Photogallery by kyza here

Soundwave – the alternative festival that creeped onto the scene a few short years ago, kicked off its biggest year yet in Brisbane on a steamy summer day. There’s no doubting this festival is the biggest event of the year for those who like to rock.

With continual reference to the heat Gallows are at full noise. Frontman Frank Carter makes a trip into the seething crowd with the intention of ticking giant circle-pit off his ‘to do’ list. Wielding a mike stand for control he parts the mass and keeps them back till he’s safely back on stage. The band ignites with a casual flick of the wrist and so do the few hundred collision-destined accelerators in the front lines. Happy to be on such a quality tour – “We’ve toured with some pretty shit bands,” – punters are left puffing and the poms do “one more and then fuck off!’.

RX Bandits hit the stage with a lot to prove, and it’s quickly apparent that the strength of band is easily greater than the sum of its four members. They provide a cross section of songs from three albums, with Matt Choi chopping it up between guitar and keyboard duties and whipping the crowd into an early frenzy.

Taking Back Sunday thrill the midday crowd with a loud and energetic set. The Long Island natives, who have been absent from our shores for a few years, still have the knack for sending wild the punters brave enough to face the mosh. Frontman Adam Lazzara peddles his usual bizarre antics – scaffold climbing and wrapping the microphone cord around his neck during a set that includes MakeDamnSure and What’s It Feel Like to Be A Ghost.

A small yet eager crowd gather for the first ever Australian performance by US progressive metal group Baroness, who look relaxed and just damn happy to be playing as they lead into the atmospheric Bullhead’s Psalm. Their latest Blue Record is the focus of the set, and the Georgian four-piece blast heavily through The Sweetest Curse, Jake Leg, A Horse Called Golgotha and Swollen Halo, interspersed with their Red Album tour de force Isak. Time permitting, Wanderlust would have been a welcome addition to the set, but even without it their performance is incredibly powerful and perfectly executed.

San Franciscan six piece Set Your Goals deliver a blistering show littered with songs from their recent release This Will Be The Death Of Us. Look Closer, Summer Jam, Equals, and Our Ethos: A Legacy to Pass On all feature but crowd favourites are Echoes and set closer Mutiny!, with a stage performance that set an early benchmark for the rest of the day.

LA metal five-piece Isis deliver a flowing set at one of the most enjoyable venues of the day – Stage 4. Massive cuts 20 Minutes/40 Years and Threshold of Transformation drown the hefty crowd with a hypnotizing wall of sound.

Eagles Of Death Metal jam out hip-shaking, feel-good tunes under the blistering sun at the main stage. Jesse Hughes swaggers and yelps his way around the stage and dances on speaker stacks while the rest of the band lay down the kicking Wannabe in LA and Speaking In Tongues.

Relegated from the main stage of Soundwave 2008, Motion City Soundtrack play to a small audience at Stage 3 in brutal afternoon sun. Their short set includes songs off their latest release My Dinosaur Life but suffers from bad sound and raspy off-key vocals. The rest of the band is tight, and while they don’t win any new fans today, the already-converted bounce like pogos to closer Everything Is Alright.

Alexisonfire draw the largest crowd of the day so far. Their latest record, Old Crows / Young Cardinals is their most cohesive offering and it translates live, the band now fusing the strong melodies of Dallas Green and rough narrative of George Petit much more than their previous visits. They offer a mix of old and new favourites including This Could Be Anywhere In The World and Young Cardinals as highlights.

Clutch may look like roadies but lay down an air-tight set of stomping Southern blues and classic rock at Stage 4. Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster and bassist Dan Maines are one of the most under-rated rhythm section in rock, perfectly nailing the monstrous grooves of The Mob Goes Wild and Burning Beard. Frontman Neil Fallon ’s booming voice and quiet confidence make the most of rubber-burner Electric Worry.

The large white lettered backdrop spelling Paramore is hardly necessary to advise which band the distinctive and diminuitive redhead Hayley Williams is frontwoman for. Donning leopard tights, she commands the thousands of teen-worshippers through a thumping pop-punk set. Misery Business gets an extended loop intro before Williams jumps around the stage while still nailing the chorus high notes with stunning accuracy.

Brighton’s Architects hit the pitifully equipped Stage 5 in front of an ocean of trendy folk who were likely won over by the band’s recent tour with Parkway Drive. Their set focuses solely on 2008’s Hollow Crown record, but a poor mix turns many of the intricate riffs into mud. Frontman Sam Carter ’s vocals falter on more than one occasion, but his stage energy and audience rapport surely wins over any nay-sayers.

Canadian metal sleepers and documentary-subjects Anvil show why they’ve influenced Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica at Stage 4. Still wide-eyed since their 1978 inception and only recent growth in profile, frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow, drummer Robb Reiner and bassist Glenn Five hammer out classics from Metal On Metal including 666 with all the conviction they can muster.

Sweden’s Meshuggah are one of the heaviest and craziest bands on this year’s bill, and deservedly garner a massive reaction from the packed Stage 4 tent. The crushing 8-string grooves of Rational Gaze and Bleed turn the mosh into a sea of hair, limbs and sweat, while Thomas Haake ’s mathematically challenging drum-work and Fredrik Thordendal ’s jazz-fusion guitar solos melt faces.

After a lengthy delay Anthrax hit the stage, and despite a frustrating 2009 the band gets a returning hero’s welcome from the army of metal-heads present. Old/new frontman John Bush is in fine voice tonight and not even a slew of technical problems can keep the band from delivering thrash classics Only, Indians and pit anthem Caught In A Mosh.

Punk rock royalty of the nineties The Get Up Kids are back in Australia for the first time since 2004 after having reunited just over a year ago. Age hasn’t diminished their talent as they bop through Holiday, I’m A Loner Dottie, A Rebel…, Woodson, The One You Want, Red Letter Day, Don’t Hate Me, Stay Gone, Coming Clean, Action & Action, Ten Minutes and their cover of The Cure’s Close To Me. Despite the lack of audience enthusiasm (most of whom are biding time before All Time Low), the Missouri quintet complete their incredibly nostalgic set with Matt Pryor ‘s parting words, “See you next time.”

Reel Big Fish offer a welcome change in intensity and a solid crowd has formed to take respite in their brass-based ska shenanigans. Glass Jaw revisits a host of high school parties and offers plenty of awesome singalong opportunities. Sunny versions of Brown Eyed Girl and Enter Sandman segue into the band’s own The Set Up and sets off a flurry of smiles and dance moves.

At the main stage a huge crowd is in full voice for Every You Every Me. The prettiest band of the day Placebo have found their second wind with young drummer-boy Steve Forest. Brian Molko ’s trio has grown to six with the addition of two keyboardists and another guitarist. The androgynous vocals are studio perfect, the visuals beautiful and typically weird, and the bigger sounding band cuts exceptionally sharp on crowd pleaser Meds .

Mobs of screaming teenage girls surge the stage to catch a glimpse of their new favourite band All Time Low. The charismatic Jack Barakat and Alex Gaskarth provide the crowd-pleasing antics while the rest of the band pelt out song after song, including set highlights Dear Maria, Count Me In and Poppin Champagne.

Despite mics dropping in and out, Dance Gavin Dance put on a full force set, opening with the funky Carl Barker from new album Happiness. Other recent offerings are Tree Village and NASA, and former vocalist (current Emarosa frontman) Jonny Craig helps out on Surprise! I’m From Cuba, Everyone Has One Brain and Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most from the group’s previous two releases. Skyhook and Alex English send the crowd over the edge with a frenetic display of post-hardcore action.

Florida’s Trivium greet an absolutely crammed Stage 4 with new drummer Nick Augusto in tow. With the opening one-two punch of Ascendancy favourites Rain and Drowned And Torn Asunder, the band flies through a blistering hour-long set. New song Shattering The Skies Above and the Sepultura cover Slave New World are aired amongst a strong collection of back catalogue favourites.

Massachusetts five-piece Four Year Strong meld their fusion of pop-punk, hardcore and metalcore into an aural party filled with whines, growls, breakdowns and beards. Be it microphone issues or just poor mixing, vocals from Alan Day and Josh Lyford fail to permeate, leaving Dan O’Connor the task of keeping lyrics audible. It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now, Prepare To Be Digitally Manipulated and their cover of Third Eye Blind’s Semi Charmed Life are highlights in a set that doesn’t translate as well as it should.

Big news in the “scene” scene (the merch tents selling out of their shirts earlier in the day), A Day To Remember attract plenty of punters ready to swing their fists. The popcore quintet burst into The Downfall Of Us All and continue their assault with Fast Forward To 2012, The Danger In Starting A Fire, My Life For Hire, NJ Legion Iced Tea and Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End. They finish on Plot To Bomb The Panhandle after Jeremy Mckinnon offers the audience a choice between that and I’m Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of?.

Jane’s Addiction are in Brisbane six months after an elbow infection made Splendour In The Grass’ loss Soundwave’s gain. A bare-chested Dave Navarro occupies much of the main stage video link whilst frontman Perry Farrell works the crowd up front. Jane Says gets an acoustic reworking and Three Days has the older demographic nostalgically singing along.

Being sandwiched between two of the most anticipated appearances in years was never going to be easy, but the additional pressure of filling the void left by the My Chemical Romance hype machine would have down-right sucked. Jimmy Eat World haven’t had their name in the bold type of a major festival for a while but what they lack in new material they make up for with romantic nostalgia. Their middle-of-the-road set drags on, but the predictable closer Middle is a fun limb and larynx warm up for the (pun-intended) epic set that’s about to begin.

Dressed in pastel suits, Mike Patton, Jon Hudson, Mike Bordin, Roddy Buddom and Bill Gould step onstage to a cacophonous roar from the crowd. A cover of Peaches and Herb’s Reunited fittingly introduces the band, the red-velvet curtain backdrop only serving to enhance the band’s grandeur.

From Out Of Nowhere, Evidence, Gentle Art Of Making Enemies, Last Cup Of Sorrow and Closer are incredibly faithful renditions of their recorded versions, with the guitar solo of Easy delivered note-for-note.

Cringeworthy moments are when Patton asks if we’re still feeling Bristastic before Midlife Crisis, while the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s awful Pokerface are given a typically Faith No More reworking as an introduction to Chinese Arithmetic.

Epic sees Patton in fine shit-stirring form, commandeering a video camera to expose a little more of himself than necessary to the crowd. His antics garner more guffaws and shrieks of delight than proclamations of disgust. Asking what our favourite sport is, Patton rouses a chant of “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!” before Chariots Of Fire segues into Stripsearch.

A cover of Sparks’ 1974 single This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us wraps their set, the only notable absences being Digging The Grave and Falling To Pieces.

Who could possibly top the headliner spot next year?

Reviewed by yaki, mehaf, kapper_23, rarrnae, brittles, kerosinekid, stackboy, shakiratanah and misscrystle. Compiled by misscrystle.