Soundwave Festival - Part Two

Soundwave Part One

All Time Low were up next, a pop-punk four piece from Baltimore. The band ran a little late but had a huge crowd waiting for their arrival to stage. The boys opened with Damned If I Do Ya, the crowd immediately hyped up and enjoying the performance. A large variety of songs were played, songs ranging from tracks off their first ever EP, Put Up or Shut Up, to hits off their most recent release, Don't Panic. All Time Low's set was another energy filled performance, the crowd constantly entertained with fast, catchy songs, singalongs and the bands on stage banter.

(Photo by Adam Elmakias)

Next I headed to one of the main arenas for Blink-182. Even though it was largely advertised that Blink were to be headed to Australia as a full band, plans were changed last minute, drummer Travis Barker, unable to make it. Barker was involved in a plane accident in 2008, in which he was the only survivor. Barker hasn't flown since the accident but was determined to make it for Soundwave, but unfortunately could not defeat his fear. Blink-182 instead played with replacement, Brooks Wackerman.

Blink-182 played on Stage 2, a stage that went through a few complications throughout the day. Soundwave occurred the same time as floods occurred in Queensland and New South Wales, causing problems for the trucks with gear heading to the festival. The timetable at Stage 2 was shuffled around throughout the day, bands running late, and the festival being extended 45 minutes so that Paramore could play after The Offspring.

The arena quickly filled up as other bands' sets finished, the mosh pit and seats pretty much entirely filled as Blink hit the stage after setting up their many lights and screens. The band opened with Feeling This, the crowd immediately going off over the fact that Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge were really playing right in front of them. The band played a large range of songs off all their albums, the crowd noticeably not enjoying the songs off their most recent release, Neighbourhoods, compared to all their hits off their earlier albums such as Enema of the State and Dude Ranch.

(Photo by Sammy Roenfeldt)

Blink-182 were also ones to keep the crowd very entertained with Mark and Tom's banter. The band closed with Dammit merged with Family Reunion, which was definitely a highlight of the set. Literally within seconds of Blink's set finishing, The Offspring hit the stage to keep the timetable running on time, due to shuffling of bands' playing times.

After Blink, I headed to Pierce The Veil at Stage 5. Stage 5 was probably the worst stage out of all the Soundwave stages, as it was inside one of Sydney Showground's pavillions, and was far too small for the crowd watching Pierce The Veil.

Pierce The Veil are a pop-punk band from San Diego, California but are better known for their Mexican background. The band opened their set with "May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight" an intro track on their most recent album, Collide With The Sky, which then merged into follow up track Hell Above. The band played a short set only playing 6 or 7 songs but had one of the most energy filled sets, the mosh pit screaming every lyric and jumping and dancing throughout every song, even though Pierce The Veil were one of the last bands of the day for most.

Overall, Soundwave was quite a successful day apart from the few complications involving timetables on Stage 2 and a flare being lit in the mosh for Bring Me The Horizon, causing minor injuries to 2-3 people. This year's Soundwave was the biggest the festival has ever seen, every city selling out within a few days of sale. Everyone who attended the festival seemed to be more than content with their day, very thankful for organiser, AJ Maddah, for putting on the day.

Soundwave Festival - Part One

The 24th of February held the long awaited event for all metal, punk and rock lovers from Sydney; the second leg of the Soundwave Festival. The festival had visited Brisbane the previous day and Sydney was up next, bringing the likes of Metallica, Linkin Park, Blink-182 and The Offspring to Sydney Showgrounds.

The day kicked off early, people being let into the gates from about 10.00am, the first bands set to hit the stage at 11.00. Thousands of people were already flowing through the gates as they opened, most heading to the merchandise tents or the signing tent to start the long day ahead of them. 

Timetables were released a few weeks prior to the event and caused a lot of stress for many. With most of the headliners playing at the same time and a lot of clashes between smaller bands with similar fan bases, it quickly became a tough decision of which bands to check out.

First band up for me were Memphis May Fire, a Rise Records, post-hardcore band from Dallas, Texas. The band managed to pull a pretty big crowd for being one of the first bands to play and one of the smaller bands of the line up. They produced an energy filled set, playing songs such as Vices, Prove Me Right and Without Walls. The band were also joined on stage by good friend and Sleeping With Sirens front man, Kellin Quinn, to play Legacy.

Next up, were Mindless Self Indulgence. MSI have been around for around 16 years and that could easily be seen through their incredible stage presence. The band have a unique synth-punk, electronic rock sound and had the whole crowd moving through out the set, especially in their hit songs Shut Me Up and Straight To Video. Lead vocalist, Jimmy, entertained the crowd with his constant dancing and weird antics that is well known for.

Sleeping With Sirens were next, another Rise Records post-hardcore band. Sleeping With Sirens pulled a huge crowd even if it was mainly filled with teenage girls, a large majority of them screaming over front man, Kellin Quinn. The band played all their well known tracks, opening with Do It Now, Remember It Later. For two songs in the set the band went acoustic, leaving only Kellin and lead guitarist Jesse on stage to perform Don't Fall Asleep The Helm and Roger Rabbit; a track of their most recent release, Acoustic EP - If You Were A Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack. 

Leaving Sleeping With Sirens set a few songs early, I headed to stage four to see yet another Rise Records band, but this time metal core act, Of Mice and Men. Arriving at the set, the band were kicking off their most recent single, The Depths. Lead vocalist, Austin Carlile dedicated the song to legendary front man, Corey Taylor, getting the crowd involved in a very Slipknot like action, everyone kneeling down until the first line of the song was screamed. The band played 8 songs, the mosh pit never stopping the entire time, complete with circle pits and a 'wall of death'.