Reviewed by Nicholas Hartman and Natalie Rogers, photo by Ashley Mar
Rock music, and particularly metal, is a very tricky subject. For many people, it’s nothing more than noise that attracts an unaccountably large following of weirdos, immature passive-aggressive types, angry young men, wanton outcasts, sociopaths, or all five. There’s a kernel of truth to this when it comes to Soundwave, but nothing more.
This year’s edition of the festival witnessed a huge range of punters: middle-aged couples; fans in corpse paint; old boys attending by themselves; groups of casually dressed teenagers; goths taking the chance to fully deck out; people dressed as Pokémon, superheroes and Sesame Street characters; girls in bikinis, short shorts and thongs; and of course, a few lads in their Slipknot jumpsuits and matching masks. Only Soundwave’s unrivalled ability to book the world’s biggest bands could result in such an eclectic crowd and the continual growth of Australia’s premier rock festival.
One band that has reaped the benefits of nabbing a spot on the bill is Melbourne-based ska punks The Bennies. Handpicked to open the show for their hometown audience at last year’s festival, this time the lovable larrikins found themselves sharing the stage with childhood heroes The Aquabats as part of the official lineup.
Over on one of the three smaller stages, UK prog rockers Monuments lit things up, not necessarily through their brand of music, but through their audience interaction. Frontman Chris Barretto’s charisma and ability to work the crowd resulted in irresistible fun, the highlight of which was him asking the crowd to raise their metal horns and quickly adding, “Do it for Spock!”, encouraging the punters to make Vulcan salutes in tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy.
In stark contrast, industrial metal icons Godflesh believe an engaging show consists of two blokes chugging along in front of a blank, black poster and a stagehand triggering percussion samples backstage. They were to be found on Stage 4, AKA the metal stage, where they were followed by fellow industrial masters Fear Factory. Their so-so performance, especially ever-present vocalist Burton C. Bell’s lack of live delivery, consigned any nostalgia to the bin.
Leopard-print-clad rockers Steel Panther were on a mission to prove boobs are the new black, shamelessly encouraging lady fans to bare all before inviting the scantily-dressed punters onstage to cap off their cracking set. The Panther’s satirical take on glam metal bands was an absolute riot – there’s nothing quite as good as hearing “So come on pretty baby/Suck my balls all night” as a chorus. The band engaged in some funny banter (a rare trait in Americans) and stage antics (blowing Lexxi’s hair with leaf blowers was a good one) and, ahem, made certain requests from members of the audience.
By early evening, Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd had the ever-expanding crowd eating out of his hand during their hour-long performance. Consummate professionals, appearing fresh and relaxed, it was easy to see why this enduring band has enjoyed a 25-plus-year career.
Decked in all white, surrounded by pots of flowers all around and throughout the stage, Faith No More waltzed out to remind us what gloriousness sounds like. Opening with new song ‘Motherfucker’, they took us hand in hand through a catalogue of their hits, before closing their main set with another one of their new songs, ‘Superhero’, a nice sign of things to come from the newly awakened giants of the music world. The highlight was the customary cover within the bridge of ‘Midlife Crisis’: last time it was ‘The Popcorn Song’; this time the chorus of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ was inserted, complete with singer Mike Patton going “a weee awimbabay”. Absolutely brilliant.
Bleary-eyed but with a renewed sense of vigour and optimism, droves of sweaty spectators braved the 35-degree temperatures keen for day two. Canadian hardcore punkers Fucked Up masterfully worked the crowd much like Monuments did almost 24 hours before them. Pot-bellied frontman Damian Abraham jumped into the mosh, took selfies with people mid-song, wore their hats and shoved the mic into fans’ faces to let them sing. He’d get so lost in the crowd that often the only sign of him was the mic cord being held aloft by a security guard. The fact that the bouncer couldn’t help but beam a smile confirmed this band’s contagious sense of fun.
In the early afternoon heat, Californian punk rock veterans Lagwagon were in their element. Joking with the crowd comes so naturally to lead singer Joey Cape, you could be excused for thinking you’d stumbled into a comedy club. “It’s hard getting up that early with a band full of alcoholics,” he joked about the red-eye flight they’d caught from Brisbane that morning. The Vandals and Millencolin followed suit, leaving ’90s punk fans feeling nostalgic.
As the weather turned and the heavens opened on the Main Stage, the steam rising from the shoulders of hardcore rock fans filled the stadium. Unfazed, they stood side by side in a musky mist. Alas, All Time Low were forced to unplug when their gear was damaged in the downpour, but they finished their night on a high with a rousing a capella rendition of their hit ‘Weightless’.
Judas Priest blitzed with their speed metal for a 90-minute set. The overcast, drizzly and windy weather reminiscent of their homeland greeted the British Steelers, giving them more reason to warm the crowd up with some of their electrifying riffs. On a poorer note, Halford, the 63-year-old singer, didn’t manage much in the way of stage presence, though he still impressively pulled all the vocal moves.
Despite the weather, Soundwave soldiered on to the unmistakable sound of the Pale Emperor himself, Marilyn Manson. Manson was at his best once again, bleeding for his art in a crescendo of songs leading to his seminal hit ‘The Beautiful People’ – and the beautiful people of Sydney ate up every single second of it.
After the disappointing Guns N’ Roses tribute that was Slash’s set, Slipknot emerged from their very busy and probably very expensive backdrop. The tastelessness never ends with this band. They opened with the face-palmingly-titled ‘Sarcastrophe’, before going through a slew of their more famous radio hits, as well as a sprinkling of their new songs. The set never really seemed to catch fire – indeed, a lot of Corey Taylor’s crowd interactions seem like the well-rehearsed matador’s trick of reminding the diehards of their social alienation, yet celebrating the band’s ‘mainstream’ success (their Grammy win is brought up in almost every show). Rather than seeming like a genuine revolt against the establishment, this particular schtick resembles a carefully crafted commercial and marketing operation, especially given the articulation and worldliness Taylor expresses in interviews.
Nonetheless, soon after came the moment that sent shockwaves throughout the music world and forced Twitter into meltdown – Manson crashed The Smashing Pumpkins’ set to join Billy Corgan in an encore of ‘Ava Adore’. Does it get any better than that? The perfect end to another summer festival season.
In 2015, Soundwave is a slick, sophisticated operation – a far cry from the crude set-up offered to punters at its Sydney debut almost a decade ago.
