Soundwave Festival 2013 @ Olympic Park, Sydney (24/02/2013)
Living in Australia is tough enough, what with every insect trying to kill you, kangaroos jumping through traffic, red belly black snakes, etc. Soundwave Sydney were battling something far more sever before the doors had even opened. The weather man, the weather!
As it turns out, mother nature wasn’t feeling redheads and pitted Paramore and Garbage against each other in a ‘whose truck isn’t at the bottom of the sea, formerly known as the Pacific Highway’ situation. Paramore’s gear arrived, but Garbage were unfortunately forced to cancel their appearance.
Some bands know how to start big. It might have been early in the day but Bullet For My Valentine don't start small. Their stage is unveiled to the sound of the dramatic 'O Fortuna' which is best known for every war scene in a film ever. The Welsh rockers appear and drop straight into opener 'Breaking Point' and the crowd are singing along with fists in the air.
Although it's a reasonably short set for the 'Scream Aim Fire' metal icons, Matthew Tuck definitely didn't skimp on the energy, technical superiority and let's not forget the noise! These guys rarely under-perform and have absolutely torn the place apart every time I've seen them.
When playing Sydney Showground, even the best most talented bands have trouble translating their sound. Sadly melodic punk rockers Billy Talent fell victim to lousy sound as they took to stage 2B.
Ben Kowalewicz's vocals fell soft on a steaming hot crowd and although die hard fans sang hard and loud to hits like 'Try Honesty' epic closer 'Red Flag', the five piece made very little connection with punters that weren't twenty people deep. Sketchy sound was an reoccurring theme of Stage 2 and I began to wonder why this venue is so popular for massive music events.
While Sum 41 drew an impressive crowd, it was the following set by Californian 90’s rappers Cypress Hill, who I was keen to see. Whenever I listen to B-Real rap, it just takes me back to the MTV generation of Daria and Beavis and Butthead. The foursome do the best they can with the sound in the Sydney Showground Arena, but hits like ‘Insane In The Brain’ take off and please the seemingly older crowd.
Next I follow the masses down to see the nu-metal rock act, Linkin Park. I personally wasn’t aware the Hybrid Theory rockers still had such a strong following.
I was about to get schooled.
Fans went equally nuts for both the new tracks like ‘Castle of Glass’ as well as set closer and debut 2000 single, ‘One Step Closer’. Linkin Park are a band that definitely bring the whole stage show with epic lighting and an energy that floored fans all the way to the cheap seats!
If you went through high school between 1992 and 2005, you were most definitely subjected to the many shades of Blink 182. If you were lucky enough not to graduate during this period, then you are the expert on boobie talk and not getting any girls.
Anticipation mounted as Blink fans young and old surged towards the stage. Mark and Tom may have been missing Travis but stand-in drummer Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion didn’t disappoint.
Opening with the first track off of their self-titled 2003 record, ‘Feeling This’, Blink tore up the stadium as if they’d never left us. The grown-up punks rocked through a set list of classics, like ‘What’s My Age Again?’, ‘First Date’ and ‘Josie’. Mark and Tom bantered back and forth as if you were listening to The Mark, Tom and Travis Show in your Mum’s car on your P’s.
My only hang-up was the fact that all their big screen camera work was in either black and white or heavily saturated reds or blues. It’s not like we don’t know that they’re old.
Well into headline territory and although I thought most punters would rush to Metallica, The Offspring still pull a generously big crowd. Why did I miss Metallica? As a child of the 90s and 00s, I played enough skater video games to know The Offspring’s material just a little bit better.
I have to say this set was absolutely my favourite of the day. It’s not hard to get a bunch of punks excited when they drop ‘Come Out and Play’ from the 1994 album Smash in the first 10 minutes. The Offspring know one thing and that’s their crowd.
The aged OC band don’t mess around and give the audience exactly what they want which is a great mix of Smash, Americana and a well spread out selection of their greatest. Highlights include ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’, ‘Gone Away’ and of course, arguably their best song ‘Self Esteem’. The Offspring sound great, they’ve got the same energy as when they started back in 1984 and are very grateful to still pull a crowd.
The troubled day ended on an absolute high with an incredibly energetic and apologetic Paramore set to close the night. The original set time had been scheduled some four hours prior but fans still showed up to watch Hayley Williams and co. put on one of their best shows to date, showcasing material from their upcoming self-titled album.
The odds of Mother Nature may have been against it in the worst possible way, but Soundwave certainly know how to pull together in the face of crisis. I can’t wait to see what drama and highlights next year will bring!
Samantha Dickson
As it turns out, mother nature wasn’t feeling redheads and pitted Paramore and Garbage against each other in a ‘whose truck isn’t at the bottom of the sea, formerly known as the Pacific Highway’ situation. Paramore’s gear arrived, but Garbage were unfortunately forced to cancel their appearance.
Some bands know how to start big. It might have been early in the day but Bullet For My Valentine don't start small. Their stage is unveiled to the sound of the dramatic 'O Fortuna' which is best known for every war scene in a film ever. The Welsh rockers appear and drop straight into opener 'Breaking Point' and the crowd are singing along with fists in the air.
Although it's a reasonably short set for the 'Scream Aim Fire' metal icons, Matthew Tuck definitely didn't skimp on the energy, technical superiority and let's not forget the noise! These guys rarely under-perform and have absolutely torn the place apart every time I've seen them.
When playing Sydney Showground, even the best most talented bands have trouble translating their sound. Sadly melodic punk rockers Billy Talent fell victim to lousy sound as they took to stage 2B.
Ben Kowalewicz's vocals fell soft on a steaming hot crowd and although die hard fans sang hard and loud to hits like 'Try Honesty' epic closer 'Red Flag', the five piece made very little connection with punters that weren't twenty people deep. Sketchy sound was an reoccurring theme of Stage 2 and I began to wonder why this venue is so popular for massive music events.
While Sum 41 drew an impressive crowd, it was the following set by Californian 90’s rappers Cypress Hill, who I was keen to see. Whenever I listen to B-Real rap, it just takes me back to the MTV generation of Daria and Beavis and Butthead. The foursome do the best they can with the sound in the Sydney Showground Arena, but hits like ‘Insane In The Brain’ take off and please the seemingly older crowd.
Next I follow the masses down to see the nu-metal rock act, Linkin Park. I personally wasn’t aware the Hybrid Theory rockers still had such a strong following.
I was about to get schooled.
Fans went equally nuts for both the new tracks like ‘Castle of Glass’ as well as set closer and debut 2000 single, ‘One Step Closer’. Linkin Park are a band that definitely bring the whole stage show with epic lighting and an energy that floored fans all the way to the cheap seats!
If you went through high school between 1992 and 2005, you were most definitely subjected to the many shades of Blink 182. If you were lucky enough not to graduate during this period, then you are the expert on boobie talk and not getting any girls.
Anticipation mounted as Blink fans young and old surged towards the stage. Mark and Tom may have been missing Travis but stand-in drummer Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion didn’t disappoint.
Opening with the first track off of their self-titled 2003 record, ‘Feeling This’, Blink tore up the stadium as if they’d never left us. The grown-up punks rocked through a set list of classics, like ‘What’s My Age Again?’, ‘First Date’ and ‘Josie’. Mark and Tom bantered back and forth as if you were listening to The Mark, Tom and Travis Show in your Mum’s car on your P’s.
My only hang-up was the fact that all their big screen camera work was in either black and white or heavily saturated reds or blues. It’s not like we don’t know that they’re old.
Well into headline territory and although I thought most punters would rush to Metallica, The Offspring still pull a generously big crowd. Why did I miss Metallica? As a child of the 90s and 00s, I played enough skater video games to know The Offspring’s material just a little bit better.
I have to say this set was absolutely my favourite of the day. It’s not hard to get a bunch of punks excited when they drop ‘Come Out and Play’ from the 1994 album Smash in the first 10 minutes. The Offspring know one thing and that’s their crowd.
The aged OC band don’t mess around and give the audience exactly what they want which is a great mix of Smash, Americana and a well spread out selection of their greatest. Highlights include ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’, ‘Gone Away’ and of course, arguably their best song ‘Self Esteem’. The Offspring sound great, they’ve got the same energy as when they started back in 1984 and are very grateful to still pull a crowd.
The troubled day ended on an absolute high with an incredibly energetic and apologetic Paramore set to close the night. The original set time had been scheduled some four hours prior but fans still showed up to watch Hayley Williams and co. put on one of their best shows to date, showcasing material from their upcoming self-titled album.
The odds of Mother Nature may have been against it in the worst possible way, but Soundwave certainly know how to pull together in the face of crisis. I can’t wait to see what drama and highlights next year will bring!
Samantha Dickson