Soundwave 09
RNA Showgrounds
Melbourne

I’ve managed to calm down about it. Soundwave couldn’t do anything about the oppressive swelter or the stumbling, sweaty masses, or the fact that it took three-quarters of an hour to get a beer (which line would you like to waste time in? The one for wristbands? The one for drink tokens? The one for the toilet? The bar? The eats? How about all of them, consecutively?). Maybe they could.

Either way, I had an irksome can of Tooheys, a cigarette, sweaty eyeballs, a hurricane fence and a footy field in between me and a rather limp Rival Schools. Poor middle-aged hipsters cranking out gems from their criminally-underrated landmark United By Fate (plus a couple of peppy newies for the reformation) to a sparse crowd in the early afternoon. And up against Poison The Well and Anberlin. Well, I tried.

Their successors HelloGoodbye hurt my teeth with sweetness so I sought out the bitter in the form of beer and the maniac antics of Dilliinger Escape Plan. These progmetalcore alchemists were stunningly crisp and frighteningly energetic. How much so? I have it on good authority [Hi - Ed]  that one guitarist was wearing kneepads underneath his jeans. If they could’ve worn StackHats without arousing suspicion, they probably would've.

Holy hell, we’re already up to novelty frat-rock circus The Bloodhound Gang. The baying crowds grins seemed to wilt some, as the Jimmy Pop'ss lyrics were mostly indecipherable. Some of the crowd started tapping their watches for 'The Bad Touch' and 'Fire Water Burn', but even those gutter classics sounded insipid. We sensed we'd been had, but then,The Bloodhound Gang wouldn’t have it any other way.

Time to veer into a sterile shed to see Lacuna Coil: the blackest, most mascara-weeping end of the crowd’s all-black colour spectrum. The majestic Italian goth metal was powerful enough to get the freaks punching the air, which reached its apogee when they covered Depeche Mode’s sooky new wave opus ‘Enjoy The Silence’.
 
Brightened up with some food, it became somewhat apparent that Soundwave is just too big. The expanse of the venue, the volume of acts, the hordes of punters. If you arrived as the doors opened you could see, at most, ten or twelve of the 50-something acts appearing. And since they cover a relatively narrow selection of genres (ska at a pinch, both core and regular metal and swathe of emo punk variations), the kids who wagged school, the aged nostalgia freaks and the outer suburbanites would be constantly spoiled for choice.

For some strange reason I was committed to seeing Alice In Chains. I never liked their dour metallic grunge moaning the first time around and this reunion should’ve been a travesty, with a new singer to replace the dead one. But they were excellent. After constant pummelling during the day, Alice In Chains dark, serpentine swamp sounds were hypnotic. Staley-replacement William DuVall did a brilliant impersonation, [with his own twist - Ed] which is exactly what we required him to do.
 
Following this revelation, I was spoiled for choice. Should I see solid Alabama southern rock/ metalcore unit Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster, iconic Swedish death metallers In Flames, Chicago’s beloved heartfelt punk rockers Alkaline Trio or industrial angst rock royalty Nine Inch Nails? I was weary, they were within earshot and eyesight...NIN it was.

Giddy on nostalgia, I found Reznor’s abrasive self-flagellation a lark. The light show was overpowering and the sound was just grimy and mechanical enough to make hairs stand on end. Excellent. Soon enough the sensation fused with my giddy mix of heatstroke and liquor and I crammed myself into a train alongside the similarly withered crowds. All of whom seemed to be bonding more over their cultural camaraderie rather than any particular performer. So it goes.

Sad that the top end of the festival was too Lollapalooza for many - and the clashes hurt - but Soundwave has made sure it’s the biggest, ugliest fest of the season. Which it seems, is exactly how the punters like it. Cram it in, blow it out...you can’t say you weren’t warned.
 
Andrew Tijs

(Pics: Kristy Lee)

SOUNDWAVE REVIEW PART 2 AND PHOTO GALLERY