Soundwave Festival @ BonythonPark, Adelaide (05/03/11)

Mon 7th Mar, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Soundwave has delivered again. For the third year running, they have delivered the festival of the summer and this year by a massive margin. With a line-up boasting metal, punk and hardcore legends as well as a stack of up and coming bands the anticipation for SW 2011 was huge. Adelaide fans were treated to perfect day, albeit a little warm, and the punters turned out in force to witness a day that promised a lot and delivered even more. The other Big festival should really take a lesson from SW on how to deliver a decent festival lineup.

After last years dramas of My Chemical Romance pulling out, and the unceremonious dumping of Closure In Moscow, this year was not without its own; Avenged Sevenfold having a diva moment and pulling out, Saxon pulling out last minute, Slayer missing Jeff and then Sydney when Tom fell ill and Sum 41 pulling out after Deryck fell ill. Although no big name acts were there to replace it did allow for New Found Glorys alter ego the International Superheroes of Hardcore to play a set and paved the way for Social Distortion to play Adelaide.

For the fourth year in a row the festival has been held at Bonython Park and for the fourth time it has expanded and reconfigured. It wont be long till it out grows the venue and with the problems they had with the council this year that might not be a bad thing. I arrived about midday and encountered a small and quickly moving line, after reading about the lines encountered in our bigger cities, I guess this is one of the few perks of living in little old Adelaide. It quickly became apparent that SW is a growing and evolving festival, the crowd was massive, the food, facilities and stage setups get better each year and as long as they keep getting the lineups it wont be long till its the number 1 festival, if it isn’t already.

First on the to see list were the MxPx All-stars. Since Tom and Yuri stopped touring Mike has teamed up with the Ataris to perform under the MxPx All-stars banner. Its not quite the same, but its the only way you can see them now so I guess you have to embrace it. Opening the main stage, instead of later in the day on the punk stage, meant that the crowd was small, but Mike and crew still put on a cracking show and set the scene for the day. Opening with Secret Weapon the boys ploughed through a best of set before finishing with Punk Rawk Show and Chick Magnet which had the crowd jumping and the dust rising.

I then made my first of many treks from the main to the punk stage to catch the end of New Found Glory. By the time I got there NFG were in full flight and the big crowd were giving their all. The boys played a great set including Dressed to Kill, Truck Stop Blues and their cover of Kiss Me, before finishing the show with My Friends Over You.

Next up were the legendary Hermosa Beach punks Pennywise now headed up by Zoli Teglas the boys ripped through a set full of classics and showed that after 22 years they still have it. Opening with Every Single Day followed by My Own Country and Cant Believe It had the crowd going mental from the get go. The pace didn’t slow as the boys moved from classic to classic including Peaceful Day, Same Old Story, Living For Today and Society. Having been a long time fan of PW I was a little sceptical of seeing the band without Jim, but the Zoli has filled the shoes well and brings a lot of energy to the mic. As is always the case with festival sets they are over way to quickly and as their cover of Stand By Me finished and the bass line of Bro Hymn rang out, it signalled the end was near. The set was of course finished with their stirring tribute to fallen member Jason and as the dust settled I think most realized they had just seen the days highlight.