Soundwave 2011

The merits of music festivals can be a contentious issue, in Australia this is especially true of Soundwave. I myself have had very different experiences at Soundwave over the years, ranging from the thrifty delight of my first time in 2007, to the utter shit fight that was the 2010 edition. I think it's pretty easy to agree, however, that Soundwave fills a sizeable gap in our festival season, and if you're willing to fork out $150 it allows you to see a whole host of bands we wouldn't have dreamed of a few years back. Lets not mince words though, last years festival was a disaster. The festival had clearly outgrown it's Bassendean  home, enormous 18+ areas at a predominantly under 18 event meant that every inch of the all ages area, y'know the most important bit, was as crowded as the Faith No More moshpit. This, on a 40+ degree day was an unbearable, amateurish move.

I'm oh so happy to say that Soundwave 2011 got things right as much as the previous edition got things wrong. Upgraded to Claremont showgrounds, trimmed drinking areas, the festival was a breeze to navigate and easy to get a decent spot for most acts without having to get to their stage hours in advance. This may not be true of stage six, which seemed completely swamped for Bring Me The Horizon, however I'd assume that given the nature of that bands fan base most punters who really wanted to see them did so. Given the aforementioned ease of getting about coupled with a stellar lineup, I packed a lot into my day, but given how much I've already written I'll try to keep the rest of my review as terse as possible.

I managed to catch Trash Talk, The Sword and Amity Affliction early on in the day, and while I wont go into details the bands did their reputations no harm, but I suspect they probably stopped short of blowing too many minds. Devil Driver, somewhat to my surprise, set the early pace with a triumphant greatest hits set which solicited banging heads and smiles in equal measures from a near capacity crowd. Devil Driver cop a lot of flack, which initially was to be expected given front man Dez Fafara's nu metal history, but surely this should soon be a thing of the past, seeing him live I have no doubt he is a metal lifer. While I'm personally not their biggest fan, I can't for the life of me see what makes them less "True" or "Kvlt" than other stock standard metal bands like Daath or Darkest Hour. Whats more, their new album sounds pretty solid, and they slay live. no kidding, if they do something like this again, swallow you're imagined credibility and go see them, you might be surprised.

In the next little while I caught Slayer and Dimmu Borgir, who were, you know, Slayer and Dimmu Borgir. Not much to report, other than smiles throughout. Kylesa hit the stage to a surprisingly modest crowd in the early evening, also surprising was the brevity of their set. Officially they were slated in for thirty minutes, it felt like ten. Don't get me wrong, they were great, much better than on record in my opinion, but the length of the set was jarring and a real shame. Hopefully they will be out here again during Spiral Shadow's touring cycle, because these songs really shone live.

The best, however, was saved for last, and I'm not talking about Iron Maiden. Sheduling clashes meant that I missed the Irons, but what I've heard from those who did see them didn't fill me with envy. I struggle to think of a better contemporary punk double header than Fucked Up and The Bronx, and I'm glad to say that both bands exceeded my expectations. I've had it out with a number of friends over The Bronx, I've since stopped trying. I love their albums, though I think the latest record was a slight misstep, and they are hands down the most reliably exhilarating live punk band I've known. Singer Matt Caughthran is the human embodiment of rock and roll, terrorizing stage and crowd alike while playing, then filling every moment between songs with banter that is either genius or the ramblings of a misguided drunkard. I suspect sincerity is the primary issue a lot of neh sayer's have with The Bronx, no one who witnessed this set would have any doubts about whether these guys are for real. Oh, and a drunk as shit Spencer from Pennywise cut himself to ribbons on stage during the set, but you've probably heard that already.

As brilliant as The Bronx were, I enjoyed Fucked Up a lot more, but I suspect this was one for fans. I've read before that in the bands' early days vocalist Damien Abraham's punk moniker was "Father Damien", which makes complete sense to me now as he took fifty or so rabid FU fans and held a kind of Psychedelic Hardcore mass for forty minutes. No doubt most of those up the front for this band have been waiting, like me, to see Fucked Up for two or three years, and it was written all over their mic sharing faces for the whole set. Damien jumped into the crowd somewhere during the first song and never left, running riot through the crowd and leading them in what equated to a mass celebration of their brilliant back catalog, music and life in general. I'm not kidding, this band are that good. To say they deserve your attention is an understatement, you need to give it to them and it must be undivided.