Soundwave Counter Revolution Melbourne @ Festival Hall, Melbourne (30/09/2011)
After the disappointing cancellation of Soundwave Revolution, I was dubious as to how the mini festivals were going to turn out. However, once I saw the line-up and realised that it would pretty much be mostly bands I loved when I was 13 and 14, I figured it would be worth it for the nostalgia aspect alone. Counter Revolution was at Festival Hall, which was an excellent choice considering the shit Melbourne weather outside. A just about sold out show, Festival Hall was pretty packed, but thankfully they had the stalls open to sit down. With the stage being split into two parts, as soon as one band finished the next would start, so there was really no chance to get a breather and relax in between bands.
The first band I saw were West Hartford based Make Do And Mend. I’ve been a huge fan of these guys since their very first release back in 2007, and Counter Revolution marked their first Australian tour. Playing a Hot Water Music influenced brand of melodic hardcore, MDAM are a band much more suited to smaller, DIY type shows, but they played with so much enthusiasm and energy that they worked the large stage well. Playing songs mainly off their first full length End Measured Mile, MDAM tore through Unknowingly Strong, Oak Square and Transparent Seas, with only a handful of the crowd singing along, which was really disappointing. It will be great to see Make Do And Mend in a smaller venue, or with a crowd who are actually there to see them, but it was worth it just to finally see them
The Damned Things seemed like a pretty odd choice for this line-up, seeing as most of the band catered to the underage crowd. However, as soon as they started playing, the crowd was getting right into it, even though I’m pretty sure that most of the crowd was only there to see Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley, who proved themselves to be just as capable at playing metal as they are at pop-punk. Fronted by Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley and featuring Scott Ian from Anthrax, The Damned Things are a metal supergroup that just fucking rock. Featuring killer guitar work from all three guitarists and some excellent vocals from Keith, it was an awesome set that would be perfect for a small venue.
Up next were Welsh post-hardcore band Funeral For A Friend. FFAF are a band I have loved since I was 12, even if I don’t really get into their more recent releases. Suffering from technical problems and terrible sound, Funeral took a few songs to really get into it, and connect with the crowd, but once they did everyone seemed to enjoy them much better. Playing Roses For The Dead and Streetcar in a row was just fucking great, as Hours was an album I absolutely loved when I was 14. Funeral finished with Escape Artists Never Die, which was completely unexpected, but the crowd went nuts and sung along every word. The lack of Red Is The New Black was surprising, as I thought that was a staple of their live shows, but finishing with Escape Artists easily made up for it. I hope Funeral can tour again and do a proper headlining tour, they seem to struggle a bit at festivals.
Next up were Story Of The Year. Opening with The Antidote, Story of the Year proved that they were one of the tightest, most fun live bands on the whole festival. Vocalist Dan Marsala’s voice was great live, and the crowd responded to his every word. None of the band members in SOTY stand still for long, instead spending the whole set running around the stage with an energy that a lot of similar bands lack. While it has become a staple of their live show, seeing guitarist Philip Sneed hand his guitar to a roadie, climb an amp and then do a backflip off it is still fucking cool, and just another thing that makes SOTY such a fun live band to watch. Tearing through a set that was evenly spread throughout most of their albums, it was the Page Avenue songs that got the biggest reception from the crowd. As usual, they finished their set with Until The Day I Die, and Festival Hall was filled with the sound the whole crowd singing along.
The majority of the crowd probably hadn’t even been born when Face To Face started played together around 20 years ago. Face To Face are a punk band who were completely out of place playing Soundwave, but they didn’t let that, or the lack of fans, stop them from playing a blistering set full of fun and fast punk rock. Promising to make up for the fact that they had only been here three times, Face To Face will hopefully be back soon, and playing to a more appreciative crowd.
Yellowcard were up next, bringing their brand of violin infused pop-punk to Australian stages for the first time in 4 years. With a set that spanned their entire discography, the highlights of the set were easily the Ocean Avenue songs, such as the fast paced Way Away that had the crowd going nuts. Closing with Ocean Avenue, the venue erupted with the sound of the entire crowd singing along. I hope Yellowcard make their way back soon for a headline tour, it’s been way too long between visits.
I really don’t get the hype behind All Time Low. Their first album sounds like New Found Glory-lite, and they’re all decent musicians, but the amount of people who were going crazy for them was just insane. Drawing easily the biggest crowd of the day, mainly made up of underage girls, the band opened with Art Of The State, and the crowd just erupted. Throughout their hour long set, the band played hit after hit, with the squealing girls being louder than the band at some points. This was clearly the band that most people were here to see, and it was ridiculous to see just how many people looked like they were having the time of their lives. The floor was a sea of teenage girls, and while I don’t really like the band, I can appreciate that they are very much a good live act who know exactly how to work up the crowd.
Post-hardcore supergroup DRUGS were up next. If this band had come out in 06, they would have become absolutely huge, but I think they’re just a bit too cliché to become anything more than a trendy band. Seriously, a line-up featuring members from Chiodos, Story Of The Year, From First To Last and Matchbook Romance would have been great 5 years ago, but it seems that they’re cashing in on the hype behind the supergroup rather than utilising their potential.
DRUGS play that type of post-hardcore that mixes in metalcore breakdowns, and is all the rage with kids at the moment. Playing through a tight, if somewhat boring, set that was all off their full length. Craig Owens is normally an excellent vocalist, whether playing acoustically or playing with Chiodos, but his vocals just sounded weak. Maybe it’s because he’s singing to heavier music, or maybe his vocals just aren’t as good as they used to be, but I could barely hear him for most of it, even when I could hear the rest of the band with no issues.
Closing the night were Panic! At The Disco, in there first Australian tour since 2008. If most of the bands playing this festival made me feel 15 again, Panic upped the nostalgia factor by making me miss early high school. I still maintain that A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out is one of the best pop-rock albums ever, and judging by the crowd reactions to older songs such as Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off and But It’s Better If You Do, it was clear that the crowd agreed.
Panic played tighter and were more entertaining than any time I’d seen them before, and the band looked legitimately happy to be playing. Front man Brendon Urie was just incredible, with a killer voice and amazing stage presence. His vocals have definitely gotten even better, and the band were just amazing to watch. Panic’s excellent new album got a good reception from the crowd, and lead single The Ballad Of Mona Lisa was one of the highlights of the set. Panic played a cover of The Darkness’s I Believe In A Thing Called Love, and actually did it surprisingly well. Brendon’s voice suits the song perfectly, especially with his tendency to sing with falsetto these days, and he seemed really stoked to be able to play guitar on a song. I Write Sins Not Tragedies had what was easily the best sing-along of the whole night and a highlight of the festival.
Even with the cancellation of Soundwave Revolution, Counter Revolution still managed to be a fun, nostalgia filled day. While I am infinitely disappointed I didn’t get to see Thursday and Dashboard Confessional, I still enjoyed myself, and it was worth it almost entirely for Panic, the rest of the bands were a bonus. With the Soundwave 2012 announcement due by the end of next week and the return to a proper outdoors venue, with the right bands Soundwave will just keep getting bigger and better.
Josh Mitrou
Check out our full gallery from Melbourne's Counter Revolution now!
The first band I saw were West Hartford based Make Do And Mend. I’ve been a huge fan of these guys since their very first release back in 2007, and Counter Revolution marked their first Australian tour. Playing a Hot Water Music influenced brand of melodic hardcore, MDAM are a band much more suited to smaller, DIY type shows, but they played with so much enthusiasm and energy that they worked the large stage well. Playing songs mainly off their first full length End Measured Mile, MDAM tore through Unknowingly Strong, Oak Square and Transparent Seas, with only a handful of the crowd singing along, which was really disappointing. It will be great to see Make Do And Mend in a smaller venue, or with a crowd who are actually there to see them, but it was worth it just to finally see them
The Damned Things seemed like a pretty odd choice for this line-up, seeing as most of the band catered to the underage crowd. However, as soon as they started playing, the crowd was getting right into it, even though I’m pretty sure that most of the crowd was only there to see Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley, who proved themselves to be just as capable at playing metal as they are at pop-punk. Fronted by Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley and featuring Scott Ian from Anthrax, The Damned Things are a metal supergroup that just fucking rock. Featuring killer guitar work from all three guitarists and some excellent vocals from Keith, it was an awesome set that would be perfect for a small venue.
Up next were Welsh post-hardcore band Funeral For A Friend. FFAF are a band I have loved since I was 12, even if I don’t really get into their more recent releases. Suffering from technical problems and terrible sound, Funeral took a few songs to really get into it, and connect with the crowd, but once they did everyone seemed to enjoy them much better. Playing Roses For The Dead and Streetcar in a row was just fucking great, as Hours was an album I absolutely loved when I was 14. Funeral finished with Escape Artists Never Die, which was completely unexpected, but the crowd went nuts and sung along every word. The lack of Red Is The New Black was surprising, as I thought that was a staple of their live shows, but finishing with Escape Artists easily made up for it. I hope Funeral can tour again and do a proper headlining tour, they seem to struggle a bit at festivals.
Next up were Story Of The Year. Opening with The Antidote, Story of the Year proved that they were one of the tightest, most fun live bands on the whole festival. Vocalist Dan Marsala’s voice was great live, and the crowd responded to his every word. None of the band members in SOTY stand still for long, instead spending the whole set running around the stage with an energy that a lot of similar bands lack. While it has become a staple of their live show, seeing guitarist Philip Sneed hand his guitar to a roadie, climb an amp and then do a backflip off it is still fucking cool, and just another thing that makes SOTY such a fun live band to watch. Tearing through a set that was evenly spread throughout most of their albums, it was the Page Avenue songs that got the biggest reception from the crowd. As usual, they finished their set with Until The Day I Die, and Festival Hall was filled with the sound the whole crowd singing along.
The majority of the crowd probably hadn’t even been born when Face To Face started played together around 20 years ago. Face To Face are a punk band who were completely out of place playing Soundwave, but they didn’t let that, or the lack of fans, stop them from playing a blistering set full of fun and fast punk rock. Promising to make up for the fact that they had only been here three times, Face To Face will hopefully be back soon, and playing to a more appreciative crowd.
Yellowcard were up next, bringing their brand of violin infused pop-punk to Australian stages for the first time in 4 years. With a set that spanned their entire discography, the highlights of the set were easily the Ocean Avenue songs, such as the fast paced Way Away that had the crowd going nuts. Closing with Ocean Avenue, the venue erupted with the sound of the entire crowd singing along. I hope Yellowcard make their way back soon for a headline tour, it’s been way too long between visits.
I really don’t get the hype behind All Time Low. Their first album sounds like New Found Glory-lite, and they’re all decent musicians, but the amount of people who were going crazy for them was just insane. Drawing easily the biggest crowd of the day, mainly made up of underage girls, the band opened with Art Of The State, and the crowd just erupted. Throughout their hour long set, the band played hit after hit, with the squealing girls being louder than the band at some points. This was clearly the band that most people were here to see, and it was ridiculous to see just how many people looked like they were having the time of their lives. The floor was a sea of teenage girls, and while I don’t really like the band, I can appreciate that they are very much a good live act who know exactly how to work up the crowd.
Post-hardcore supergroup DRUGS were up next. If this band had come out in 06, they would have become absolutely huge, but I think they’re just a bit too cliché to become anything more than a trendy band. Seriously, a line-up featuring members from Chiodos, Story Of The Year, From First To Last and Matchbook Romance would have been great 5 years ago, but it seems that they’re cashing in on the hype behind the supergroup rather than utilising their potential.
DRUGS play that type of post-hardcore that mixes in metalcore breakdowns, and is all the rage with kids at the moment. Playing through a tight, if somewhat boring, set that was all off their full length. Craig Owens is normally an excellent vocalist, whether playing acoustically or playing with Chiodos, but his vocals just sounded weak. Maybe it’s because he’s singing to heavier music, or maybe his vocals just aren’t as good as they used to be, but I could barely hear him for most of it, even when I could hear the rest of the band with no issues.
Closing the night were Panic! At The Disco, in there first Australian tour since 2008. If most of the bands playing this festival made me feel 15 again, Panic upped the nostalgia factor by making me miss early high school. I still maintain that A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out is one of the best pop-rock albums ever, and judging by the crowd reactions to older songs such as Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off and But It’s Better If You Do, it was clear that the crowd agreed.
Panic played tighter and were more entertaining than any time I’d seen them before, and the band looked legitimately happy to be playing. Front man Brendon Urie was just incredible, with a killer voice and amazing stage presence. His vocals have definitely gotten even better, and the band were just amazing to watch. Panic’s excellent new album got a good reception from the crowd, and lead single The Ballad Of Mona Lisa was one of the highlights of the set. Panic played a cover of The Darkness’s I Believe In A Thing Called Love, and actually did it surprisingly well. Brendon’s voice suits the song perfectly, especially with his tendency to sing with falsetto these days, and he seemed really stoked to be able to play guitar on a song. I Write Sins Not Tragedies had what was easily the best sing-along of the whole night and a highlight of the festival.
Even with the cancellation of Soundwave Revolution, Counter Revolution still managed to be a fun, nostalgia filled day. While I am infinitely disappointed I didn’t get to see Thursday and Dashboard Confessional, I still enjoyed myself, and it was worth it almost entirely for Panic, the rest of the bands were a bonus. With the Soundwave 2012 announcement due by the end of next week and the return to a proper outdoors venue, with the right bands Soundwave will just keep getting bigger and better.
Josh Mitrou
Check out our full gallery from Melbourne's Counter Revolution now!