Festival review: Soundwave 2013

Sydney Olympic Park
Sunday 24 February 2013

For all the cancellations, set clashes, public twitter wars and general bravado some would call bullshit...you've got to hand it to AJ Maddah, because Sydney Soundwave 2013 was one of the best festivals I have ever been to, and I’ve been to a lot of festivals. In my usually timely manner I'm going to review this festival one week late, but that's the Moose you’ve come to know and love, so who am I to let you down?

I’ve also got to hand it to CityRail, because my festival buddy and I met at Hamilton station, and caught one of the newer Sydney trains direct to Olympic Park in what felt like no time at all! No training backward from Central, no squeezing in with hordes of pre-drunken beefy jock guys, just quick and easy.

Once we were there, we passed the front gates with ease and gave ourselves a tour of Olympic Park. The biggest surprise was the usual main stadium, reserved for headlining sets, was the second largest stage set, with the headliners playing in the much grander ANZ stadium. After our tour of all stages, planning out the quickest routes from band to band later in the day, and realising that we may be out of luck looking for sunscreen at the St Johns First Aid tents, we grabbed some lemonade and discussed the pros and cons of the deceivingly tasty-sounding “Cheese on a Stick” on offer from the stall.

Feeling pretty damn refreshed, it was time to hit up the first band of the day, guitar heroes Dragonforce. This is the kind of band that would be funny if they weren’t so damn good. Essentially a hair metal throwback band, this group is as much Spinal Tap as they are Iron Maiden, but their shredding dual guitar solos, squealing vocals and surprisingly impressive keytar skills really won me over. Very entertaining.

Next were Anthrax, in the main stadium. Armed with a massive Anthrax backdrop, and wearing their own t-shirts, Anthrax delivered just the kind of set you expect from one of the big four. Loud, heavy and hairy, Anthrax remind me of a taped cassette (presumably my older brothers') that ended up in my hands, with the most ridiculous metal music on it, most of it Anthrax. It was a nice comparison between the tinny sound on a worn down tape and the real thing. The highlight was a cover of AC/DC’s 'TNT'.

After Anthrax, we made our way to the Vandals, whose set was running late due to some missing trucks that had been delayed by flooding on the north coast. So, of course, we made our way to the "Chips on a Stick" stand. Now, I'm going to put it out there – why aren’t chips on a stick a more common thing? A whole potato, spiralled around a skewer and covered in flavour. Long story short, I ate four.

The Vandals then played a pretty decent set, plagued by a few sound troubles and some rain, but managed to pull the whole thing together by playing Queen’s ‘Dont Stop Me Now’ from atop a white plastic horse, while people ripped up squares of stadium flooring to slide across the ground in the rain. Ahh, pure festival chaos.

From there we went to check out the “Special Guest”, who was revealed earlier to be Puscifier, a side project of Maynard from Tool. After a lengthy set up time, the band announced that they were planning to do an airline themed set, but due to technical difficulties they were just going to have to play us some music. The music they promised turned out to be great, bearing the same Maynard standard of quality he puts into everything he does. The addition of packets of airplane peanuts being tossed into the audience was a plus, as well as Maynard’s complaints about his leather coat in the heat.

From there we caught Billy Talent, and Sum 41. Both were great, and it turns out I get quite nostalgic over Sum 41 songs. Who’d-a thought? But at that point I still felt they were having sound troubles as everything just sounded muddy. Luckily festival friend and I found the desert bar. Sundaes and Sum 41 – a pretty sweet afternoon.

Now here’s where the day really kicks in. First we caught the end of All Time Low, a pretty impressive punk pop band that bantered like a young Blink 182, proudly screaming “Water My Garden of Humans! Grow for me!" while guards hosed the crowd, as well as "If you want to go see older, fatter dudes do exactly what we do, go see Blink”.

Then the selling point for my Soundwave 2013, A Perfect Circle. A band that I have wanted to see for so long, with a lineup featuring James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins and Maynard of Tool. Here’s the kicker though; as much as I loved seeing them live, and they were great, their set revolved around many of their atmospheric and slow songs that would be much better suited to a theatre. While highlights like "The Hollow" really hit the spot for a festival crowd, I thought the set was missing a few key tracks that just could have suited the stadium better. With no side shows though, I am just glad to have seen this excellent band live.  Here's hoping they tour again.

At this point we were meant to go check out Garbage, a band I have always wanted to see, but due to their truck also getting stuck and arriving late from Brisbane, their set was cancelled. While this was disappointing, it gave us time to grab some food and get into the D Barrier for Blink, and thanks to some awesome crowd manoeuvres we ended up pretty close to the front.

I saw Blink 182 in London last year, so the fact that drummer Travis Barker was not touring with them didn’t dampen my excitement.  The stage was set with a full light show and video screens, with a cut-out of Ralph Wiggum on one amp, and the band did not disappoint. Australia have been waiting since 2004 for a Blink 182 tour, so it was fitting that the crowd went crazy, circle pits and all, while the band blasted through a lengthy set of material spanning from 1998 to last year’s "Dogs Eating Dogs" (reviewed by Schnitzel on this very blog). Never once relying on an "Enema of the State"-heavy set, the band showed that despite the reasonable maturity of their new material, it fits in perfectly with their earliest material. Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman filled in on the kit for Barker, and while stylistically different he kept up with the band, and showed up any critics with a spectacular drum solo. And of course there were the crude jokes and fratboy humour, but what would a Blink gig be without it.

Finally for the headliner, METALLICA!

Metallica played a two hour, fifteen minute closing set, which clashed with more than one band I wanted to see, so I split that time between Blink 182 for the first hour, and Metallica for the second (entirely glad I did). But I have to say, that final hour and a quarter I managed to catch from this band turned me from a casual listener to a fan (at least of their live show anyway).

I assumed I would have no chance of making my way to the front, or even the D barrier, getting to the set so late, but making my way down the stairs at ANZ stadium I quickly realised it wasn’t as full as I thought it might be. I quickly made my way down to the D Barrier gates, straight through, and within two songs was metres away from Hetfield and Hammet.

The two-level stage was backed by a giagantic screen, towering the band over the entire stadium and giving each of the members much more of a presence over the crowd, especially for those at the back. The band proved themselves to be truly one of the greats. Say what you will about their career progression and back catalogue, but even if you believe the band has produced only a few classic albums, you have to admire the power behind a band that has been playing together for so long.

I arrived midway through "Broken, Beat and Scarred", and was blown away by a second half set of modern metal classics, all the hits, and an encore of "Creeping Death", "Fight Fire with Fire", and the finale – "Seek and Destroy". Tight as a band could be, with none of the bullshit surrounding a band so big. The perfect closer to the biggest Soundwave yet.

After that, long story short, we made the train home, then straight to bed. Sunburnt, sore and pretty damn impressed.

X Moose.

PS : As an added bonus for reading on, here is the Metallica setlist from the night.

Opener : The Ecstasy of Gold (Ennio Morricone)

Hit the Lights

Master of Puppets

Holier Than Thou

Harvester of Sorrow

Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Ride the Lightning

Broken, Beat & Scarred

Sad but True

Fade to Black

Orion

One

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Blackened

Nothing Else Matters

Enter Sandman

Encore: Creeping Death

Fight Fire with Fire

Seek & Destroy