- œThe Bloodhouse Gang’ as they were titled on the timetable, are not a band one would call incredible, but as far providing cheesy pop-porn goes though there really is no one better. Some of the whingers in the crowd needed to lighten up, there was 4 other stages to watch bands on, so why the hell they were at Bloodhound Gang only to comment on the merits of them being on the bill is anyone’s guess. It was good music to tune in and out from in the licensed area and up at the stage, it was good music to let it all just hang out to -as indicated by a few topless girls.

Hooray for boobies! There it’s been said. Fan favourites from that album: Chasey Lane and Fire, Water Burn both featured, The Bad Touch got a run of course but the opener Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss, may have been the best; it’s mid 90s euro trance intro beginning no more than 10 seconds after Dillinger had left Stage 1. Suddenly being subjected to such guilty pleasured filth after a total mind fuck from Dillinger was an experience that will probably never happen again.

The crowd was heaving by the time Billy Talent took the mainstage duties from The Bloodhouse, an absolute belter of a band, they have already written themselves into punk immortality off two albums (under the name Billy Talent). Canada sure produces some quality. No other act pulls off such a deranged sound or pure force and their live show, as was finally discovered by the Perth kids, takes the music and listening experience to a whole other level.

It was not going to matter what setlist they chose, each one of their songs has something jarring and unique to offer. They went with the most rotated ones though, the early successes like River Below, The Ex and Try Honesty were amazing to hear live. Try Honesty was up there with the best performance of the set and the conversational build up to The Ex included Ian D’Sa announcing his ex girlfriend was – œan absolute cunt’. Kevin Bloody Wilson was wrong after all (type Kevin Bloody Wilson Canada in Google if you have no idea what that refers to).

D’Sa, one leg up on the fold back, eye-balled the crowd with a crazed expression and his voice lost none of the raw ferocity that is the trademark of their recorded albums. Devil in a Midnight Mass’ crashing conclusion provided the point of the set where everyone turned to each other and just shook their heads, Fallen Leaves was the most vocal on the crowd’s part and Red Flag exploded into it’s anarchic theme after a much held off count in from D’Sa. They previewed new song Turn Your Back and announced they would be back in August. One would hope this includes Perth. The frontman also paid a sincere tribute to Australia midway through the show for our efforts with the bushfire victim’s recovery which was met with a raised applause. The festival had reached its peak upon the exit of Billy Talent and so uncharted levels of euphoria were the only place it could go to next.

10 minutes of Alice In Chains before Say Anything proved to be an excellent choice for keeping the emotional ascent going, with the band thrashing out early 90s monster Them Bones early in the piece. New vocalist William DuVall did not attempt to be Layne Staley but did it all his own way and sounded rock solid.

Unfortunately for Say Anything fans, a major sound screw up would mean that only half of their rare Oz live show would be seen on Stage 5 after a 20 minute late start. Even more frustrating was that Alkaline Trio started right on time on Stage 3 and with a similar fan base it left many pissed at the fact that they were standing around waiting when they could been watching the start of their show. Despite this, when they finally did start, the band was everything their albums promise. They produce albums of melodic incantations which possess the listener’s vocal chords; set these spells loose in the late stages of a festival with a crowd of people already possessed by booze, drugs or festival buzz and it starts to make an Italian soccer crowd seem like a children’s choir in comparison.

Memorised lyric after memorised lyric poured out of the kids’ lungs: “When I watch you… wanna do you… right where you’re standing… yeahh!” they chanted with Max Bemis as he finally kicked off the show. “Cause for you I’ll never have rough sex with Molly Connolly again” was stated with much conviction before the overdrive pedal was hit for Everyman Has A Molly.

Woe’s “She said, I can’t get laid in this town without these pointy fucking shoes”, perhaps the most memorable shared chant of the set. Their older songs were noticeably more enjoyed than their recent ones and it was a real glass case of mixed emotions when they suddenly stopped playing. The band can’t be blamed, they of course had a set time they had to finish, but it was a huge disappointment.

A wander back over the hill and the previously lively licensed areas were suddenly becoming deserted, dusk had well and truly begun to settle and the crowd had lessened to an eerie murmur. What the hell was going to become of that incredible lighting set up that had been taunting them all day? What was to be named the best crowd of the tour by Trent Reznor stood waiting, resembling the lines of brain dead souls from Apple’s 1984 Macintosh commercial, staring up at the machine which was about to alight. It became an apocalyptic, industrial monster of post modern musical technology with Reznor appearing as its conductor behind his samples desk. Crowds have been grinding through the cogs of the Nine Inch Nails machine for 20 years this year and for the first time since the Big Day Out of 2000 it was Perth’s turn.

It had been well covered in the press that this would be the last Nine Inch Nails tour for a while and the crowd made sure they were seen out with a boom. It was an unfathomable view over the sea of people from the grand stand, the lighting rig appearing to shoot volts of electricity which made the ocean pulse. Inside the crowd, one became a follower, a reprogrammed unit, brain washed by the cast iron bashings of Lost Prophets drummer Ilan Rubin. The sound was incredible, Reznor has always made sure Nine Inch Nails is at the cutting edge of artist technology and surrounded by absolute technical experts, the sound clarity stretched as far down as the crowd, so it was no devastation for the people at the back.

Terrible Lie could not have been timed better, just when the night had finally fallen the call of the perplexed believer rang out into the black sky. The lights came into full effect and the crowd marched in slow motion to the track’s 88 sonic beats per minute. March Of The Pigs was the expected case of repeated pandemonium then solace, Reznor savouring the track’s outro and absorbing cheers in between it’s seminal final four lines. Since the Johnny Cash cover Hurt has arguably become the band’s signature track and when the familiar arrangement of minor notes echoed through the night, the reaction was the biggest of the show. It was no surprise then that Reznor was joined on the vocal lines by his disciples, hanging onto every word of the song like their own personal hymn. Reptile is a disturbingly haunting track and was, as it is on The Downward Spiral album, a stark and sombre contrast to the songs that accompanied it.

So it was a mixture of crowd favourites and recent releases, Reznor delivering them with never too much to say, allowing the crowd to get lost inside the mechanics of the music. During the second encore he announced he’d like to introduce a band that had definitely blown them all away and that band was of course Coldplay. Humour from serious people is always the best humour. Dillinger Escape Plan ended up stepping forward to join the band for a rendition of Wish that will now live on in festival folklore forever.

Special mention must be made of Bedouin Soundclash and In Flames who both reportedly closed their respective stages in high class fashion but were not witnessed by enough because of the NIN clash.

This gig has set the standard for festivals in the coming years. It has been a long while since this reviewer has had the genuine post festival blues, probably as long ago as when The Big Day Out was the only festival Perth experienced. But Soundwave 09 brought back that magical pre festival anticipation, the watching of bands ALL DAY instead of paying attention to your mates and the tit flashing according to Mr Reznor. It just leaves one wishing it could all be done again tomorrow. Next year.