Soundwave Festival @ SydneyPark, (25/02/07)

Tue 27th Feb, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Mother Nature and the line up for the bar were two defining factors at this year’s Soundwave Festival at Sydney Park. It was impossible to find shelter from the rain and even harder to get your hands on a beer – making you pose the question of was it all worth it?

Well, it was for a few reasons. Thanks to a great stage set up the music was non-stop all day, with the standouts being Juliette and The Licks, Hit The Lights and of course, Unwritten Law.

Despite being in the middle of a drought, the heavens opened up not long after the initial crowds arrived and in time for Central Coast four-piece Angelas Dish. Angelas Dish have been working hard in the studio on their debut album and they seemed to relish the opportunity to be onstage again.

Their 20-minute set was short and sweet, just like the melodies they played, taken from their EP My Body Is An Ashtray.

Regular John were an unusual, but fitting introduction to Juliette and The Licks with their long hair and old skool rock and roll ethos. Juliette Lewis (of Kalifornia fame) came out looking like an Indian. Her peculiar voice ringed true from the outset of their indie/alternative set as she sang, “You better watch what you do, okay”.

It was a very high energetic show not unlike our very own The Grates. Juliette had some better poses than Patience, but not as big a voice. Juliette told a story throughout each song that was usually unrelated – “this is a little rant I wrote about the white privileged American male” aptly titled American Boy. Juliette also didn’t mind a little a bit of freestyle dancing to the band’s guitar solos before a “sassy little number” in single Sticky Honey where she asked everyone to “lick your lips and move your hips”.

Another story for bedtime readying went along the lines of, “The night he came to me and he spoke something new and true” as she declares she just made it up with the bass line. You could see creativity and songwriting were not a task for the Hollywood actress, proving she was one of the lucky entertainers who could be both an actor and a singer. They played another track from their new album Four On The Floor titled Purgatory Blues, which received a big cheer with the rain briefly stopping.

“When flying over on a plane to Sydney, Australia, I was getting hot because I knew when the sun would go down, it was gonna get wet…” she spoke as she introduced Hot Kiss. She finished off with a song close to her heart, leaving a good impression on their first tour down under.

Overhead the rain began to drop once more while the jumbo jets continually landed at Sydney airport nearby. They were a slight distraction from Hit The Lights brief show. The five-piece were a little overdressed for the predominantly punk outing, wearing suits and ties. They kicked into Let Go, which was reminiscent of seeing Las Vegas band The Killers at the Melbourne Big Day Out earlier this year. Hit The Lights’ show and sound may well be a rip off of them, but was still fun to listen and bop your head to.

They continued with a couple of others off their new album This Is A Stick Up…Don’t Make It A Murder in The Call Out, also sending one out to Juliette.

What can you say about MXPX – they never disappoint despite getting a bit grey around the edges. They hauled the biggest crowd of the day thus far, reminding people of what simple punk should be. The highlights of their set were My Life Story and after hundreds yelled out requests for it, the popular Chick Magnet, which always features in their live show.

The band many people were most keen to see were California’s Unwritten Law and the rain once again stopped, this time for good. With their re-recorded best of The Hit List under their belt, the guys didn’t disappoint and played an array of singles and crowd favourites. Among them, they played ‘Shoulda Known Better’, ‘Teenage Suicide’, and the must-play ‘Cailin’. Frontman Scott Russo led the crowd into a clapping episode, which at first seemed a bit cliché, but it all worked out in the end as they slid into Lonesome. “We just fornicated,” Russo shouted, “It was dope.” Having missed them each time they have come to Australia; this show was a fan’s dream come true. They sent their fans on a trip with Welcome To Oblivion and ended with my favorite Up All Night.

But there was an even bigger frenzy after Unwritten Law’s set finished, with people running for homegrown talent Parkway Drive. Their music is not entertainment, it is a way of life and there were many pledging their allegiance as they ran straight to stage three. The sound from the back was fading, but the mosh pit was not as they played songs from their album Killing With A Smile.

Catching the end of Thrice’s set was a useful exercise, with the powerhouse sending the power off for the first time during the day with their final track. They worked through it though and made for a fine finale to Behind Crimson Eyes. I wandered over to catch them live once more as I’ve always had a soft spot for them with their singer coming from the area I grew up in. They treated their older fans to some tunes with the popular The Art Of War, as well as playing songs off their new album A Revelation For Despair in ‘Dial H For Whore’ and ‘Shakedown’. After promising one more song, Behind Crimson Eyes set was cut short for +44.

However, the Southern California band were disappointing as soon as they walked onstage with former Blink 182 drummer absent due to a broken arm, his replacement was well-known drummer Gil Sharone. Mark Hoppus led his band into Baby Come On before the power went out in their next song with the band not realising. They continued to sing and talk between songs until the power came back on in the opening chord to their next song. It was an embarrassing moment for such a big and well-known act. Little Death and 155 followed, but they lacked the energy and hype that Blink 182’s songs used to deliver. Hoppus sent one out for the ladies in the crowd titled Make You Smile, declaring it is a “pretty song”. Pretty they were, but they were an anti-climax even compared to Tom DeLonge’s new project Angels And Airwaves.

The weary amongst the crowd rested while Drive By and Hatebreed were playing to save some energy for the Deftones. With darkness fully upon us, Deftones made full use of a light show and built up the suspense to a greater level with some intro-electronica music. Chino appeared as a bigger than usual shadow on his podium at the front to an enormous roar before ripping into it. It was difficult to hear them from the edge of the sea of people, with the wind playing a big part. Chino directed his army of fans through Knife Party and Passenger both from White Pony. The poor sound and huge crowd made it difficult to enjoy their mix of tracks, but I will never forget seeing them at the smaller 1999 Vans Warped Tour in Albury during broad daylight – they were astounding.

Check out the photos from the festival here