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Emeritus
Reviews 300
Approval 96%
Soundoffs 209
News Articles 250
Band Edits + Tags 353
Album Edits 368
Album Ratings 2015
Objectivity 80%
Last Active 11-16-18 8:49 am
Joined 03-06-08
Review Comments 22,500
| Daveyboy's Soundwave Festival '09
This is just a quick run through the 16 bands I managed to catch some sort of glimpse of during the 1 day festival. I will add much more detail in a forthcoming journal entry. Of these 16, 12 were practically full sets. It was a great day overall with a fantastic line-up of bands. Well worth the $110. | | 1 | Stealing O'Neal
Pretty impressive local band. For Aussies, think a mixture of The Getaway Plan & The Hot Lies. A good way to kick things off. | | 2 | Madina Lake
Not too bad. Impressed at stages & then don't want to listen during other times. 'Here I Stand' sounded really good, but other songs were just too meh. Enthusiasm carried into their performance to keep the early crowd sufficiently involved. | | 3 | Less Than Jake
One hell of a performance. The fun aspect of their music really shines through live and a number of wise-cracks in between songs helped. But it was not just that as they were really quite good musically. Much better than I expected, the hotch-potch of horns, different vocalists & guitar really was a positive. | | 4 | Bayside
Lead vocalist Anthony Raneri had troubles on the set opener, but from there they settled in to provide a solid set. Many people who had packed in were singing along to every word. Dissapointed there was no 'Blame It On Bad Luck', but as per usual, 'Masterpiece', 'Montauk' & closer 'Devotion and Desire' were awesome. | | 5 | The Subways
Only caught half the set & it was difficult to tell how they really sounded because of the wind & where we were in relation to the stage, but from what I could hear, they were pretty ordinary. Especially the female vocalist sounded shocking. They were rockier than I thought they would be though and I didn't hear 'Shake Shake' which I really like. | | 6 | Forever The Sickest Kids
Actually sounded ok. Everything seemed rather similar to the way they sound on record and it was clear that they were fun for their fans. Of course, it probably helped that I didn't have to look at them, which is always a put off. | | 7 | UnderOath
I enjoyed them when the 2 vocalists were dueling, but the rest was either too much screaming for my liking or too many instrumental interludes. I was genuinely surprised to the extent of the electronic component of their sound... I'd almost suggest it was too much actually. | | 8 | Anberlin
You can just tell they are a great band full stop... Live or on record. The time spent listening to them seemed to fly by. The (surprisingly large) mosh was a little distracting with the band choosing their setlist to fit into the style of the festival as they predominantly played their harder & faster songs. While they did include the fantastic 'Dismantle. Repair', there was no 'Fin', nor 'Unwinding Cable Car' or 'Haight St.'. I still couldn't complain with the way they performed, I just wish it would have lasted longer really. | | 9 | The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Quite good at times and sort of meh during other songs. Lead vocalist Ronnie does have some talent. The Jack Black lookalike of a guitarist kind of impressed me when allowed to shine. Nothing too outstanding, but they were definitely better than some of the horror stories I have heard regarding their live shows. | | 10 | Dillinger Escape Plan
An explosion rang out across the Showgrounds. It was not a car back-firing or fireworks, but the sheer noise which came from this band's 4 musicians. Holy cow! And the 2 guitarists must have been training for the Olympics since they were running all over the place while playing! I couldn't understand one word from the singer and it just seemed as if the band were making noise. | | 11 | Funeral For A Friend
Mainly played their older fan-favourite songs, although I have to specifically mention new single 'Kicking and Screaming' which sounded absolutely fantastic live. Pretty good, but seemed a little disinterested at times. Great songs pleased the fans, but I doubt they won over any casual attendees on the day. | | 12 | The Bloodhound Gang
To be honest I only heard 2 songs but when one goes "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the discovery channel", I thought it was worth mentioning. Some comical banter both before & after said song also provided some entertainment. | | 13 | Billy Talent
Sen-f**kin-sensational and my eventual choice as band of the day. If anything, the lead singers screech was less noticeable live than on record, although that may be because I have got used to him finally. Strangely granted the 2nd longest set of the day. What most impressed was the talent of their guitarist & bassist, who not only nailed everything musically, but provide under-rated backing vocals. The closing trio of 'Fallen Leaves', 'Try Honesty' and 'Red Flag' were simply out of this world! | | 14 | Emery
The sound definitely made them seem harder & louder than they actually are, which was probably a negative for yours truly, although 'Walls' benefitted from this. Another bundle of energy, especially the keyboardist who seemed crazy. 4 of the 5 members are pretty much genuine vocalists at one stage or another & that provided welcome variety during their set. | | 15 | Alkaline Trio
Exceeded expectations & then some. Everything sounded pretty much spot on. Both front-men were terrific & extremely impressive on their instruments. They front-loaded their setlist (they begin with 'Calling All Skeletons', personal fave 'We've Had Enough' & 'Mercy Me'). These and many other songs all the way through to the end of their set also prove their criminally under-rated sing-along factor. Great stuff and probably the 2nd best on the day. | | 16 | Saves The Day
Some pre-pubescent 12 year old came out & began talking nasally into the mic as if he was an alien. Apparently this was Chris Conley, who surely didn't have 100% of his faculties at the time. I was impressed with the band's melodies & the drummer really nailed the few faster songs that were played, but overall it was a little ho-hum... & weird! | |
DaveyBoy
02.28.09 | Now can someone please tell me how to add a journal? It doesn't seem to be listed in the FAQ..... | Fugue
02.28.09 | Told you Billy Talent were good live. Looks like it was a seriously good show: Alkaline Trio + Emery + Billy Talent + DEP + Bloodhound gang + Less Than Jake = awesome | AliW1993
02.28.09 | Sounds great overall. I've seen 3, 5, 12 and 15 myself. Bloodhound Gang are the most entertaining live band I've ever seen, even if their actual performace was awful. | badtaste
02.28.09 | Try this link to add a journal:
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/submit_muse.php | DaveyBoy
02.28.09 | You were spot on about Billy Talent Ross? They are apparently coming back out here in August & I may just ahve to be there. They also played a new song which wil probably be called 'Devil on my Shoulder' & it wasn't too bad.
Ali, I can't really comment on the little I heard from Bloodhound Gang. Am I off the mark on The Subways or are they ordinary live? | AliW1993
02.28.09 | The Subways werent one of the best bands I've seen but I still enjoyed them. Solid but unspectacular. | KritikalMotion
02.28.09 | MONDAYYYyyyyyyyyyyyy
Can't wait for DEP. I have no idea how you got 16 bands in. wtf. | DaveyBoy
02.28.09 | Thanks badtaste. It worked a treat and the journal has now been added, so if anyone has some spare time & wants to read about my day & the funny adventures (including the "Lamb Of God" chant that shook a morning train") head on over to the journal section of this website (ie: click on 'more' at the top of the lists section on the front page).
I probably shouldn't have added or commented on The Subways. Pretty unfair due to where I was at the time.
Have fun KritikalMotion. I hope it runs as smoothly for you guys as it did in Melbourne. It's really a great line-up of bands, so you should have a ball.
Seriously Reddannihilation, for as long as Saves The Day have been around, Conley not only looked young, but his voice seemed as if it hadn't broke yet. He's not that bad on record. And yeah, I know most would have seen NIN, but one of the main reasons I was even at the festival was for Alkaline Trio, so there was no way I was going to give them a miss. | Spamue1G
02.28.09 | Yeah, shame on you for not seeing NIN Davey! :)
Sounds good, but I just can't imagine enjoying Red Jumpsuit Apparatus live. On the other hand, some bands step up their game live when they're generic in the studio, so who knows. | DaveyBoy
02.28.09 | I guess it came down to personal taste and I'm more into the punky goodness of Alk3 as compared to the industrial metal of NIN. In retrospect though, it maybe would have been a better idea to skip Saves The Day & catch a little NIN from whatever vantage point was possible. | DaveyBoy
02.28.09 | Yeah, I noticed Stage 3 has bands switiching around all over Australia Redd. You can enjoy the best of both worlds with your timetable I guess, but to be honest I was happy with the lack of clashes I had. I wouldn't have minded seeing Moneen, Valencia & Lacuna Coil as well, but apart from that, the timetables treated me rather well.
Oh & just geting back to Red Jumpsuit Apparatus for Spamue1, I didn't mind their 1st album. Not coincidentally, I am certain they only played a grand total of 2 songs (the lead singles) from their new album! | badtaste
02.28.09 | No prob Davey. Would have liked to attended this festival, but I knew only a small percentage of the bands performing. | DaveyBoy
02.28.09 | This festival was actually motivation to prioritise looking into some bands I had been meaning to listen to, but hadn't as of mid last year. Put it this way, I hadn't heard half of the bands (EG: Billy Talent, Emery, Less Than Jake, UnderOath, Saves The Day, etc...) mentioned on this list until they were announced for this festival back in approx October/November. I also heard albums by other bands like Houston Calls, Moneen, Jack's Mannequin, Lacuna Coil & 1 or 2 others that I didn't even end up seeing.
So yeah, as soon as the 2010 lineup is announced towards the end of this year, all you Aussies know what to do. | silentpotatofan
08.06.12 | wow sweet list | DaveyBoy
08.13.12 | Man, this fels so long ago. Who remembers journals on this site? I hope I copied & pasted said journal somewhere. |
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