Soundwave, Flemington Racecourse, 1st March 2014

Soundwave is my annual indulgence in live music, my long suffering wife tolerates these indulgences mainly because we then spend the night at a flash hotel in the city, this time we stayed at the Hilton at South Wharf, very nice. Her tolerance doesn't extend to her actually attending the show, we meet afterwards at the hotel.

No camera's are allowed so all the photo's are taken with my Iphone, that's a disclaimer because quite frankly the photo's are crap, it's debate-able whether they would have been any better with my good camera because the photographer is also pretty crap!

Testament

So just on lunch time I found myself at the racecourse, the first band for the day that I wanted to see was Testament, one of the original thrash pioneers. The lead singer Chuck Billy has one of the most powerful voices in metal, and they indeed put on a good show, playing a good selection of old stuff as well as they're newer songs. Dedicating Native Blood to they're indigenous brothers in Australia may have been lost on some of the bogans in the crowd, but I thought it was a nice touch.

The Living End

After Testament it was time to head over and catch The Living End, I've seen then a few times before but never in front of such a big crowd. The local boys put on a great high energy show, winning over the crowd on the main stage, its got to be said that they were probably playing to an audience that was a little more hardcore than they're regular crowd.

Alice In Chains

From there I checked out Alice in Chains, I've never seen them live before, and not being a big fan of the 90's grungy metal I wasn't expecting much, they were quite good however. They worked the crowd well, the music is a bit one dimensional for me, but at least they didn't spend the whole set singing to there navels. By now my thoughts turned to lunch. The crowds at Soundwave are half the attraction, some people go to extraordinary lengths to display their rock credentials, next year I might work up the courage to ask to photograph some of them, back in my ye olde days the standard dress code was old blue jeans and a sleeveless denim vest covered in sewn on patches of your favourite bands.

Korn

Korn, played into the afternoon sun.

I had unfortunately picked up a bug a couple of days earlier and by now my throat was starting to feel it, so over a couple of beers I decided to head over and catch Korn, and then hang around the same stage for Rob Zombie, then call it a night and head into the city to meet Sam. Once again I had no preconceived expectations for Korn, my metal education has big gaps in the late 90's to early 00's so I'd missed the whole Nu Metal thing. In my new roll as music critic I'd say Korn put on the best show that I saw on the day, they had a bit working against them too, they had to play with the setting sun shining straight into there eyes. The energy was awesome and the crowd appreciated the effort from stage.

Rob Zombie, the sun wasn't helping them either.

With Megadeth pulling out at the last minute, Rob Zombie became the band that I most wanted to see and they too didn't disappoint. Zombie's music has a groove to it that is infectious, and while by no means as hardcore as some of the other bands on display, they certainly get the crowd involved which is the name of the game at a metal show. Winning the crowd with a cover of Enter Sandman, they finished of the show with the almost danceable Dragula.

So, with the sound of Green Day echoing from the main stage I headed off to catch the train back to the city, not sure what the go is with the trains but they are always jammed full of punters, I thought leaving early might be better but was still squashed in, with most people desperately trying to find something to hang onto on our third world journey into the city. A short walk from Southern Cross and I was soon getting my key from the desk at the Hilton, quite a contrast from Soundwave. Sam had got us a room with city views and although we were on a lower level than last time, it was still a good view of Melbourne at night. After catching up, tucking into some room service, and popping a couple of cold and flu tablets I drifted of to sleep with the lights of the city twinkling on the Yarra.

The Dirt
Soundwave is a great festival, and while other big festivals are struggling, Soundwave seems to keep chugging along. I hope this continues as, to be honest, a lot of the bands wouldn't be able to come to Australia unless they were on a big bill. The Hardcore/Metal crowd always seem to get into the music and contrary to their appearance there is very little agro, the kids are OK! Be prepared for the usual gouging at the food stalls though, $23 for a Nando's chicken burger, chips, and a Pepsi. Getting out of the place always requires patiance, the trains are always chockers, and the ticket inspectors seemed to be itching for trouble, either that or they were born arrogant! 
The Hilton at Southwharf is a nice hotel, we stayed a couple of years ago and its starting to show its age a little bit now with some of the maintenance/cleaning issues, but I'm being really picky. Breakfasts are a stand out along with the beds.

The view of Melbourne from our room at the Hilton Southwharf.