Soundwave '09
February 24th 2009 00:13
Soundwave 2009
You know, the first thing I noticed when I walked into Soundwave this year was the fact that I wasn’t walking in. I was standing in enough mud to drown a mule and had at least an hours wait in front of me, just to get inside. And this was to cross 20 metres. It was like a horrible uncomfortable mosh-pit, but I wasn’t even being entertained. I started to suspect that something was amiss. For $110 I would expect more in the way of sane organisation, not to be herded around and expected to wait for hours in the shocking heat.
Such a strange choice of location too, the Eastern Creek Raceway, supposedly chosen for the extra space but made no visible difference from previous years. The isolated destination made it more of a hassle than a benefit.
All this only further cemented the idea in my mind that much of Soundwave was poorly thought out.
So by then I was surly, I missed Goldfinger because the line was too long, and the overpriced beer didn’t help. Nothing could save Soundwave, in my mind.
The terrible snail-paced organization, of both the entrances and the running of the various facilities (creating bottlenecks in the crowd) had convinced me I was having a terrible time.
But there was a saving grace. For a comparatively young festival the quality of music has surpassed even Big Day Out this year. Alice in Chains in particular, coming back after a 15 year hiatus, playing a mind blowing gig with a new singer and announcing a new album, showed us the quality of band attracted to Soundwave.
That coupled with Nine Inch Nails putting on their usual lightshow spectacle, and announcing this is their last tour made something truly special. Billy Talent, Lamb of God, Less Than Jake and too many other extraordinary musical talents to mention, rounded out a well selected variety of musical genres that really saved the festival.
If Soundwave can fix its little problems with organization, such as the transport at the end of the night which was atrocious, and location, we could have a new contender for the biggest day out there.
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