Soundwave Day 2 - Sydney, 1st March 2015
Words: Sam Strachan
It was a new experience for punters this year; returning to the site of the previous day’s festivities for a second round of Soundwave mayhem. There were arguments over which of the two days was better, but, given most fans were wearing 2-day wrist bands, ultimately, it didn’t really matter.
Day 2 of Soundwave was gearing up to be hotter than Day 1. Come midday and the sun was not forgiving at all. This might have played a part to the impressive crowd at the undercover stage watching This Wild Life’s early set. Maybe it was the band’s popularity. Either way, they let the crowd know how appreciative they were of the turnout. A relaxed start to Soundwave Day 2, they were two heavily tattooed men playing chilled out acoustic songs like No More Bad Days on the guitar. Ripped Away from their album Heart Flip was a moving song with an effective upbeat. Singer Kevin Jordan invited his friend Aaron on stage. Many might have thought that Aaron was a roadie but then he stepped up to the microphone. Instead of being a mystery guest singer, Aaron mentioned his girlfriend back stage, and how he wanted her to meet her favourite band, This Wild Life. He proceeded to get down on one knee and asked her to marry him! It was short, sweet, and adorable. And of course, she said yes! The band then dedicated Puppy Love to the newly engaged couple. This was followed by a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe and they finished up with Concrete.
Even though the sun was out in full force, there was a large crowd waiting for the Finnish Apocalyptica at the main stage. They started with I’m Not Jesus followed by new single, Cold Blood. The crowd had their fists in the air during Seek and Destroy. They also played Shadowmaker from their 8th album that they had just recorded over their winter. Cellist Eicca Toppinen made a joke about Finnish people being used to the heat and then ask the crowd if we were ready for metal? Apocalyptica gave us our heavy metal cello fix with the musicians swinging their long blonde Nordic hair around during their intense instrumental set. It was time for some classical music and they gave us their take of Hall of the Mountain King. They then played the opening chords of Advance Australia Fair and the punters start singing along and when the musicians stopped the crowd continued singing to the end finishing with Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi, mush to the amusement of Apocalyptica.
Apparently the members of Lagwagon, who were up at 4.30am to fly to Sydney, were talking too much and when told to play a song already by one heckler, guitarist Chris Flippin responded “Hey, we’re telling jokes here!” They played Island of Shame, Violins, Made of Broken Parts, Sleep, and Coffee and Cigarettes. Whilst Flippin was playing, singer Joey Cape poured beer straight into his mouth. After playing Train they dedicated Heartbreaking Music to former band mate Derrick Plourde. Then Joey got on the guitar for Alien 8 and Making Friends. Other songs played were Mr Coffee, May 16 and Razorburn. Frenzal Rhomb’s the Doctor aka Lindsay McDougall was watching their set side of stage.
Paramore-esque Tonight Alive played Breaking and Entering and To Die For. Singer Jenna McDougall invited fans to crowd surf to the front of the mosh pit where she handed out bottles of water as she was singing. McDougall asked the crowd to join her in reciting a mantra “from this day I refuse to live in fear of someone else’s judgement”. Leading into their song What Are You So Scared Of?, the audience sang along to every word.
Day 2 of Soundwave was gearing up to be hotter than Day 1. Come midday and the sun was not forgiving at all. This might have played a part to the impressive crowd at the undercover stage watching This Wild Life’s early set. Maybe it was the band’s popularity. Either way, they let the crowd know how appreciative they were of the turnout. A relaxed start to Soundwave Day 2, they were two heavily tattooed men playing chilled out acoustic songs like No More Bad Days on the guitar. Ripped Away from their album Heart Flip was a moving song with an effective upbeat. Singer Kevin Jordan invited his friend Aaron on stage. Many might have thought that Aaron was a roadie but then he stepped up to the microphone. Instead of being a mystery guest singer, Aaron mentioned his girlfriend back stage, and how he wanted her to meet her favourite band, This Wild Life. He proceeded to get down on one knee and asked her to marry him! It was short, sweet, and adorable. And of course, she said yes! The band then dedicated Puppy Love to the newly engaged couple. This was followed by a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe and they finished up with Concrete.
Even though the sun was out in full force, there was a large crowd waiting for the Finnish Apocalyptica at the main stage. They started with I’m Not Jesus followed by new single, Cold Blood. The crowd had their fists in the air during Seek and Destroy. They also played Shadowmaker from their 8th album that they had just recorded over their winter. Cellist Eicca Toppinen made a joke about Finnish people being used to the heat and then ask the crowd if we were ready for metal? Apocalyptica gave us our heavy metal cello fix with the musicians swinging their long blonde Nordic hair around during their intense instrumental set. It was time for some classical music and they gave us their take of Hall of the Mountain King. They then played the opening chords of Advance Australia Fair and the punters start singing along and when the musicians stopped the crowd continued singing to the end finishing with Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi, mush to the amusement of Apocalyptica.
Apparently the members of Lagwagon, who were up at 4.30am to fly to Sydney, were talking too much and when told to play a song already by one heckler, guitarist Chris Flippin responded “Hey, we’re telling jokes here!” They played Island of Shame, Violins, Made of Broken Parts, Sleep, and Coffee and Cigarettes. Whilst Flippin was playing, singer Joey Cape poured beer straight into his mouth. After playing Train they dedicated Heartbreaking Music to former band mate Derrick Plourde. Then Joey got on the guitar for Alien 8 and Making Friends. Other songs played were Mr Coffee, May 16 and Razorburn. Frenzal Rhomb’s the Doctor aka Lindsay McDougall was watching their set side of stage.
Paramore-esque Tonight Alive played Breaking and Entering and To Die For. Singer Jenna McDougall invited fans to crowd surf to the front of the mosh pit where she handed out bottles of water as she was singing. McDougall asked the crowd to join her in reciting a mantra “from this day I refuse to live in fear of someone else’s judgement”. Leading into their song What Are You So Scared Of?, the audience sang along to every word.
The Vandals, with Derek Grant from Alkaline Trio filling in for Josh Freese on drums, performed a number of hits including It’s a Fact, Cafe 405, Pizza Tran (She Delivers), Take it Back and The New You. Then they decided it was time for a cover of a great Australian track, Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson’s I’m an Individual. Maybe the punters up the front didn’t look as enthusiastic as those in the circle, as they were constantly teased by the band for being Fall Out Boy fans. The Vandals joked about them not leaving the barrier all day and even shitting there and then they compared Pete Wentz to koalas, that is, cute. Oi! To the World, Not In My Backyard (NIMBY), People That Are Going to Hell, Live Fast Diarrhea and I’ve got an Ape Drape got everyone moving and led up to My Girlfriend’s Dead. The forecast storm front hit during their set and the heaviest rain of the day came and went with the band claiming that their good vibes made the rain stop. What a miracle! Dave Quackenbush and Warren Fitzgerald swapped the microphone and guitar and Fitzgerald did a very entertaining cover of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, running around the stage, climbing the scaffolding and mooning the audience. He even stopped the band to hold a ‘band meeting’ telling Dave to put the guitar down and ‘fired’ him because he sucked. He asked the security to get him off stage which they didn’t and then they launched back into the song with Fitzgerald directing the rest of the band to play quieter and louder.
Millencolin began their set with Penguins & Polarbears and Happiness for Dogs, followed by Sense & Sensibility, Bullion, No Cigar, Twenty Two, Duckpond and Olympic. Throughout their set they spruiked their new album True Brew coming out in April. They also invited everybody to hang out in Sweden and have a BBQ with the band. New song Chameleon finished the set.
Down at the main arena necks were arching to get a glimpse of Marilyn Manson. He walked on stage wearing a large black hat and the crowd roared, but then he just kept walking until he was off stage again. But he came back and showed us his blue painted forehead and start off with Deep Six from his most recent album The Pale Emperor. It had started to rain a little again but thankfully
it was only light and not heavy enough to bail on the mosh pit. During Disposable Teens Manson stabbed a beer can with the giant
knife attached to the end of his microphone. He then used a broken beer bottle to cut into his hand, licking some of the blood and
wiping the rest over his face. He said to the crowd “I made it rain, I made it bleed, I need you to make it scream” and he launched into
Millencolin began their set with Penguins & Polarbears and Happiness for Dogs, followed by Sense & Sensibility, Bullion, No Cigar, Twenty Two, Duckpond and Olympic. Throughout their set they spruiked their new album True Brew coming out in April. They also invited everybody to hang out in Sweden and have a BBQ with the band. New song Chameleon finished the set.
Down at the main arena necks were arching to get a glimpse of Marilyn Manson. He walked on stage wearing a large black hat and the crowd roared, but then he just kept walking until he was off stage again. But he came back and showed us his blue painted forehead and start off with Deep Six from his most recent album The Pale Emperor. It had started to rain a little again but thankfully
it was only light and not heavy enough to bail on the mosh pit. During Disposable Teens Manson stabbed a beer can with the giant
knife attached to the end of his microphone. He then used a broken beer bottle to cut into his hand, licking some of the blood and
wiping the rest over his face. He said to the crowd “I made it rain, I made it bleed, I need you to make it scream” and he launched into
mOBSCENE, followed by The Dope Show. He reminded us that rock is not dead, and assured us that he was ok; he had Twiggy as his counsellor. A bra got thrown on stage and Manson donated it to security. He grabbed another bottle of beer, poured out the contents, smashed the bottle and continued to cut his hand more. Manson also strolled over to side of stage and pulled down one of the NO MOSHING/CROWD SURFING signs that decorated all the stages at Soundwave. He said nightmares are more interesting than dreams an obvious segue into his popular cover of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), followed by Personal Jesus where he invited a girl from side of stage to join him where he made a show of unpossessing her. Throughout the entire set, there was a black tent on stage that Manson kept disappearing into between songs, for a drink maybe? But later he came out with black smeared across his face before singing The Beautiful People. Hat on again he performed Irresponsible Hate Anthem and the set was finished with the band pushing the drum kit apart and throwing their instruments down.
Formed the same year Manson was born, British heavy metal band Judas Priest took over the metal stage. Singer Rob Halford was wearing a silver cape during their performance of Halls of Valhalla. Disappointingly they didn’t have any pyrotechnics just graphics of moving flames on a giant video screen behind them. But they had British accents and 41 years of music to give the crowd as they moved through some of their greatest hits including Beyond the Realms of Death, Breaking the Law and off their new album, Redeemer of Souls.
Slash, with his extensive back catalogue, was one of the more popular acts of the afternoon. Along with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, he gave fans a taste of everything from across his career. Each of his “solo” albums was represented, as was Velvet Revolver. But of course, the biggest cheers were for the Guns n Roses tracks. His set finished with Sweet Child O’ Mine, VR's Slither and Paradise City, complete with glitter shot from giant canons.
Formed the same year Manson was born, British heavy metal band Judas Priest took over the metal stage. Singer Rob Halford was wearing a silver cape during their performance of Halls of Valhalla. Disappointingly they didn’t have any pyrotechnics just graphics of moving flames on a giant video screen behind them. But they had British accents and 41 years of music to give the crowd as they moved through some of their greatest hits including Beyond the Realms of Death, Breaking the Law and off their new album, Redeemer of Souls.
Slash, with his extensive back catalogue, was one of the more popular acts of the afternoon. Along with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, he gave fans a taste of everything from across his career. Each of his “solo” albums was represented, as was Velvet Revolver. But of course, the biggest cheers were for the Guns n Roses tracks. His set finished with Sweet Child O’ Mine, VR's Slither and Paradise City, complete with glitter shot from giant canons.
Slipknot had by far the most impressive stage of Soundwave. They had real pyrotechnics and Clown and #3’s drums were once again set on moving, elevated platforms. It was very over the top and impressive. Opening with Sarcastrophe from new album 5: the Gray Chapter, Slipknot showed that they’re still the powerhouse that they’ve been for nearly 20 years. Many fans were interested to see how the band would sound live with two new members, bassist Alessandro Venturella and drummer Jay Weinberg. They did not disappoint! Unfortunately the crowd got too rowdy and broke the front barrier, causing the show to be paused for about 15 minutes while it was fixed. For a metal festival, it was quite a rare sight to see thousands of people actually take a number of steps back, allowing the barrier to be repaired. Once the works were finished, a very appreciative Corey Taylor and band returned to the stage to belt out Before I Forget and particularly brutal versions of Wait and Bleed and Spit it Out, before finishing their main set with new track Custer. There was some concern that the barrier repair delay might’ve led to a reduced set, but thanks to the lack of curfew at Olympic Park, the band returned to complete the show, finishing with (sic), People = Shit and Surfacing.
Smashing Pumpkins were a lot more stripped back, compared to Slipknot. Nothing fancy, just music. Billy Corgan himself didn’t converse much with the crowd, or anyone else on stage for that matter. He just sang Cherub Rock, Tonight Tonight and 1979. It was starting to sprinkle rain again and bats were flying overhead adding to the ambience of the show. Disarm was followed by One And All, United States, Heavy Metal Machine and Bullet with Butterfly Wings which, of course, went off. To finish the set Corgan was joined on stage by his old friend Marilyn Manson to scream “we must never be apart” in a duet of Ava Adore.
And that was the end and the punters had to part ways with Soundwave 2015.
Smashing Pumpkins were a lot more stripped back, compared to Slipknot. Nothing fancy, just music. Billy Corgan himself didn’t converse much with the crowd, or anyone else on stage for that matter. He just sang Cherub Rock, Tonight Tonight and 1979. It was starting to sprinkle rain again and bats were flying overhead adding to the ambience of the show. Disarm was followed by One And All, United States, Heavy Metal Machine and Bullet with Butterfly Wings which, of course, went off. To finish the set Corgan was joined on stage by his old friend Marilyn Manson to scream “we must never be apart” in a duet of Ava Adore.
And that was the end and the punters had to part ways with Soundwave 2015.
