First to kick things off was local act Heroes For Hire who managed to attract a decent audience for 11.30 in the morning. For good reason too – they were good. Pop punk at its best, it got the feet moving and set the day up nicely. They also did a nice job covering the world’s most annoying song ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus.

It Dies Today kicked off stage 4 with their brand of metalcore, creating a frenzy in the moshpit as they played tracks off last year’s album Lividity. Rolo Tomassi started off the action on stage 5 with their unusual, genre defying sound. Male/female twin vocal attack that scream and screech with music that can go from brutal hardcore to synth driven electro and back, all in the space of about 30 seconds. The crowd loved it, even if I found it disjointed and difficult to listen to.

Gallows were one band I was looking forward to. Having canceled their tour last year to play at Soundwave this year, there was great expectation and despite the early spot, they didn’t fail. Wasting no time in their aural assault, the band spat out tracks from last year’s critically acclaimed Grey Britain. Tracks like ‘Black Eyes’ and the renamed ‘Sydney Is The Answer’ carry across live and the older material got the diehard fans singing and dancing up a storm. The Gallows also got the first circle pit of the day.

Taking Back Sunday are a band I have always wanted to like but could never get into, so I figured I’d give them a go and watch the set. While they played what the crowd wanted to hear, the likes of ‘Cute Without The E’ and ‘Sink Into Me’, I was still left a little underwhelmed. Motion City Soundtrack were in the same category. Played with a ton of energy and passion, but the songs seemed to fall flat over the searing heat draining the crowd.

Axl Rose once described Eagles Of Death Metal as the “Pigeons of shit metal”. A harsh statement but maybe not so far off the truth. The sleazy rock numbers lacked imagination. Maybe Boots Electric needs Josh Homme to give the band some substance, because it was lacking today

(I happened to thoroughly enjoy the Eagles tongue-in-cheek cock rock shenanigans. Their cover of ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ was great, but everyone’s entitled to their opinions – Ed.) .

Another band I was excited to see on the bill was Canada’s Alexisonfire. Having rated Old Crows/Young Cardinals as my favourite album of last year, I braved the killing heat and sun to see them rip through 45 minutes of post-screamo punk. Delivering tracks from older releases with only ‘Old Crows’, ‘Born And Raised’ and a massive singalong to ‘Young Cardinals’ coming off the last record. The tragedy at the Olympics a few days prior didn’t stop George and the boys gave it their all in what was now reaching 40°C. (In a side note, credit to security for spraying water all around the D barrier and filling up everyone’s water bottle to keep people hydrated.)

Reel Big Fish have been playing music festivals for longer than a lot of the people that were watching them have been alive. They know how to put on the best show in the shortest time slot. Barely pausing for breath, the band played a bit of a greatest hits set that even got this reviewer into the moshpit for the first time in many years during ‘Sell Out’. By this stage finding shade had become the sole mission of most punters so I had to sacrifice a chance to see Anvil to put up with Placebo. To give them credit, the crowd loved it and band didn’t miss a beat. But I would’ve preferred to see anything else but them.

After seeing AFI play pretty ordinarily the last time they were out, I was hoping they would redeem themselves. From the moment they kicked off with ‘Medicate’ right through to closing with ‘Miss Murder’, the band performed one of the best sets of the day. Pulling tracks from their last three releases only, the band played with renewed energy and vigor. Songs from album Crash Love like new single ‘Beautiful Thieves’ and ‘Veronica Sawyer Smokes’ were met with huge singalongs. The crowd were in raptures for old favourites from Sing The Sorrow like ‘Girls Not Grey’ and ‘Dancing Through Sunday’. Davey Havok sang and screamed his way through the set. Hunter wore a groove in the stage running back and forth and Jade jumped and sprung around the stage like he was on a trampoline.

With the main stages running overtime I had to choose between seeing Anti Flag again or Jane’s Addiction. I had to see Jane’s Addiction. Perry and the boys put on a hell of a show. There was the theatrics from the front man; a couple of girls, near topless, dancing on high risers at the back of the stage; there were classic Jane’s Addiction songs ‘Stop’, ‘Three Days’ and ‘Been Caught Stealing’. And thankfully, nothing from that horrible Strays album from a few years back. My personal highlight was hearing one of my all time favourite songs, ‘Jane Says,’ played live as the set closer. Awesome.

Jimmy Eat World stepped in last minute for My Chemical Romance who had to pull out under doctor’s orders. What we got was more than a replacement act, we got the best Jimmy Eat World could offer. Like with Reel Big Fish, we got a bit of a greatest hits set, that’s what the 10-12,000 strong crowd wanted to hear. It needs to be pointed out that by this stage a lot of people were just keen to see Faith No More and probably wouldn’t have cared too much for Jimmy Eat World, but I think they won some people over with a solid set. Closing with the infectious ‘The Middle’, frontman Jim Adkins commented that “this is one of the best shows we’ve ever played.”

Thirteen years ago Faith No More last toured Australia. I had an opportunity to go but passed it up. “They’ll be back again” I said. Six months later and they split. So now that they are back, I get a chance to remove a regret in my life. Starting off with a nice song about reuniting, the band kick straight into ‘Land Of Sunshine’. Delving deep into the catalogue, songs like ‘Surprise, You’re Dead’, ‘Midlife Crisis’, ‘Gentle Art of Making Enemies’ and the iconic ‘Epic’ entranced the crowd that were almost spent after a long day. However, they found the energy to jump and sing along to ‘Ashes To Ashes’. Watching 15,000 move as one is an awesome sight. Mike Patton was on fire and circled the stage like a man possessed. Puffy and Bill looked like kids again, happy to back playing music together. Coming back for an encore and playing almost two hours, Faith No More owned Soundwave and it was just the way it was meant to be.

If you still haven’t had your fill of the Soundwave festival, check out Anette Geneva’s photo coverage of the day here.

Here’s what organisers had to say:

“It is amazing how the one band you book on the festival only as a favour to their manager; whom you are paying 10 times what they are worth as a gesture of goodwill; and you bill way above their station, turn out to be the only demanding and rude people amongst a star-studded line up.

Here are some tips for other local bands hoping to keep a spot on a national festival:

1.Having a band member call the festival admin manager 2 days out from the festival with a new list of demands and being aggressive, rude and yelling at her only works if you are holding hostages.

2. Don’t demand that festival vehicles and drivers pick band members up from their homes and then drop them off after the festival. Specially if you live on an island off the Gold Coast!

3. Don’t demand that the festival should book and pay for your accommodation on top of the $25,000 you’re being paid to pay for your own lodgings.

I could go on and on. Maybe publish a book some day…

Revised timetables will be posted shortly.”

Hours later, Closure In Moscow responded to this with a post on their Myspace blog titled ‘Soundwave – The Truth’. This was their rebuttal:

“We have been absolutely devastated since being told that we couldn’t perform at Soundwave this year. We’ve heard it’s because we acted like “a bunch of rude ungrateful cunts” as AJ articulated ever so warmly in an email to us.

We’d like to take a moment and address briefly the outrageous claims by Mr. Maddah. With only days before the beginning of the festival, we still didn’t have any information. They were booking our flights as part of our deal and we still hadn’t received any flight details or tour details. We were also under the impression that they’d be paying for our hotels the same that they do for all of the other Soundwave artists. Finding out that we were responsible for that ourselves was perfectly fine. Nobody even challenged it. We simply said okay and moved on. They were also providing ground transportation. Seeing as how we live in Australia and are already in Brisbane rehearsing for the tour, it seems a logical question to want to know if we should meet them somewhere central or if they’d be picking us up where we currently were. We were told they could pick us up and that was the end of that conversation. If they had a problem with any of those things they should have spoken up. We didn’t demand or even request anything. We simply asked them questions for things that were still unanswered. Nobody raised their voice or even got upset. Minutes after hanging up what we felt was a normal routine conversation, we get a call from AJ. Keep in mind this is the first time that we are speaking to AJ about ANYTHING. After listening to a mouthful of profanity and being belittled, he ended his sentence with “you’re off the festival” and then hung up on us without the slightest opportunity for discussion. You can imagine our shock. It’s impossible to entertain the thought that we offended someone so deeply by asking logistical touring questions.

Obviously we were and still are confused over what happened. Had we been in the wrong, we would have promptly apologized. But we are not in the wrong in this matter. Mr. Maddah is clearly in the wrong and we won’t beg forgiveness for something we didn’t do.

Judging by the behavior so far, I’m certain we’ll be painted as some ungrateful punks. The truth is we were very honored to have been included in the festival. We were blown away when we found out we’d be playing Main Stage. We are well aware that AJ was doing a favor to our manager but nobody asked him to put us on the main stage and nobody asked him to offer us as much as he did which he’s now complaining about. He’s the one that offered us the money. We expected much less and were again very grateful when we got the offer. We demanded nothing through this process and have been thankful each step of the way. He’s the one that offered us these great opportunities and then took them all away. Anyone that knows us will tell you that we aren’t the type of band this man has suggested we are.

All we ever wanted from day one is to play our music for people. It’s truly a shame that our fate on this tour has been decided by the whims of one man’s lofty imagination. We aren’t about to let this dictate our future though. We will be making plans immediately to play a handful of FREE shows for those that went to Soundwave hoping to see us play. While it isn’t our choice not to play, it isn’t yours either. We will do everything we can to make this right for those that wanted to see us play. We’ll also be making plans to do a full headline tour before leaving for Warped Tour this year.

We’re grateful to have so many supportive friends and fans that know how absolutely childish and absurd this is. It’s sad that this type of behavior exists and is tolerated in an industry designed to promote positivity, creativity and artistic expression through music. Let’s not allow one person’s negativity keep us from remembering that music is meant to be a catalyst for good; to uplift and encourage. If there’s ever a time to remember that, it’s now.”

We’re not really sure who to believe at this point, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide. We can at least offer a forum for comment below that will be open and uncensored.

If Music Feeds gets any more info on the confrontation, we’ll let you know.

Brisbane – RNA Showgrounds
Saturday 20th February, 2010
Playing Times | Venue Map

Sydney – Eastern Creek Raceway
Sunday 21st February, 2010
Playing Times | Venue Map

Melbourne – Showgrounds
Friday 26th February, 2010
Playing Times | Venue Map

Adelaide – Bonython Park
Saturday 27th February, 2010
Playing Times | Venue Map

Perth – Steel Blue Oval
Monday 1st March, 2010
Playing Times | Venue Map

My Chemical Romance regretfully announce that they have been forced to cancel all upcoming engagements, including their appearance at The Soundwave Festival in Australia.

Singer Gerard Way has been having severe vocal problems and is under doctor’s advisement to forgo the tour in order to receive treatment for his throat and vocal chords and protect their long-term use.

“We are really sorry that we’ve had to cancel this tour, and apologise for any inconvenience it has caused,” says singer Way. “The last thing we ever want to do is cancel shows, but we’ll be back to Australia to make it up to the fans as soon as possible.”

Patrons holding tickets to the My Chemical Romance show at the Big Top, Luna Park on Thu 25 Feb are advised to contact their point of purchase to arrange a full refund of their tickets.

Soundwave would like to thank the ever brilliant Jimmy Eat World who are interrupting their recording schedule in order to replace MCR on this year’s Soundwave bill.

Jimmy Eat World have consistently held the number 1 spot as the most requested band by Soundwave fans (and staff!) and we look forward to having them on the festival after so many years of trying!

We are also thrilled to announce that Jimmy Eat World will now join the already massive sideshow of Glassjaw, Sunny Day Real Estate, Motion City Soundtrack and RX Bandits.

Tuesday 23rd February
Sydney – UNSW Roundhouse – Licensed All Ages
Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

Thursday 25th February
Melbourne – Palace Theatre – 18+
Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

With Soundwave in Melbourne also having sold out, the band set out to find another show to help appease their legion of ticketless and frustrated fans. They finally found an opportunity to do so by joining forces with fellow headliners AFI to form what will be the greatest Soundwave Sideshow of all time. Without further ado:

FAITH NO MORE
w/ Very Special guests AFI and Gallows

Wednesday 24th February
Melbourne – Festival Hall
Licensed and Unlicensed areas available
Tix: www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 5TH FEBRUARY, 9AM.

Previously purchased tickets for AFI and Gallows shows will still be valid for this show. Faith No More, AFI and Gallows are also appearing at Soundwave Festival 2010.

You’d have to be Herculean to make a dent in A Wilhelm Scream’s reputation; such is the fevered adoration they inspire. Hailed “as the new heirs of the skate-punk scene” by Alternative Press, they have had expectations set upon them, and have torn them all down, set a new bar, even higher than before. However it is the live arena that’s sets A Wilhelm Scream from the rest of the pack…”throats are torn with the effort of screaming and people jerk around in a glorious ecstasy that can be described in the most accurate terms as, quite plainly, rocking the fuck out.” – Drowned In Sound

On the back of their Soundwave performances Four Year Strong and A Wilhelm Scream will be performing 2 club shows only!

TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 28 JANUARY, 9AM

Tuesday 23rd February
Gaelic Club, Sydney – 18+
Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 & www.moshtix.com.au

Wednesday 24th February
Prince Of Wales, Melbourne – 18+
Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 & www.princebandroom.com.au

Four Year Strong and A Wilhelm Scream are also appearing at Soundwave Festival 2010.

On the back of their Soundwave appearances Trivium will only be performing one club show in Australia.

TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 21 JANUARY, 9AM

Tuesday 23rd February
Gershwin Room, Melbourne – 18+
Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 www.espy.com.au

Trivium are also appearing at Soundwave Festival 2010.

As always, this trio of pop punk awesomeness will be playing only two club shows, so these will be your only chance to catch them outside of the national Soundwave tour. Details are below.

TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 14 JANUARY, 9AM.

Tuesday 23rd February
The Metro, Sydney – Licensed All Ages
Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 & Metro Theatre Box Office

Wednesday 24th February
The Hi-Fi, Melbourne – 18+
Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 & www.thehifi.com.au