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Soundwave venue change forSydney

Thu 3rd Feb, 2011 in Local News

Soundwave Festival has announced that this year’s Sydney event which was scheduled to take place at Eastern Creek raceway, has changed its venue to the Sydney Showground located at Sydney Olympic Park .

In an official statement regarding the change the festival explains that:

Eastern Creek Raceway is blessed by no noise restrictions or curfews, making it a great place to have loud rock music blasting.
Having already spent substantial time, effort and treasure to make improvements to the venue – adding major shade structures, plumbing to enable the addition of hundreds of free water taps and coming up with foolproof traffic management regime, Soundwave Festival and the venue operators have jointly decided that we would rather unveil the new Eastern Creek when even more additional improvements and renovations have been completed.

We believe that the most important person in our business is not the artist, the venue or the promoter, but the concert‐goer who makes everything possible and we would rather not take the chance that we may not offer the perfect conditions.

As such this year’s event has been moved to the Sydney Showground, located at Sydney Olympic Park. All tickets are valid for the new location. Soundwave gratefully thanks the operators of the Sydney Showground who have gone above and beyond to make this move happen on short notice.

Soundwave have guaranteed that the venue change will not effect the timetable or capacity of the festival.

The festival’s promoter AJ Maddah explained the reasons for the move and what it means for punters in an interview with FL this afternoon.

Soundwave

February 21st, 2010

Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney

Soundwave Festival 2011
Saturday 26th February – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane – SOLD OUT
Sunday 27th February – Sydney Showground located at Sydney Olympic Park
Friday 4th March – Showgrounds, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
Saturday 5th March – Bonython Park, Adelaide
Monday 7th March – TBC, Perth

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random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

this is excellent

Jose Cuervo

Jose Cuervo said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Hooray!

Don't worry guys, I'm certain Soundwave can find a way to make this the worst venue it can possibly be!

crob

crob said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

hooray!

don't worry guys, i'm certain soundwave can find a way to make this the worst venue it can possibly be!

hahahahaha.... true

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Heh... it shows how bad Eastern Creek is when a move to the second worst venue in Sydney is met with universal celebration.

random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

its a good venue

close to the train station, plenty of shade and doesnt get as hot as eastern creek

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

It's still the second worst festival venue in Sydney.

random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Jose Cuervo

Jose Cuervo said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

What is worse then? im curious?

crob

crob said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

i thought big day out had an exclusive deal with the showgrounds.... not being at eastern creek means i'll probably go.

it be interesting to see if there is a sudden surge in ticket sales with this news.

random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

The EQ, Centennial Park, Sydney Park are all much worse

Jose Cuervo

Jose Cuervo said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Yeah i would agree EQ is on par, but sydney park and centenial park are great venues

libby

libby said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

this is awesome news. I'd been put off buying a ticket because of all the Eastern Creek horror stories. In fact, I know a few people going to interstate shows just to avoid Eastern Creek!

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

How is Centennial Park not a great venue?

Close to the city/Central, trees, grass, plenty of space.

You're kidding yourself.

postman_pm

postman_pm said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

2nd worst venue in sydney.... obviously none of you went the year soundwave was at sydney park.... or a non festival (i.e. jack johnson) event at centennial park...they make eastern creek look like a great venue. homebush should be much better... shade, room for more stalls... food outlets that can all run off electricity rather than generators and be able to keep drinks in fridges rather than in eskies or straight out of the box... this is great news !

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Don't confuse poorly run festivals/events with the venues they're held in. Much better events are held in those same venues.

daveyac8881

daveyac8881 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY This news is almost good enough to counteract the terrible news about the White Stripes. Well not even close. But still. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Parklands, Centenial park and the Domain are all great venues.

I never thought Homebush was that bad though, maybe seeing the BDO there isn't a good judge becasue it is a well run festival.

crob

crob said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

yeah but a good venue will can make a event run better. the key floors with soundwave in eastern creek was lack of shade and easy water access.

the showgrounds already have these facility's...

i wonder how this will change soundwaves liquor license. will there still be cages?

random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

How is Centennial Park not a great venue?

Close to the city/Central, trees, grass, plenty of space.

You're kidding yourself.

Centennial Park is much harder to get to if your from western sydney. it isnt that close to central sydney its a bit of a hike from the centre of sydney to there and public transport is a joke there. I went to Centennial Park for the V Festival a few years back.

therat

therat said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

i wonder how this will change soundwaves liquor license. will there still be cages?

Got to keep the Slayer fans locked up somewhere.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

RAS has its own liquor license that allows it to be all ages while freely serving alcohol. Its been such ever since the Easter Show moved there. Running a festival on their grounds becomes a joint deal between them and the promoters so that it can be utilised.

crob

crob said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Also, Domain is amongst the worst due to huge sound leakage from stage to stage. Royal Randwick also loses for having no shade at all, anywhere.

Jose Cuervo

Jose Cuervo said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

urgh that has the WORST sound ever at randwick. The only place decent to go there is hte likes of you tent becuase its shaded and they put effort int o the sound so it doesnt sound so fucking terrible

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

It's a 10 minute bus ride from Central. You can catch any one of about 10 buses from Central. Possibly more.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Royal Randwick is all the problems of Centennial Park + no shade and huge bottlenecks. I remember briefly walking over to Boyz Noize last year and still being able to hear the Prodigy clearly.

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Events at Centennial park have extra busses specifically for it. They are usually free and there are heaps of them.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

I haven't been to a festival at Randwick Racecourse (i.e. Future). I can certainly understand why it would be a shit venue. Didn't think of that one.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Best part about Centennial Park as a festival venue... it's actually a really nice place to be.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Okay so of all the possible festival venues in sydney we have:

Showgrounds
Eastern Creek
Kippax Lake Parklands
Domain
Centennial Park
Royal Randwick
EQ (Hordern, forum, etc. precicnt)
Sydney Park

What else? And which would be the best/worst?

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

I think they limit the amount of events that can be held there and charge a huge fee due to the Jockey Club being anal about their land. Makes you wonder why Future even bother.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Rozelle where they have Laneway (and I guess previously Macquarie Place/The Basement).

Jose Cuervo

Jose Cuervo said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Okay so of all the possible festival venues in sydney we have:

Showgrounds
Eastern Creek
Kippax Lake Parklands
Domain
Centennial Park
Royal Randwick
EQ (Hordern, forum, etc. precicnt)
Sydney Park

What else? And which would be the best/worst?

Botanic Gardens for Harbourlife would be up there as possibly the best

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

As well as Cockatoo Island.

What a winner that place is.

postman_pm

postman_pm said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

ok mate .. i’ll bite... but even down to the pure basic elements... homebush has structured plumbing that centennial doesn’t, it has the same (if not more) areas for shade due to the stadium, it has mains electricity compared to generators, spare area for storage (as in other onsite pavilions) for drinks and food, shops and atms pretty much onsite and the main stage in 900m from the nearest station verse over 3km for centennial. line-ups and organisation aside..... it still ticks more boxes.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Facilities sure, but it isn't exactly an overly nice venue.

Plus I'd say the biggest bonus of Centennial Park is that it's close enough to the coast to get the sea breeze. Guaranteed to be 4+ degrees cooler than Homebush.

random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Facilities sure, but it isn't exactly an overly nice venue.

Plus I'd say the biggest bonus of Centennial Park is that it's close enough to the coast to get the sea breeze. Guaranteed to be 4+ degrees cooler than Homebush.

you get a breeze off homebush bay at the showgrounds which cools things down

Jose Cuervo

Jose Cuervo said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

It didnt cool down at all at bdo last week, it was fucking hot when i was leaving at middnight

Shieldsy23

Shieldsy23 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

THANK FUCKING CHRIST!!!

After the absolute disaster of 2010, in terms of water, shade and transport, this is a godsend

Quicky

Quicky said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

So happy. I'm just curious to see the map now and I may reorganise my timetable

random_hero

random_hero said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

it was much cooler on the wednesday thanks to the breeze

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Not so much.

You're full of hot air, much like the breeze at Olympic Park.

benr3

benr3 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

i thought big day out had an exclusive deal with the showgrounds.... not being at eastern creek means i'll probably go.

it be interesting to see if there is a sudden surge in ticket sales with this news.

I'd say this is almost certainly the reason why they've moved it - the press release said that they don't want to 'unveil' the 'new' eastern creek until its ready.

Considering they've been there for the last 2 years at least (possibly longer - I'm not sure) why would they bother moving it unless ticket sales were shit?

estyaguilar

estyaguilar said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Great!!! - no more shitty buses to and from Blacktown station, they seriously sucked

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 3rd Feb, 2011

Dismissing the ability to have permanent facilities versus temporary ones is a pretty big dismissal, tbh. If a venue has greater and more accessible facilities it means less money spent on logistics thus savings on ticket and drink prices (or more money for better acts).

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 4th Feb, 2011

Your rental of a space is going to be significantly higher if it comes with facilities.

It's not like any of the festivals own their venues (except Meredith and maybe a couple of other rural festivals).

Eric the Black

Eric the Black said on the 4th Feb, 2011

Interesting. I may reconsider my boycott of Soundwave.
At least it is now somewhat accessible.

crowette

crowette said on the 6th Feb, 2011

my wheelchair-bound friend is stoked.

eastern creek was a nightmare for him.

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 6th Feb, 2011

my wheelchair-bound friend is stoked.

eastern creek was a nightmare for him.

for all my reasons (distance, traffic, heat) THIS ^^^^ is better. i have a habit of chatting to wheelchair bound patrons at gigs and festivals, their access limitations to practically everything are so often ignored

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Sydney map and timetable.

http://images.soundwavefestival.s3.amazonaws.com/timetables/SW11-Syd-MAPTT.pdf

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Interesting set-up. See how it goes.

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 21st Feb, 2011

yes!!! they've woken up and given Melvins an extra ten minutes

plus they now start AFTER QOTSA have finished.... AAAAAAND, Melvins+the bronx back-to-back, that is farking unreal

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Hmmmmm. Should I watch a bit of Iron Maiden or see the Melvins?

Advice, guys?

shazie

shazie said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Hmmmmm. Should I watch a bit of Iron Maiden or see the Melvins?

Advice, guys?

If you haven't seen Iron Maiden, go see them. Who knows how long it'll be before they come back again (even though the interval between last time and this time wasn't too long)

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Yeah, I think I'll see a bit of Maiden, then the Bronx/Fucked Up double.

shazie

shazie said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Also, from the looks of it doesn't seem like they put any bands in the boiler room :( Was hoping for stage 3 to be there. Then again, I guess it makes it quicker for me at certain times during the day with stage 1&2 close to 3

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 21st Feb, 2011

If you're not sure whether to see Iron Maiden, look up whatever set list they're playing on this tour and try and aim to be there for the songs you like, they never change their set.

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 21st Feb, 2011

i disagree totally... Melvins shit on Maiden and i've seen em both live recently, Maiden are relics relying on old material and were alright but a bit boring at Acer last tour while the Melvins new line up is killer as their last 3 albums attest too

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Here's their setlist from Singapore:

Satellite 15... The Final Frontier
El Dorado
2 Minutes to Midnight
Coming Home
Dance of Death
The Trooper
Blood Brothers
The Wicker Man
When the Wild Wind Blows
The Evil That Men Do
The Talisman
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore:

The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Running Free

Geez, no fucking Run To The Hills or Aces High? Not so sure I'll stick around.

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Melvins straight into the bronx is the highlight of the gig for me

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Make sure you stick around for Fucked Up, dude, going to be off the chain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNGhklp8714

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 21st Feb, 2011

cool, that's the plan

benr3

benr3 said on the 21st Feb, 2011

Here's their setlist from Singapore:

Satellite 15... The Final Frontier
El Dorado
2 Minutes to Midnight
Coming Home
Dance of Death
The Trooper
Blood Brothers
The Wicker Man
When the Wild Wind Blows
The Evil That Men Do
The Talisman
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore:

The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Running Free

Geez, no fucking Run To The Hills or Aces High? Not so sure I'll stick around.

I'd feel pretty ripped off if they didn't play run to the hills - maybe they save it for a possible second encore? they strike me as that kind of band.

daveyac8881

daveyac8881 said on the 21st Feb, 2011

I'm not sure which stage is which in BDO/Stereo terms, it looks like Converse/Essential/Carl Cox stage = 3, 6 = Hot Produce/Cream, 5a/5b = this year's lilyword, 4 = new.... interesting set up...glad they aren't using the boiler as a stage, indoor for SW would give new meaning to "boiler room".

Anyway, My day (exclamation marks signify importance):
12.30 - 1.10 Gaslight Anthem (MxPx/Ataris when I get bored)
1.25 - 2.05 SUM41!!!!!!!!
3.35 - 4.25 Primus
4.30 - 5.20 Slash
5.20 - 6.10 30 seconds to mars (bleh)
6.10 - 6.55 One Day As A Lion!!!!!
6.55 - 7.55 QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!^∞
8.00 - 8.40 Melvins
8.40 - 9.20 The Bronx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9.20 - 10.00 Iron Maiden

Wouldn't have minded catching a bit of Kylesa, Slayer, Rob Zombie but they are no match for Queens, anyone I absolutely HAVE to see who isn't on my list?

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 22nd Feb, 2011

I don't want to be a downer, but I wouldn't get your hopes up at all.

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 22nd Feb, 2011

yeah the problem i had with seeing Maiden was that it all seemed so rehearsed... sure they play pretty well note-perfect but i've never been a fan of the 3-guitar attack, it's overkill and doesn't add anything to the music... and while they seemed to be having fun it wasn't very vital as such and their are very few if any exciting surprises

2 minutes to midnight was easily the best song live and it's gone 2 or 3 songs into the set... the old song Iron Maiden was probably the only surprise of the gig i saw, and really, Bruce Dickenson just doesn't enthuse or go close to stretching himself like he did in the 80s

i NEVER EVER sit at gigs but i found it hard to stand and remain totally interested throughout the set, i loved 80s Maiden but their later stuff is pretty plain, and the selection of older material could be better chosen too

if you like metal-opera you'll like it but if you like high energy excitement and a good dose of unpredctability, see the Melvins and the Bronx and forget maiden

therat

therat said on the 22nd Feb, 2011

I saw Maiden in Perth on the last tour and was probably the most energetic gig by any band I've seen. Maybe they had an "of night" at the gig you saw.

They have so, so many hits they can't play all their most popular songs.

I knew they'd play Satellite 15.....The Final Frontier as an opener, going to be epic.

hedonism gibbon

hedonism gibbon said on the 22nd Feb, 2011

I saw Maiden in Perth on the last tour and was probably the most energetic gig by any band I've seen. Maybe they had an "of night" at the gig you saw.

They have so, so many hits they can't play all their most popular songs.

I knew they'd play Satellite 15.....The Final Frontier as an opener, going to be epic.

i dunno, i just think the actual playing is all a bit too easy for them now, the only one that even seems to raise a trace of a sweat is Adrian.... technically, the band are excellent, Dave is an undoubted freak on lead, but a couple of jams outside of the scope of the album tracks would have added unlimited excitement for me, not their most popular songs, in fact the more obscure, the better.... personally, i'd much rather hear Invaders or The Prisoner live than Run to the Hills.

i admit it could just be me getting bored of Maiden over the years but it was just missing something, like i guess many arena-sized concerts can tend to.