18+ from the United States, Mexico or the European Union. The winner will nab:

• Flight for two to London, England
• Accommodations for two
• Sonisphere Festival tickets for two
• Backstage passes

We do not wish to advertise or in anyway endorse gambling but this competition is fully free to enter. It is being run by a well-known online poker website but no deposit is required to compete in Scott Ian’s tournament. Full details on how to enter can be found here.

The rumours have been confirmed: Joey Belladonna has rejoined Anthrax! Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante and bassist Frank Bello were seen together with former Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna late last month in New York, and now the band – together with guitarists Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano – have confirmed the rumours to be true.

Anthrax are set to reunite as part of the ‘Big Four’ of thrash this summer as they join Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer for dates at this year’s Sonisphere Festival as well as some other select dates in Europe which they’ll be headlining (dates below). There is also a new album in the works which is set for release next year.

“I am super excited about this,” said Scott Ian.  “Joey and the rest of the band came to see me play at a club in New York, I hadn’t seen Joey for years, since the end of the reunion tour.  Joey taps me on the shoulder, instant big hug, it felt like no time had gone by.  The band dynamic is an interesting one – in Anthrax, Joey and I spent so many years of our lives together, we grew up together, we know each other so well, so it was like no time was lost.”

“We’re going to do these summer shows and gel as a band, get comfortable playing with each other again, and the energy from that should go right into making new music,” said Charlie Benante . “The band has been on an emotional roller coaster since last summer,” Benante continued, “but I think everything that we’ve had to deal with during that time was pushing us toward this, to Joey being back in Anthrax, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect or appropriate.  To have Joey with us playing these shows with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth is the way it should be – as Anthrax’s vocalist from ’85 to ’92, he was part of ‘The Big Four.’”

Tour dates

16    Sonisphere Festival, Warsaw, Poland
18    Sonisphere Festival, Wil, Switzerland
19    Sonisphere Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
20    Arena Wien, Vienna, Austria
22    Sonisphere Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria
24    Sonisphere Festival, Athens, Greece
26    Sonisphere Festival, Bucharest, Romania
27    Sonisphere Festival, Istanbul, Turkey

JULY
31    Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth, UK

AUGUST
1    Lokerse Feesten Festival, Lokerse, Belgium
3    Metropol, Hengelo, Netherlands
5    B1, Moscow, Russia
7    Sonisphere Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
8    Sonisphere Festival, Pori, Finland

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

SOUNDWAVE 2010 PREVIEW

February sees the return of one of Australia’s most innovative and exciting music festivals for those who like their music fast and hard. With over 40 bands on the tour, the question of which acts to see will surely be at the forefront of the minds of Soundwave attendees, so here’s Music Vice’s guide to who’s who this year. We recommend:

The Creepshow
Bringing more to the psychobilly genre than most, the Creepshow’s keyboard-laden tracks and powerful vocal melodies owe as much to the Sunset Strip hair metal scene of the late 80s as they do to the Nekromantix. Sticking to the well-worn psychobilly subject matter of demons, scorned women and the undead, the Creepshow are sure to be a fun start to proceedings.
Related link: The Creepshow at Scene Music Festival 2008

The Aquabats
Perhaps best known for being the band in which Blink-182s Travis Barker cut his teeth, and being the guys behind kid’s TV show Yo Gabba Gabba, this group of goofy Californian ska-punkers are a must-see for Soundwave 2010.

Comeback Kid
For the hardcore fans in attendance, Comeback Kid brings to the table all that a hardcore band should be. Break-downs a plenty and a level of musicianship above par for the genre mean that Comeback Kid will more than likely win over a slew of new fans on this tour. Get there early to avoid disappointment.

The Weakerthans
Flying the Americana/folk rock flag on this tour are The Weakerthans. This group from Winnipeg, Canada proves that you don’t need a stack of Marshall amps and cookie monster vocals to move a festival crowd, though the rock n’ roll fans will also find plenty to like about The Weakerthans. A strange blend of Lucero, The Eels and Weezer; this is another band to look out for this year.

Anti-Flag
For the politically charged, activist punk rockers in attendance, you need go no further than Pittsburg, Pennsylvania’s Anti-Flag. While their lyrical content may be too much for some of the older, more jaded festival-goers to endure, there’s no denying Anti-Flag’s ability to pen a catchy hook and capture an audience.
Related link: Anti-Flag Interview

Reel Big Fish
Last year’s Soundwave festival was a veritable haven for late-90’s ska fans, with Goldfinger and Less Than Jake playing back-to-back sets. This year Reel Big Fish will be catering to that crowd, and with one of the best festival songs ever in their arsenal (1996’s “Beer”) they are sure to please.
Related link: Reel Big Fish Interview

Paramore
Equally sure to please a lot of people are Paramore, who will be the must-see for many of the younger crowd attending Soundwave. Of all the pop punk and emo bands that the last decade gave us, Paramore were a more-likeable cut above the rest and became one of the biggest bands around. With their third album Brand New Eyes topping the charts everywhere back in September last year, their popularity only seems to be growing – worth a look.
Related link: Paramore at Kool Haus, Toronto

Anthrax
If you don’t know why you should be seeing Anthrax then you don’t deserve to be going to music festivals. An absolute staple of 80’s heavy metal and more influential than the Bible, Anthrax know what they’re doing, and they do it well. Predictions are for a sweaty mass of hair and leather to contend with at the front of the crowd for this one, so if that’s not your thing it’s advisable to enjoy Anthrax from a distance.

Alexisonfire
Another one for the hardcore kids, this Canadian 5-piece have a strong following, which has been growing as of late thanks to their latest release, Old Crows/Young Cardinals which provides more crossover appeal than previous releases.

Anvil
As some of the elder statesmen of this year’s Soundwave, Anvil prove, in much the same way as Motorhead, that three old men can rock harder and better than the current trend of 5 or 6 piece heavy rock acts. Anyone who has seen the recent documentary Anvil! The Story Of Anvil will know that this band has well and truly done the hard yards over the last three decades and will be a solid bet for your festival-going dollar.
Related link: Anvil at Canadian Music Week 2009

Placebo
Brian Molko and pals return for what seems like their thousandth run of Australian festival shows. With an ever growing back-catalogue of hits to draw from, Placebo rank highly as one of Australia’s best loved rock and roll imports, being the soundtrack to so many happy summers, and this tour promises to be no exception. Again, crowds will be heavy for this set and pitty goes out to whatever unfortunate bands draw the short straw and have to play at the same time as Placebo.

AFI
Doing their best to cheer up the emo kids this year will be California’s AFI. With the increasingly prominent electronica aspects to their recorded efforts, it will be interesting to see how this translates to a live setting. There’s no denying the charisma or vocal range of front man Davey Havock nor the band’s songwriting skills, even if their fashion choices can raise more than a few eyebrows.

Faith No More
And finally, your headliners. Securing the newly-reformed talents of San Francisco’s Faith No More has proven to be an absolute coup for the organisers of Soundwave. While partially to blame for the rap-rock nu-metal explosion of the early 2000s, FNM are so, so much more than that. Mike Patton is without compare as the mad scientist of rock and roll and drummer Mike Bordin is a sight to behold. This is guaranteed to be a truly “Epic” performance. Do not miss.

Dates:
Saturday 20 February – Brisbane, Qld
Sunday 21 February – Sydney, NSW
Friday 26 February – Melbourne, VIC
Saturday 27 February – Adelaide, SA
Monday 1 March – Perth, WA

For tickets, full lineup details and all sorts of other goodies, check out Soundwave.com.