Soundwave Festival 2013 @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne (01/03/2013)
While walking down to the media booth to pick up my ticket for my first ever Soundwave, the line for the meet and greet early bird tickets was over a kilometre long. Thousands of people had lined up for hours for the chance to meet their favourite bands. After the gates finally opened, the entrance to the stages was blocked up with orange tape and a man with the title “Safety Officer” tried to control the impatient people pack of metal heads and punk enthusiasts. The tape finally dropped, and a stampede of people ran to the signing tent like the running of the bulls. ¡Olé!
Clad in my Matt Mullin’s face tee shirt that I grabbed on Wednesday night at their sideshow, I was ready to see a powerful Memphis May Fire performance; the only hitch was the power went out during Without Walls. “Well this is awkward”, said Mullins to the crowd as he had the only working microphone and worked hard to entertain us for five minutes. The power went back on and to the cheer of the crowd they played Alive in the Lights. Although a very short set, the crowd left stunned and ready for the rest of the day.
I was very disappointed to miss the start of Mike Patton’s Tomahawk because of a change to the schedule, but I still got a glimpse to Patton’s unique song writing style and voice. During the set, Patton cracked the shits at not only the video camera man getting in his face “Fuck off, I’m trying to work here” but also at somebody in the crowd who told him to “do something” (I would not like to be that guy).
Next up was pop punk outfit Motion City Soundtrack. Because they played directly after Dragonforce, the walkway was clogged up by thousands of guitar hero fans leaving after getting their chance to jam along live to Through Fire and Flames. While waiting for them to come out, the guy next to me explained front man Justin Pierre to his girlfriend as “the guy with the crazy hair”. They played a perfect combination of old and new with songs such as Attractive Today, My Favourite Accident and Disappear. After seeing them on Monday at their sideshow, I was still blown away at how energetic Jesse Johnson is on the keyboards.
I managed to catch the end of Flogging Molly and their unique blend of Celtic Punk-Rock. The seven piece filled up the stage with their banjos, fiddles, accordions, bodrhans and concertinas. Dave King and his gang put on an energetic Irish show and they received a definite nod of approval from the people in the drinking tent with most of their songs revolving around the theme of intoxication.
After seeing Austin Carlile perform a blink 182 cover of Dammit at Next the night before, I was really excited to see Of Mice & Men play. But I was also a bit apprehensive because I think the voice of former clean vocalist and bassist Shayley Bourget is what set them apart from other metalcore bands.
I was definitely not disappointed.
Austin Carlile’s movement around stage, even while he was in a leg brace was spectacular. While belting out The Depths, he stood on the seven foot amp. At another time he climbed one of the barriers, he crowd surfed, all while screaming. Not one but five circle pits were started at one point and during Product of a Murderer he asked everyone in the crowd to kneel “We won’t play a note until everyone is down” and then he yelled “jump” when the riff kicked in. The last two songs, O.G Loko and Second & Sebring were the highlights for me of Soundwave 2013. Before O.G Loko Austin told everyone to spread and to create the biggest wall of death I had seen. After this, everyone was pumped up and hung onto every word from Aaron Pauley and every scream during from Austin during Second & Sebring.
Blink-182 attracted a huge crowd to the main stage, opening with 2003 mainstream hit Feeling This. The mosh was so tight, hot and such a free for all that it was hard to sing along to but I don’t think anyone really cared. Even without Travis, Brooks Wackerman from Bad Religion was an awesome temporary replacement (anyone who can keep up with Travis on the drums must be good). Tom and Mark exchanged insults; usually revolving around each other’s mum as they have done for over twenty years. Dumpweed and Carousel probably got the most cheers and excitement from the mosh and they finished off with Family Reunion.
Next up was Garbage, who I didn’t plan on seeing but they were on the adjacent stage while I was waiting for Paramore who were playing afterwards. When Shirley Manson came on stage with her dyed bright red hair it was like seeing Hayley Williams 22 years in the future. Manson’s attitude was really distinctive in her voice both whilst singing and speaking to the crowd. She played a range of hits from the 90’s including Stupid Girl , and Only Happy When It Rains. She dedicated a song to her mum that was backstage that didn’t looked impressed at all with the attention.
I was very interested to see what Paramore would be like without the Farro's. Even without the brothers on stage, man can Hayley and her gang put on a performance. It was obvious from the first song Brick By Boring Brick that each song was choreographed, but they executed every move, every jump, every note perfectly. At one point, Jeremy Davis on the bass did a one hand cartwheel over a lying down Hayley Williams. That doesn’t just happen spontaneously, but it was still pretty cool. After Florence Welch, from Florence and the Machine I’d say that Hayley Williams has the best female voice in music today and she showed her incredible range in Decode hitting all the high notes. During Fences she challenged the crowd that they couldn’t click their fingers with their arms above their heads for the whole song. They later invited one fan on stage to sing Misery Business for their last song. Hayley told the crowd that they would be back in 2013, my tip is on Australia’s first Vans Warped Tour.
I couldn’t think of a better way to finish the day than Pierce the Veil. The “bunch of Mexicans from California” really did take the crowd on a mini Soundwave “Fiesta”. Opening with the introduction May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight to their latest album Collide with the Sky the boys walked in just in time to start Hell Above.
The band were on the same timeslot as Metallica, the Offspring and The Amity Affliction but they still pulled a crowd of passionate fans that instantly warmed to Vic Fuentes’s vocals and Pierce the Veil’s unique take on Post-Hardcore. A Match into Water was awesome in the live setting as the whole crowd chanted “we will bring a tidal wave” before the drop. They slowed it down a bit with Bulletproof Love, brought it back up with Caraphernelia and Bulls in the Bronx before finishing off the Soundwave 2013 with a Kellin Quinn-less King For a Day to the disappointment of all the girls in the crowd.
Words can’t describe how incredible the day was and I am not sure how AJ Maddah and his gang will deliver such a good line-up ever again, but I’ll await the line-up for the Warped Tour and Soundwave in 2014.
Ryan Hyde
Follow me on Twitter - @RyanHyde93
Clad in my Matt Mullin’s face tee shirt that I grabbed on Wednesday night at their sideshow, I was ready to see a powerful Memphis May Fire performance; the only hitch was the power went out during Without Walls. “Well this is awkward”, said Mullins to the crowd as he had the only working microphone and worked hard to entertain us for five minutes. The power went back on and to the cheer of the crowd they played Alive in the Lights. Although a very short set, the crowd left stunned and ready for the rest of the day.
I was very disappointed to miss the start of Mike Patton’s Tomahawk because of a change to the schedule, but I still got a glimpse to Patton’s unique song writing style and voice. During the set, Patton cracked the shits at not only the video camera man getting in his face “Fuck off, I’m trying to work here” but also at somebody in the crowd who told him to “do something” (I would not like to be that guy).
Next up was pop punk outfit Motion City Soundtrack. Because they played directly after Dragonforce, the walkway was clogged up by thousands of guitar hero fans leaving after getting their chance to jam along live to Through Fire and Flames. While waiting for them to come out, the guy next to me explained front man Justin Pierre to his girlfriend as “the guy with the crazy hair”. They played a perfect combination of old and new with songs such as Attractive Today, My Favourite Accident and Disappear. After seeing them on Monday at their sideshow, I was still blown away at how energetic Jesse Johnson is on the keyboards.
I managed to catch the end of Flogging Molly and their unique blend of Celtic Punk-Rock. The seven piece filled up the stage with their banjos, fiddles, accordions, bodrhans and concertinas. Dave King and his gang put on an energetic Irish show and they received a definite nod of approval from the people in the drinking tent with most of their songs revolving around the theme of intoxication.
After seeing Austin Carlile perform a blink 182 cover of Dammit at Next the night before, I was really excited to see Of Mice & Men play. But I was also a bit apprehensive because I think the voice of former clean vocalist and bassist Shayley Bourget is what set them apart from other metalcore bands.
I was definitely not disappointed.
Austin Carlile’s movement around stage, even while he was in a leg brace was spectacular. While belting out The Depths, he stood on the seven foot amp. At another time he climbed one of the barriers, he crowd surfed, all while screaming. Not one but five circle pits were started at one point and during Product of a Murderer he asked everyone in the crowd to kneel “We won’t play a note until everyone is down” and then he yelled “jump” when the riff kicked in. The last two songs, O.G Loko and Second & Sebring were the highlights for me of Soundwave 2013. Before O.G Loko Austin told everyone to spread and to create the biggest wall of death I had seen. After this, everyone was pumped up and hung onto every word from Aaron Pauley and every scream during from Austin during Second & Sebring.
Blink-182 attracted a huge crowd to the main stage, opening with 2003 mainstream hit Feeling This. The mosh was so tight, hot and such a free for all that it was hard to sing along to but I don’t think anyone really cared. Even without Travis, Brooks Wackerman from Bad Religion was an awesome temporary replacement (anyone who can keep up with Travis on the drums must be good). Tom and Mark exchanged insults; usually revolving around each other’s mum as they have done for over twenty years. Dumpweed and Carousel probably got the most cheers and excitement from the mosh and they finished off with Family Reunion.
Next up was Garbage, who I didn’t plan on seeing but they were on the adjacent stage while I was waiting for Paramore who were playing afterwards. When Shirley Manson came on stage with her dyed bright red hair it was like seeing Hayley Williams 22 years in the future. Manson’s attitude was really distinctive in her voice both whilst singing and speaking to the crowd. She played a range of hits from the 90’s including Stupid Girl , and Only Happy When It Rains. She dedicated a song to her mum that was backstage that didn’t looked impressed at all with the attention.
I was very interested to see what Paramore would be like without the Farro's. Even without the brothers on stage, man can Hayley and her gang put on a performance. It was obvious from the first song Brick By Boring Brick that each song was choreographed, but they executed every move, every jump, every note perfectly. At one point, Jeremy Davis on the bass did a one hand cartwheel over a lying down Hayley Williams. That doesn’t just happen spontaneously, but it was still pretty cool. After Florence Welch, from Florence and the Machine I’d say that Hayley Williams has the best female voice in music today and she showed her incredible range in Decode hitting all the high notes. During Fences she challenged the crowd that they couldn’t click their fingers with their arms above their heads for the whole song. They later invited one fan on stage to sing Misery Business for their last song. Hayley told the crowd that they would be back in 2013, my tip is on Australia’s first Vans Warped Tour.
I couldn’t think of a better way to finish the day than Pierce the Veil. The “bunch of Mexicans from California” really did take the crowd on a mini Soundwave “Fiesta”. Opening with the introduction May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight to their latest album Collide with the Sky the boys walked in just in time to start Hell Above.
The band were on the same timeslot as Metallica, the Offspring and The Amity Affliction but they still pulled a crowd of passionate fans that instantly warmed to Vic Fuentes’s vocals and Pierce the Veil’s unique take on Post-Hardcore. A Match into Water was awesome in the live setting as the whole crowd chanted “we will bring a tidal wave” before the drop. They slowed it down a bit with Bulletproof Love, brought it back up with Caraphernelia and Bulls in the Bronx before finishing off the Soundwave 2013 with a Kellin Quinn-less King For a Day to the disappointment of all the girls in the crowd.
Words can’t describe how incredible the day was and I am not sure how AJ Maddah and his gang will deliver such a good line-up ever again, but I’ll await the line-up for the Warped Tour and Soundwave in 2014.
Ryan Hyde
Follow me on Twitter - @RyanHyde93