Check out the Adelaide REVIEW and catch a look at all the action HERE

Check out all the awesome pics from Brisbane Soundwave HERE

Read the Sydney Soundwave review HERE

See the pics from Sydney Soundwave HERE

Check out the full coverage – including exclusive artist interviews HERE

With lengthy, sluggish lines leading into the Riverstage entrances (consequently forcing most people to miss the first slew of acts), and with the beating sun well and truly proving to be the bane of any black-clad punters’ existence, the waiting game to gain access to this year’s Soundwave festival definitely drained some enthusiasm from the continually expanding crowd. However, once tickets had finally been validated, bags and I.D.’s checked, and wristbands bound around ulnas, the good old festival spirit returned in a split second as ticketholders made their way into the expansive grounds of the Brisbane leg of the country’s premiere punk/metal event. While some punters meandered into the site whilst chatting excitedly amongst a group of friends, others took it upon themselves to keep healthy and sprint into the grounds to ensure they started off Soundwave with a decent cardiovascular workout (and the odd shoulder barge in random bystanders for good measure).

That heady mix of sweat, spilt alcohol, anticipation, general crowd noise, and unbridled testosterone created that special kind of atmosphere that you can only experience at festivals of this calibre, and while not being the most enticing of “ingredients”, it certainly pumps you up at the start of the day. With five stages of musical entertainment, it was a very real possibility for festival goers to encounter timetable clashes. For many this possibility became an actuality, with bands on the poppy side of the punk spectrum performing around the same time as one another early on in the day. Madina Lake, Socratic, Mae, My American Heart, Boys Like Girls and All Time Low all took stage within an hour and a half of each other, causing many of the bopper crowd to run back and forth between the distantly-spaced bandstands, which, when factoring in mass crowd movements between stages, meant that traversing between areas could take precious minutes (sometimes up to 10 at peak periods). While these softer bands played their easy-to-swallow tunes, Stage 4 was proving to be a much more formidable section. Dino Cazares’ recent project Divine Heresy punished their amplifiers with a severe lash of pure metalcore, during which fast-as-hell drummer Tim Yeung pounded his kit to near destruction, and with vocalist Tommy Vext’s growls managing to permeate the aural onslaught occurring around him.

Back across at Stage 3, The Matches blasted out their bounce-up-and-down style rock, showcasing material from their soon to be released album A Band In Hope, including lead single Wake The Sun, which is undeniably catchy, albeit a little hollow, plus tracks from their previous two LPs. Papercut Skin went down well with the mid-sized crowd and by the end of their set the crowd was appreciative for the simplistic joy the Californian four-piece had brought to the festival. The majority of the crowd moved across to see Alexisonfire – the band having already commanded a very large number of onlookers by the beginning of their set, yet not many who were willing to engage in any physical activity to show their appreciation. The lack of tracks from Watch Out! left many in the audience disappointed, with the band instead favouring songs from their 2006 release Crisis, which was received well in the media and within their fan base; however it seems their sophomore effort is still the crowd favourite.

With the introspective semi-hardcore sounds of Alexisonfire keeping a large number of ticket holders glued to the main stage, Bleeding Through were delivering in-your-face metal to the hardheads at Stage 4, with their foremost song On Wings Of Lead garnering the most cheer from the crowd, but still not forcing the majority into a fervour expected for such a heavy band. However, lead vocalist Brandan Schieppati’s final request for the crowd to generate a large circle pit around the sound tent whipped the audience into a crazed mob as scores of fans rampaged around the tiny marquee, slamming dozens of unprepared onlookers into the mosh’s outskirts.

As the mentalist’s version of ring-around-the-rosy tore up the vicinity, Stage 5 saw indie-folk artist Kevin Devine completing his set to a large amount of patrons who were not fazed by the flailing matches happening at the other stages, instead preferring to relax to the former Miracle Of 86 front man’s solo work. No doubt the immense number of people who had gathered during Kevin Devine’s set were awaiting The Starting Line, and it is also most likely that the majority of these fans had made their way from the Plain White T’s set which had finished less than half an hour beforehand. With the strains of the soft-rockers’ tunes winning the hundreds-strong crowd over, Stage 4 should have been host to From Autumn To Ashes starting their set after Still Remains had completed theirs, however neither of the two bands made it to the festival due to separate issues. This brought the total number of bands who had pulled out of the festival circuit (whether in full or just for part of the tour) to seven, which does not inspire a great amount of confidence in the festival’s management, however the ability for the promoters to replace these bands with quality international acts is testament to the clout this festival has already, in only this its second year. One of these replacement bands, Thursday, had managed to earn much praise from a receptive audience with their post-emo tunes on the main stage before the pop-punk quintet Cartel took to the Annex in front of a number of screaming females.

Most of the crowd had gathered to await the arrival of Incubus onto stage, most of whom seemed to want to hear mostly pre-_A Crow Left Of The Murder_, however those people would be on the most part disenchanted, as the band’s latest album Light Grenades took preference. Five tracks from albums before ACLOTM were played, including Drive, Wish You Were Here and Nice To Know You, however most of the band’s songs from fan favourite S.C.I.E.N.C.E. were neglected, with the sole exception of Vitamin. Meanwhile, Sparta and former At The Drive-In member Jim Ward was crafting beautiful acoustic melodies using only his guitar and dryly saccharine voice over at Stage 5, with songs off his debut EP Quiet featuring prominently. Yet the crowd was left overjoyed when Ward performed a few Sparta tunes within his set, of which hauntingly beautiful Breaking The Broken was a standout. Once his set was completed, Ward even came out into the crowd to show his appreciation, have photos taken with fans and sign autographs, with news of his upcoming releases which will form parts two and three of his EP trilogy.

Alexisonfire’s melancholic vocalist Dallas Green performed under his City & Colour moniker to a throng of Alexisonfire devotees after Ward, while As I Lay Dying and Infectious Grooves provided substantial entertainment for their respective fans at other sections of the venue. As I Lay Dying’s sound was as brutal as one could expect from a band that have a reputation of putting on amazingly energetic, fierce live shows, with the band testing both the decibel level and the acoustic clarity of Stage 4’s speakers throughout the whole set. Infectious Grooves, back together after a 7-year hiatus, laid down funky bass lines and jangly surf-punk guitars, while Suicidal Tendencies front man Mike Muir rapped comically-styled party lyrics over the top. With a gathering of obviously Mindless Self Indulgence fans at the stage, there was always going to be a clash of the cliques, as the Infectious fans battled with the (and I quote) “emo’s” for most of the set. Harmony was also not being upheld over at the Main Stage area, as As Tall As Lions had to compete with disrespectful Offspring fans chanting over their songs and throwing bottles whilst performing. Memories of Björk before Rage Against The Machine at this year’s Gold Coast Big Day Out, no? On top of this, Offspring technicians were consistently drowning out ATAL’s stripped back emotional-rock with sound checks which were unreasonably loud and irritating.

Once ATAL had finished their nearly inaudible set, The Offspring hit the stage with Bad Habit after an expectantly long changeover, but for many the wait was forgiven as the punk veterans went about performing a “greatest hits” of sorts, with Come Out And Play, All I Want, Self Esteem, Why Don’t You Get A Job?, Pretty Fly (For A White Guy), Gone Away and Hit It all featuring in the performance. Another “greatest hits” was happening over at Stage 4, with Killswitch Engage performing a great range of songs from their four albums, leading to an all-out frenzy in the mosh from start to finish. Mindless Self Indulgence also presented their fanatical audience with a collection of their best songs from their back catalogue, with the focus more so on their 2005 release You’ll Rebel To Anything which transformed them from popular underground punk-funkers to all-out emo trip-punk superstars. Lead vocalist Jimmy Urine entertained the crowd with his onstage banter, memorable dance moves and all-round charisma, while bassist Lyn Z and drummer Kitty provided the males in the audience even more reasons to smile. It’s impossible to narrow the set down to one or two highlights, as the whole performance was everything fans had expected and more, and the first time MSI have ever toured Australia proved to be an astounding success.

By the end of the night, there were 16,000 very happy and, no doubt, very exhausted people wandering the grounds and the surrounding city area who had all borne witness to some amazing acts throughout the day, many of whom they may not have had the chance to see in one gathering if it were not for the determination of the promoters to deliver quality musical artists to the Australian public in this, a much-needed festival. Everyone will have left with a specific memory of the event which they will treasure for a long time, for sure, but overall the whole occasion was a triumph and an event that will be remembered as one of the greats for years to come.

Check out all the pics from Brisbane Soundwave HERE