Soundwave @ ClaremontShowgrounds, Perth (07/03/11)

Wed 9th Mar, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It began with a prima-donna metal band, inevitable last minute cancellations and a line-up leaked on this very site. It ended in Perth with self-mutilation, a beer garden riot and an abundance of boobs (as is Soundwave tradition).

INHALE

Sex is never far away from punk or metal and the Chainsaw Hookers set this tone mid-morning with free Chainsaw-Hooker-brand condoms for their 40 or so early comers (pun intended). Always protect yourself with a Chainsaw.

The band’s early slot, a crowd crush on entry and a ‘wtf’ festival map made it a battle to catch or even find the start of the show. However in the context of the Chainsaw Hookers it was a case of better late than severed. They revelled in the step-up in production and rocked harder than ever at stage 3.

Meanwhile, freakish Trash Talk frontman Lee Spielman was swinging from tea tree branches and belting himself in the head with his mic at stage 6. He performed amongst slam-dancing kids as Fucked Up watched on from side stage.

Annual visitors Less Than Jake took stage 3 just after midday. A set of classics including under-performed favourite Nervous in the Alley had dozens of horn-lovers kicking up circles of dust around the sound tower. A song about “young people who drive around in a van and smoke so much weed they see ghosts” was revealed as the Scooby Doo theme. Toilet paper streamers and a prosthetic zombie head were tossed around like ping-pong balls in a lotto machine.

The cheeky scene was sobered by the arrival of the best band to come out of the last five years. The Gaslight Anthem needed no frills and allowed strong songs to do the work. Closed-eyed punters could be seen shouting the band’s choruses amongst a deservedly bigger crowd than the 2008 Hydey show. The 80s jukebox rock of new song Biloxi Parish, an exclusive to the Oz tour, was instantly accessible. Guitarist Alex Rosamilia got fed up with his fold-back speaker and kicked it off the stage as the production team fumed behind him.

Les Claypool was a zany mofo who would have fitted right in with the quokkas he said he was planning to visit at Rottnest Island. The rare Primus set was all about head bopping and thinking an episode of Seinfeld was about to start.

The boobs came out as Slash’s Sweet Child of Mine riff unclipped a few bra straps. All were perfect examples of why Mad Caddies declared they couldn’t get enough of WA women at stage 5a. Margaret River weed was also mentioned as a high point of their first West Oz visit, which segued beautifully into Mary Melody- a song about “sitting with a beautiful woman and smoking a big fucking bong”. They were best of the day to that point and raised skanky bliss. The pungent scent drifting through the dust was a sure indication everybody was in the right State of Mind.

The bottleneck, as hundreds made their way to Slayer, confirmed Tom Araya was not lying when he announced the Perth crowd had “moved as the biggest unit” the band had played to all tour. Climbers thrashed about in the trees as classics like Mandatory Suicide burst out of a wall of 30-odd Marshalls.

Zach De La Rocha was best when rapping against Jon Theodore’s show-stealing beats and worst when singing. But all the action was away from One Day As A Lion and over at stage 3. Pennywise had whipped the beer garden into such a stupor that the drunkards crashed its fence and crushed bouncers on their way through. Things settled down and then seamless replacement vocalist Zoli Teglas called on Fuck Authority.

A couple of streaking women also fucked authority as they stormed Rob Zombie’s stage of horrors. They were carted off kicking and screaming but more naked women later appeared in his self-choreographed visuals. The lord of flamboyant darkness was entertaining as all hell; throwing in White Zombie flames ( Super-Charger Heaven, More Human Than Human) amongst the flesh of his solo work that worked its way into Dragula.

The Melvins weren’t quite as loud as they were when they supported Tool at the defunct eyesore Entertainment Centre in 2002, but loud enough to please the music nerds who watched them. Iron Maiden were virile and an absolute spectacle. One would imagine they keep their wives happier than most men their age.

Just as much of a spectacle but on a smaller scale were Canadians Protest The Hero at stage 6. They popped their Perth cherry by executing a formidable display of synchronised riffage that was often too technical for human eyes.

Winners of best Soundwave 2007 set The Bronx proved they had lost none of their festival form as Stage 4 wound up for the day. But it wasn’t the dangerously unpredictable Matt Caughtran who would steal the show. It would be portly Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge who had even Caughtran looking worried. The heavyweight made a cameo on stage, only to smash a bottle and slash at his marshmellowy figure. The slashes formed thick welts until they began to pour red and coat his torso in blood. The broken bottle was catapulted into someone’s head in the crowd.

Soundwave closing sets are the stuff of festival folklore… enter Fucked Up. An intimate crowd had gathered and all were looking sluggish. Beastly frontman Damian Abraham crushed a Coke can on his head and the band started unassumingly enough. This was until Abraham invaded the revellers… then shit started to go down. He tossed his first victim over his shoulder and let him scream through the mic for a few bars. Then he put him down and went looking for his next one.

If he wasn’t force-feeding his mic down a punter’s neck, punters were jumping on him trying to do it themselves. In contrast it was calm and collected on stage as his band mates rolled on their progressive brand of garagey hardcore. Abraham remained at ground level for the show’s entirety while retarded bodies twisted, turned and thrashed about around him. It was a high intensity 40 minutes and he came out of the set in pieces and covered in dirt. The consummate gentleman hugged about 20 people after the show and let one twisted fan pull out a chunk of souvenir back hair. “I don’t wanna see that on Ebay,” he growled.

Let it be heard the best Soundwave of 2011 went down in Perth City, Western Australia.

EXHALE.