Soundwave 1-March-2014 @ Bonython Park

[hellboy]

Soundwave was pretty good this year. It certainly lacked in any real big names, but the "smaller" bands on the lineup were enough to get me along for this year. As a result, I think I saw more bands in one day than I ever have before, both good and bad.

I didn't arrive at the venue until about 1:30, so missed a couple of acts such as Amon Amarth and Tesseract I may have otherwise checked out. Word from Liz is that Tesseract were good, but I'm skeptical...

Walking into the venue, I was slightly concerned that a couple of the stages were too close together, sadly two stages I expected to spend a lot of time at. While there was a little noise bleeding, when the bands were playing it wasn't noticeable at all. As I wandered in I passed a Bon Jovi cover band on the main stage. I also got to see some Brocore band Upon A Burning Body play while waiting for my first band of the day.

First act I saw on the day were Trash Talk. As expected the set was chaotic, with the singer in the crowd for the majority of the set. It was short and a great way to start the day.

I then wandered over to one of the side stages and caught the last couple of songs by Coliseum. They sounded alright, but didn't really see enough to do them justice.

GWAR were next on the agenda, and they were amusing for a couple of songs. Their music is pretty forgettable though, so walked to the bar a couple of songs in and never came back.

Instead I thought I'd go see Dir En Grey. Their sound was terrible, with the vocals barely audible. There seemed to be plenty of technical problems right throughout the day, which was a shame as I usually find they do a pretty decent job most years.

Filter came on next, and also had technical issues - most of the first song had no guitar and the singer kept complaining of having no monitors. Despite that though, they sounded ok from out the front and put on a good set. A tantrum was thrown at the end of the set when they were cut short.

Straight after Filter were Clutch, well known for their solid live shows and today was no exception. It's hard to fault them, they're all great musicians, and it was great to watch, but mainly due to the fact I find a lot of their music a bit bland I wouldn't give it a 10/10.

Following that set was one of the bigger clashes of the day - Alice In Chains, Crosses and Baroness. Firstly I wandered over to AIC, only to find the main stage running 20 minutes late, not wanting to listen to A Day To Remember I switched over to see Crosses.

Crosses were ok, they don't really have great material to work with, but Chino and co seemed to be enjoying the set, and I didn't mind it.

I then wandered over to see Baroness. The sound wasn't too great though, and they were playing crap of their newer albums, so I got bored pretty quickly and moved back to AIC

Alice In Chains still weren't on by the time I got there, but thankfully ADTR were just winding up their last song. When they finally arrived, the sound was pretty average (being a windy day didn't help things on the main stage) and they proceeded to play the least interesting songs from Dirt. After 3 songs, I was sick of it and stick of standing in the sun, so decided Crosses were the best bet after all. After Crosses finished, I walked back to the main stage where AIC were playing Nutshell, which was a nice surprise.

Down were next on the cards, and while they sounded pretty good, I couldn't really get into Phil's douchebaggery today. It was nice music to chill out under some trees while eating dinner though.

Dinner being completed, I took a walk to see Rocket From The Crypt. There were literally 20 people watching the show and I could see the look on the band members faces as they walked out. Still, they put on a great show and if they were disappointed, they didn't really act like it. And I saw the last song of Skindred as well.

Having seen the size of the metal stage annex, and the poor sound coming out of it, I was a little skeptical as to how good Gojira were going to be. I need not have worried - while the sound wasn't flawless, their performance was pretty close. The guys were right into it and put on a fantastic show, a definite highlight of the day. I haven't seen a tech/death metal band put on a show as good as this for many years. These guys need to come and do a proper tour some time soon.

After Gojira there wasn't really much on the program for a little while, so I took in a few acts on various stages. First up were The Bosshoss, who were some kind of rockabilly type act. Not bad, but not really my cup of tea either. I saw one Eagles of Shit Metal song as well, which was enough for me. Walking Papers are a rock band which feature Duff from Guns N Roses playing bass, and they were surprisingly good. Much better than the various other Duff side projects I've seen. I was tempted to stick around, but DEP were up soon. I also had a quick look at Glassjaw, who were not really all that good.

It was getting dark now, and Dillinger Escape Plan were up next, and their usual pantomime of leaping about a doing silly things was happening. They played mostly new stuff, which was good though I'd have liked an older song or two. It was a reasonably short set, only going for about 35 of the allotted 40 minutes.

While waiting for Living Colour some band called 10 Years were playing. Apparently they are some old skool nu-metal band or some shit, but I've never heard of them. They sounded ok to be honest, and didn't make the wait for LC too painful.

The writing was on the wall for Living Colour though, with hoards of roadies fiddling with cables around both Doug and Vernon's rigs (no surprise considering how complex they are). After a short delay they eventually got it working, and got stuck into playing a set of exclusively older material. It was a great set, took a couple of songs for the sound to get mixed right, but was a great highlight of the day for me. It's a real pleasure watching them play their instruments - they're all brilliant musicians, and Corey's voice is a good as ever. I can't think of a band as collectively talented as Living Colour are. I really hope these guys come back and do a decent tour (rumour is they will). The crowd were right into it, and there seemed to be plenty there. The band seemed genuinely surprised at how good the reception for them was - even the remaining bands seemed to be right into it, with members of DEP, Down, Korn and numerous others on the side of the stage watching.

Other reports from around the ground were that Green Day were pretty bad (and the crowd didn't seem to be into it), Korn were actually ok and Rob Zombie were fun as well.

Overall it was a good day, not the best of Soundwaves, but really ended on a high with Living Colour, Gojira and Dillinger Escape Plan delivering killer sets. Bring on 2015!

[petemasterpete]

Solid review ... No surprise surrounding the highlights for the most part. Not sure of the timeslot order but you can't go wrong with a day of gojira, dep and living color.

Gojira is one of the tightest live outfits going

[hellboy]

I forgot to mention I saw Satyricon as well, who were better than I expected. Sadly didn't play Mother North when I was watching.

[Ravenpig]

That sounds like an exhausting day. I'm getting old.

Cool review HB.

[264zn]

Sounds like a fun day! Surprised to hear about the tech issues as I thought Soundwave was known for being pretty good, I didn't notice any issues last year. I caught Zombie/Korn at The Palace on Wednesday last week, and was surprised how good Zombie was. Enjoyed seeing him get into the crowd and walk around the theatre during one of his songs. Korn were a bit flat, and played an OK set. JD seemed to be havng some kind of oxygen intake from a tank every other song...boys are getting old I guess.

[hellboy]

My brother saw Korn and Zombie at SW and he said pretty much the opposite - Korn were good and Zombie was a little flat.

In regards to the tech issues, normally it's pretty good here as well, but for some reason seemed to be plauged with them this year. Still, it didn't really have a huge impact on any of the sets - Living Colour just played overtime instead.

[Calfium Jay]

From reading yr entire review, it sounds like the whole festival - with the exception of maybe 2 bands - was barely just "so so" for you. Bring on 2015??

And what of Mastodon...?

[hellboy]

From reading yr entire review, it sounds like the whole festival - with the exception of maybe 2 bands - was barely just "so so" for you. Bring on 2015??

And what of Mastodon...?

I guess maybe my review wasn't clear enough. Trash Talk, Gojira, Dillinger Escape Plan, Living Colour and Clutch were in the 8 or more out of 10 region. A bunch of others were probably 6 or 7s.

Chose to see Living Colour instead of Mastodon. Setlist.fm was show Mastodon playing pretty much the same Hunter heavy setlist as the last Soundwave tour, so I didn't waste my time seeing them again. Given that Living Colour were fantastic, I don't regret my decision.

[Calfium Jay]

Why do The Living End keep getting invited to these big festivals? Does anyone even listen to The Living End?

<shudders>

[not tyson]

I'd rather listen to them live then STP

[hellboy]

Why do The Living End keep getting invited to these big festivals? Does anyone even listen to The Living End?

<shudders>

I'd rather listen to them live then STP

I agree on both counts. The best part of Soundwave this year was that only about 15 minutes of it was spent at the main stage.

[Calfium Jay]

I'd rather listen to them live then STP

That doesn't solve anything!!!

[hellboy]

One good thing for the day was that I didn't have to wait around listening to someone genuinely shit while another band sets up. In previous years I've put up with sets from Linkin Park, Slipknot, Jimmy Eat World and other trash while waiting for a decent band on.

[Calfium Jay]

I wish someone rather out there and artsy would play at Soundwave - like Neubauten, Irr. App. (Ext.) or COH.

All the "dudes" would stand around, with their arms crossed and with daggers coming out of their eyes:

"Get off you bestards!! What the fuck is that thar noise ya be a knockin' out, ya dang rotten sorners!?!? You don't rock out and shit what like Five Finger Def Punch 'n the like do, ya no good treeblas!! Bullet For My Valentine!! Show Me The Horizon!! The Black Dahlia Murder!!! Waaaaaah waaaaaah waaaaaaah!!!"

Whoop! Whoop!! Whoop!

<crushes beer can on forehead in the manner of a Soundwave patron>

[hellboy]

I think you forget that at festivals people are able to vote with their feet and go to another stage should the entertainment not be to their liking.

Also, a prominent former Fourtheye member who shall remain nameless got there early for Five Finger Death Punch...

[not tyson]

Five Finger Death Punch are relatively small for the Australian audience, pretty sure they took a pay cut or AJ paid them way more than they were worth for their position on the set list.

I enjoyed one of them albums due to how fucking satirical it was, it was really music for the COD playing crowd HOO RAH

Seriously come the fuck on

[youtube][/youtube]

[not tyson]

Also, a prominent former Fourtheye member who shall remain nameless got there early for Five Finger Death Punch...

Poor liz

[not tyson]

That said, this is enjoyable

[youtube][/youtube]

I actually blasted this album in my car for a few weeks with a huge smile on my face at how bad and funny it was, I wish I had a backwards cap at the time.

[Ravenpig]

You could've just taken a regular cap and turned it around

[not tyson]

[hellboy]

No enjoyment was had during any of those videos, except perhaps for when I clicked the stop button.

[264zn]

My brother saw Korn and Zombie at SW and he said pretty much the opposite - Korn were good and Zombie was a little flat.

In regards to the tech issues, normally it's pretty good here as well, but for some reason seemed to be plauged with them this year. Still, it didn't really have a huge impact on any of the sets - Living Colour just played overtime instead.

I think it was the small venue that allowed Zombie to really lift the energy on the floor. Don't know much about Living Colour, will have to check them out.

[liz]

I think you forget that at festivals people are able to vote with their feet and go to another stage should the entertainment not be to their liking.

Also, a prominent former Fourtheye member who shall remain nameless got there early for Five Finger Death Punch...

Actually I arrived early for Heavens Basement who I quite enjoyed and even Five Finger Death Punch were better than being at home.

Testament were very good, AIC phoned it in, Mastodon were tight but uninspiring and Gojira and Living Colour kicked ass. I'll give props to DEP too they were really good.

So only Hellboy went?

[Kittaan]

I think you forget that at festivals people are able to vote with their feet and go to another stage should the entertainment not be to their liking.

Also, a prominent former Fourtheye member who shall remain nameless got there early for Five Finger Death Punch...

Actually I arrived early for Heavens Basement who I quite enjoyed and even Five Finger Death Punch were better than being at home.

Testament were very good, AIC phoned it in, Mastodon were tight but uninspiring and Gojira and Living Colour kicked ass. I'll give props to DEP too they were really good.

So only Hellboy went?

Liz! So you do still lurk on occasion, huh? Good to see you. Hope all is well.

[liz]

I think you forget that at festivals people are able to vote with their feet and go to another stage should the entertainment not be to their liking.

Also, a prominent former Fourtheye member who shall remain nameless got there early for Five Finger Death Punch...

Actually I arrived early for Heavens Basement who I quite enjoyed and even Five Finger Death Punch were better than being at home.

Testament were very good, AIC phoned it in, Mastodon were tight but uninspiring and Gojira and Living Colour kicked ass. I'll give props to DEP too they were really good.

So only Hellboy went?

Liz! So you do still lurk on occasion, huh? Good to see you. Hope all is well.

Honestly I don't, I insist that Hellboy lets me know what's coming up personally. He deleted me you know? He has just now rectified this.

I sent you quite a wordy email around Christmas time. You didn't respond.