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Emeritus
Reviews 300
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Album Edits 368
Album Ratings 2015
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Last Active 11-16-18 8:49 am
Joined 03-06-08
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| DaveyBoy's Soundwave Festival 2013
As per the previous 4 years, yours truly had the pleasure of being one of many attendees at the annual SoundWave Festival to hit Australia at the end of another long hot summer. This year was purposefully a little different than usual, with it being the 10th anniversary of the festival. Basically, the difference was that it was a much bigger event this time around, which added both cost to the ticket price & a change of venue when it came to my local show in Melbourne. The latter meant that the capacity increased from 40,000 to 60,000 people, with the main downfalls being a significant distance split to the 2 main stages, as well as an event bound to throw up numerous clashes. More than ever, more metal acts infiltrated SoundWave, but I still found a way to get great value out of the day. Here are the bands I saw in the order they played: | | 1 | Versus The World
A sparse crowd of 100 or so people were treated to a solid start to the day by under-rated Californian punk rockers Versus The World. Their most recent album is well worth a listen, and while not exactly demanding passers-by to come have a look-see, their live set was professional and accomplished. It's always a bit tricky to judge while the clock is still reading "a.m." and the sound mixing is continuously being tinkered with, but these 5 guys provided some true grit without sacrificing the nuances of their triple guitar attack. 'A Fond Farewell' was the highlight of their set, adding a much-welcome sing-along factor. | | 2 | Sharks
Having loved their previous LP 'No Gods', I was genuinely looking forward to the band I once dubbed "The English Gaslight Anthem". I can't say I was disappointed with their live set, but it would best be described as "workmanlike", rather than "blow-your-socks-off-errific". The quartet's stage presence could use some work and there was a worrying "too cool for school" attitude that seemed to seep through, although that may have had something to do with a noon hangover. At their best when allowing their brilliant melodic guitar lines to shine (see 'Luck' and 'Arcane Effigies'), the band strangely played a significant proportion of their early EP tracks. While the EPs are much-loved amongst their fan-base, you wouldn't think a festival set on the other side of the world would be the most opportune time to focus on such songs. | | 3 | Fozzy
There wasn't a great deal on in this time-slot, so I thought I would mosey on over to see The Chris Jericho Show, aka Fozzy. I'm not a huge fan of their modernized mix of metal and hard-rock, but I'm not a hater either. As expected, Jericho was the ultimate front-man, and even managed to side-step a couple of "Y2J" chants. Unfortunately, his vocals weren't exactly on-point, even if they were not as awful as some pundits would have you believe. Musically, they were competent, but not especially distinctive. The festival setting suited the grab-bag of tunes they played, and the catchier new tracks actually fared well next to set highlight 'Enemy'. | | 4 | Stone Sour
The genuine surprise of the day, this Corey Taylor led outfit packed a real punch live. While I enjoy pretty much every record they have put out, you could make an argument that none of them have come together anywhere near perfectly. And again, that's where the festival setting is perfect for such a band. Their setlist was spot on in my opinion, ranging from the acoustic 'Through Glass' all the way through to the heavy 'RU486' and '30/30-150'. Personally, I loved the catchiness of 'Absolute Zero' and 'Say You'll Haunt Me', but it was a really well rounded set. Taylor put his all into the performance (he sweated litres), while the shock to me was the technical guitar playing of Josh Rand, since I always thought he backed Jim Root, rather than the other way around. Very much recommended live, Stone Sour were my 3rd best act of the day. | | 5 | The Wonder Years
It was time for some pop-punk next with Philadelphia's The Wonder Years. These guys delivered exactly what I had expected; fun, energetic sing-alongs that kept their fans as happy as a pig in, ummm, mud. While solid, I have never quite bought into the opinion that they are at the top of their genre, and their live show did not blow me away sufficiently to sway me from my thoughts. It did, however, prove that they are a sincere, hard-working outfit who know how to piece together a sing-along (see 'Logan Circle' especially). They even stopped a song half-way through to discuss with over-zealous security the methods of bringing crowd-surfers down to Earth in a safe manner. | | 6 | Billy Talent
In arriving early to get a great spot for Canadian punks Billy Talent, I caught about 10 minutes of veteran band The Vandals... Wow, what a wacky bunch they are! Anyway, this was the second time I had seen Billy Talent, and I am glad to report that the quartet have lost absolutely none of their live prowess. As long as you do not dislike them on record, then you will love this band live. So much energy and so much fun, yet they sacrifice nothing when it comes to technical proficiency. If anything, Ben has improved his front-man skills since I saw them 4 years ago, while D'Sa, Gallant and Solowoniuk all shine individually and as a cohesive unit on each and every song. Hell, the former two still provide possibly the best back-up vocals I have seen from a band live. The 11 tunes that were played are well-chosen, while the set (surprisingly) is not harmed from the even spread of tracks chosen from their 4 LPs. My 2nd best act of the day. | | 7 | Motion City Soundtrack
I almost skipped MCS, as Billy Talent's set crossed over theirs by 5 minutes and they had been playing my favourite song 'Disappear' first up in other states. But since I had passed up seeing them 2 previous times, I felt that they deserved my attendance on this day. Thank goodness for that, as not only did they switch order to allow me to hear 'Disappear', but they delivered a near pitch-perfect performance that had me genuinely impressed. Justin sounded great, the sing-alongs were fun and the musicianship suited each and every tune down to the ground. Basically, what you see is what you get with these guys, as they don't try to gimmick anything up live, or reinvent their sound. Some people may feel that is a little boring (especially on subsequent viewings), but I would call that professionally playing to your strengths. | | 8 | Sum 41
I couldn't resist. These guys seem to blow gigs off left, right and center, and who knows how much longer they will be around. So nostalgia and fun won the day with my choice to see the Canadian pop-punk act here. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed (although not having a great spot didn't help). For mine; fun, catchy, sing-along pop-punk needs to be short-sharp and punchy live (especially in the shorter festival setting). So when third up 'We're All to Blame' goes for almost 10 minutes, I'm left bored. I mean, it's not as if these guys are technical wizards! While the sing-along choruses were still rather fun, practically every song seemed to drag, with the ho-hum crowd banter making it all the more frustrating. And boy, does Deryck look seriously unhealthy. His face looks like a puffer-fish. | | 9 | blink-182
From one veteran pop-punk act to another. Every man and his dog had warned me about Blink's live show, but I reckon it's just something you have to experience once. "Tight" is undoubtedly NOT a word you could use to describe this set from Mark, Tom & Bad Religion's drummer (replacing Travis), while the childish antics (read: "mum" jokes) returned in spades. What they do own, however, are a bunch of fun tunes that you just can?t help but bop along to. 'The Rock Show', 'First Date', (my favorite) 'Josie' and especially 'Dammit' just go off, while the set never approached boring with barely a wasted second as they churned through about 20 tunes. Seeing the stoic Tom that fronted Angels & Airwaves last year compared to this Tom, you have to wonder if it's actually 2 completely different people. | | 10 | Linkin Park
Well, kind of. Due to the previously mentioned distance between the 2 main stages, seeing and hearing Linkin Park properly often depended on what part of the stage they were on and which way the wind was blowing. So, I can't really judge their performance very well. What I could tell is that Chester is an absolute trooper on stage. He was everywhere and gives his absolute all vocally. Shinoda was the man of many talents, switching instruments and microphones as if he had ants in his pants. And the others, well were they even there? Oh yeah, I saw a pair of ear-muffs floating around. Obviously, 'In the End' and especially 'One Step Closer' received a tremendous response. | | 11 | Metallica
Having yet to see the metal legends live in the flesh, I just couldn?t resist seeing Metallica on this night - despite the annoying clash against the double billing of Paramore and The Offspring. And thankfully, I was in no way disappointed. This did not feel like a festival set at all, containing all of the attributes that a true headline show would include. From the moment Eli Wallach appeared on the big screen to the humming of 'Ecstasy of Gold', this was a true spectacle... And in that sense, it was almost unfair to compare them to all other acts from the day. Without getting into the intricate technicalities of thrash metal, all 4 members of the band seemed to be in fine form, with James Hetfield especially having recovered his vocal prowess over the last few years. And the setlist: Well, despite a number of tunes being switched and swapped between different states, it was simply amazing... In other words, only one track (in Melbourne's case 'All Nightmare Long') being played from their most recent 4 LPs! These guys almost have far too many classics to individualize tracks, but let's just say that 'Fade to Black', 'One' and 'Enter Sandman' provided the perfect lead up to encore tunes such as 'Creeping Death' and (probably my personal favourite) 'Seek and Destroy'. At the end of two and a half hours of Metallica, I won't be forgetting that riff any time soon! | |
DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | Metallica Setlist:
(Ecstasy of Gold)
Hit the Lights
Master of Puppets
The Four Horsemen
Harvester of Sorrow
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Leper Messiah
My Friend of Misery
Sad but True
Fade to Black
All Nightmare Long
One
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
-
Creeping Death
Damage, Inc.
Seek and Destroy
Other states got the likes of Orion, ...And Justice For All, Ride the Lightning, Wherever I May Roam, Battery, Metal Militia, etc... as part of their sets, but the switches were evenly and fairly spread imo. EG: ‘...AJFA’, ‘RtL’ and ‘The Four Horsemen’ being switched around as the 3rd track played.
| TomArnoldsArmpit
03.21.13 | "I would of gone this year, but l didn't have the money."
shouldn't have spent it all on gummy bears and mountain dew | TomArnoldsArmpit
03.21.13 | darn it davey | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | Sorry guys, I stuffed up the setlist and when I edited it, the format went to crap and I couldn't return it. So I just deleted all comments and started again. | Piglet
03.21.13 | didn't go this year, couldn't stand the prospect of wafting through blink and metallica fans | tempest--
03.21.13 | here's mine:
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=603187&listid=118693
Metallica were too good | joshieboy
03.21.13 | You must be American. Sprite is the lemonade of choice here. | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | Strangely, Piglet, it wasn't too bad. In fact, I should have thrown that in the list... The Metallica fans, especially, surprised me. There was a kind of a (for want of a better word) respect shown that completely took me by surprise. It was more about the music than being a dick.
Well, we had 1 in common Lloyd! | tempest--
03.21.13 | Haha, I was going to say the same thing at first! | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | I always have to be different fti. Haha. Nah, it's probably too long for a blog, which we're supposed to keep relatively short. A couple of years back, I did a video blog in conjunction with a list like this, but I'm not so sure I'll get the time to this year. | henryChinaski
03.21.13 | Cool man. Looking forward to the new Sharks record. | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | Ditto. It's come around fairly quickly (too quickly maybe?), so if they can even equal 'No Gods', I'd be very impressed. | NeoSpaz
03.21.13 | The blink fans were disgusting. | dimsim3478
03.21.13 | Wonder Years - "They even stopped a song half-way through to discuss with over-zealous security the methods of bringing crowd-surfers down to Earth in a safe manner."
Didn't Josh bash that guy? | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | Dpends on the week fti... A featured list can sometimes stay on the front page longer than a blog.
I didn't get in amongst the blink fans too much, as I was spending time in some shade on a rather hot day (still fairly close to the stage mind you). Were they cracking more mum jokes than Mark & Tom?
I wasn't close enough to see William... But they were severly pissed off with security. | elephantREVOLUTION
03.21.13 | "Oh yeah, I saw a pair of ear-muffs floating around."
i laughed so hard at this. i never seen that guy without his headphones on | NeoSpaz
03.21.13 | I made the mistake of getting among the blink fans, and they were rude, had no concert etiquette whatsoever. IT ruined the vibe that I loved so much last year, everyone just there to have a good time and enjoy the music.
And yes. they cracked a lot of those jokes. | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | I actually had a quick google around as to why he wears those ear-muffs (really head-phones) and he apparently jokes around whenever he is asked the question. So I'm calling gimmick. It wouldn't bother me if he actually displayed some impressive guitar-work, but I can't really ay that he does.
Unfortunately Neo, sometimes getting too amongst it (with certain band's fans) can indeed harm the atmosphere. I was seriously concerned with that re: Metallica, and it ended up the exact opposite! | dimsim3478
03.21.13 | "I made the mistake of getting among the blink fans, and they were rude, had no concert etiquette whatsoever." [2] | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | It's all Travis' fault. | SIMBOLIC
03.21.13 | soundwave hat shit line up this yr
| Emyay
03.21.13 | sweeet list. love the long descriptions | ReturnToRock
03.21.13 | You got to see BT and Metallica TOGETHER, you lucky sod?!
I was THIS CLOSE to catching BT live a few years ago, but had a Masters' class on the same night and had to sell my ticket (to a fellow who was understandably giddy with happiness about it). Damn academic qualifications :/
Incidentally, DB, what's your take on Dead Silence (aka 'Thank God it wasn't called 'IV'?') | ReturnToRock
03.21.13 | "I made the mistake of getting among the blink fans, and they were rude, had no concert etiquette whatsoever. IT ruined the vibe that I loved so much last year, everyone just there to have a good time and enjoy the music.
And yes. they cracked a lot of those jokes."
Same thing happened to me with Korn a few years ago. The metalheads who were there for every other band were awesome, but as soon as Korn was about to come on, all the teen girls were like 'ew, watch where you're goiiiiiing!' when I was trying to go past them and get back to my friends with two spilling beers in hand. | ReturnToRock
03.21.13 | AAAGH! And they played METAL MILITIA?!
*reconsiders going to see them at Download this year* | Havey
03.21.13 | so many shitty bands should've atleast seen Slayer | Atari
03.21.13 | cool list. versus the world are awesome and need some more attention. | AmericnZero02
03.21.13 | Great list, davey. I reeeallly want to see Billy Talent and Metallica. I'm glad you enjoyed their sets. Blink, the Sums, and LP would be fun to see also. | NeoSpaz
03.21.13 | Flogging Molly, Dear Hunter, Gallows and Sick of it All were fantastic. | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | Make sure you see BT in the future Pedro. They're well worth it. 'Dead Silence' is a solid 3.5 imo. Wish it didn't have 14 tracks though, as there was bound to be some filler.
I'm a huge fan of Slayer, because I love my metal.
Thought you might like my mention of VtW, Atari.
I can definitely recommend those 2 bands live Zero. My 2 MVPs of the day. | Atari
03.21.13 | @Davey, for sure haha. they're not even my favorite band on this list but nobody seems to know about them | DaveyBoy
03.21.13 | I get the feeling a lot of people think they are much older than what they are. I guess, they kind of look it, but still. | ReturnToRock
03.22.13 | But is Cure For The Enemy their best song to date or what? | Macros
03.22.13 | My top 3 were While She Sleeps, The Wonder Years and Deaf Havana. The blink fans were fucking annoying, not quite as bad as what the band were though, I thought they were awful. | DaveyBoy
03.22.13 | @ Pedro: Nope.
I was spewing I missed Deaf Havana, but really wanted to see Billy Talent again. | Macros
03.22.13 | They started off slowly but really picked up later in their set. They surprisingly played Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life after they had played all the songs they intended but still had 10 minutes left. | DaveyBoy
03.22.13 | 10 minutes left? WTF! Dunno which state you were in, but in Melbourne, I didn't even know there was a stage where they were playing. It was that small. | ReturnToRock
03.22.13 | Dude, Davey, c'mon, song is better than Red Flag FFS. | DaveyBoy
03.22.13 | Nope. Nor Try Honesty, This Suffering, Fallen leaves, etc, etc, etc... | ReturnToRock
03.22.13 | 1. Cure
2. Red Flag/Fallen Leaves (tie, can't decide which one is best)
3. Surprise Surprise
My ranking. | Gnocchi
03.22.13 | "I'm a huge fan of Slayer, because I love my metal."
Maybe one day dude, Hope your not whining about 60000 people, they blocked off the entries to the main stages in Sydney cause they had trouble fitting them in.
| DaveyBoy
03.23.13 | Not whining man, would just prefer these bands to play in my back-yard to only my group of friends! Haha.
And yeah, that Sydney set-up was always gonna be tricky due to the 2 main stages looking as if they were in 2 completely different arenas. | joshieboy
03.23.13 | Tbh, the line-up this years was not great. 2011's line-up is my favourite in recent memory. | DaveyBoy
03.23.13 | It was just different... especially for us with more of a pop-punkier leaning. | Macros
03.25.13 | I was at Melbourne Soundwave as well. Yeah the stage was smallish. I really disliked the whole lay out for the entire event,. as did most people I talked to. | DaveyBoy
03.25.13 | Yeah, that's Flemington for you. But the bottom line was that they were never gonna get 60,000 into the Showgrounds. I just disliked the 2 main stages being so far apart & can't help but think it had something to do with Future the following weekend. |
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