Live Review: Soundwave Festival, Day Two

Flint, Michigan’s King 810 released perhaps the dumbest album of 2014 with Memoirs Of A Murderer.

Somehow they managed to raise the Neanderthal quotient even higher with their first of the day live performance. While the band was tight and had a sound guy who knew his stuff, their set was calorific in the extreme. In fact with the waves of “jump the fuck up” growing ever larger The Music beat a hasty retreat to the main stage.

Next to King 810 Sydney hardcore outfit Bare Bones may as well have been Genesis. Although used to clubs the boys did well on the big stage and set off a commendable pit in the now merciless midday sun.

Somehow they managed to raise the Neanderthal quotient even higher with their first of the day live performance.

Sun-deprived Finnish nutters Apocalyptica brought an instant touch of elegance to Soundwave via an opening crescendo of cellos. Sadly however, muddy sound saw their set descend into the morass, something that even a top-notch cover of Metallica’s Seek & Destroy couldn't pull them out of. En route to Lagwagon The Music managed to catch some of Fucked Up's primal energy, with the likes of Queen Of Hearts earning the largest cheers. These Canadians have a stellar reputation for a reason – and this set simply reinforced it.

Next up were two very different bands bonded simply by the amount of fun they were having on stage. The first was pop-punk OGs Lagwagon who were clearly reveling in their return from semi-retirement and who offered up a chunk of their impressive new album Hang as well as classics including the timeless Island Of Shame. The second outfit was the very new Killer Be Killed metal supergroup who ripped through their debut album with relish in front of a very sizeable crowd. Although a little ‘loose’ at times, and battling sound gremlins, Killer Be Killed won through with barnstorming versions of I.E.D., Face Down, Snakes Of Jehovah and set highlight Wings Of Feather & Wax. Judging by the reaction they got a new album will no doubt be in the works soon.

When local hardcore stalwarts Confession hit the stage ink, biceps and baseball caps suddenly appeared in the pit. Funny that. Crafter's crew proceeded to put on a solid exhibition of breakdown heavy hardcore, which when it comes down to it was what they were there to do. In fact the only real surprise was that the pit ninjas must have been on strike: The Music didn't see a single roundhouse kick.

Australia has always loved Millencolin and a sizable crowd awaited them at the punk stage as outside the heavens opened replacing humidity with a flood. The feisty Swedes rose to the occasion with a powerful set of melodic hardcore; big choruses, big riffs and lyrics screamed back at them were the order of the day. They even unleashed a new track – Sense & Sensibility – that bodes well for their upcoming new album, the first in seven years. This was fun with a capital ‘F’.

In fact the only real surprise was that the pit ninjas must have been on strike: The Music didn't see a single roundhouse kick.

Over on the metal stage Exodus took the crowd by its collective throat and shook hard. With singer Steve Zetro Souza in immaculate voice the Bay Area thrash warriors shredded though the likes of Piranha, A Lesson In Violence and the inevitable Toxic Waltz, in the process creating some of the most chaotic pits of the day. Compared to Exodus' vitality Marilyn Manson’s set was a relaxed jaunt through the quiet streets of ‘greatest hitsville’. It was a solid enough performance but it’s sobering to think that a guy who was once the most dangerous man in the world is now just another middle-aged performer.

Talking of middle aged performers, Judas Priest were the exact opposite. Reinvigorated by the presence of young gun guitarist Richie Faulkner, and with Rob Halford again looking like the metal god rather than the aging leather daddy we’ve seen in past years, they put on a master-class in metal perfection. New material such as Halls Of Valhalla sounded far superior to their lethargic studio version counterparts and classics including the epic Victim Of Changes, and the long-neglected Beyond The Realms Of Death were awe-inspiring. Add to that crowd-pleasing renditions of Turbo Lover, Metal Gods, Jawbreaker, Devil’s Child and Breaking The Law and the horn-waving devotees in attendance were well and truly sated. Sure, it would have been nice to hear more material from the likes of Painkiller and Sin After Sin, but you can’t have everything in life. Judas Priest have been written off many times in the past, but this performance proved that their critics are extremely premature.

Rounding out the day was Slipknot, whose continuing popularity is somewhat baffling to these ears. Still, even with all the controversy in their camp of late (this was their first Australian tour without Joey Jordison) the crew managed to raise the bar in extremity with yet another trademark wall of sound assault. Despite an unscheduled break in proceedings due to barrier dramas there was simply no denying the power of My Plague, and crowd favourite, the blast beat driven People = Shit, which had the hordes of maggots in attendance losing their proverbial shit. This was a band that played to their strengths, knew what their audience wanted and delivered it with military precision.