Dan Condon: Sick Tunes, Soundwave 2014

Regular readers will know that I'm not exactly Soundwave's target demographic, but I go to the festival just about every year and I have a great bloody time seeing bands I'd not usually get a chance to.

Plus, I always get excited about any festival announcement, so why not outline my five (of, admittedly, quite a few) highlights from the freshly announced Soundwave 2014?

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT

This band falls firmly into the “I really should have seen them” basket for me. I can't tell you who I saw at the Livid Festival in 2002 while Rocket From The Crypt were playing, but I've regretted not seeing them ever since. Thanks to Soundwave, I can make up for my past failures and see the San Diego punk/rock'n'roll masters after all – probably in a very similar spot to where they played all those years ago.

The only way I can describe these guys is that they're a fucking rock'n'roll band, a band that will make you want to dance, get drunk, sing along with your bros (and ladybros) and party all night long but not in that horrendous hair metal way.

GREEN DAY

I have only seen Green Day once, as a frustrated early-teen, and it was really quite an incredible experience. They smashed through so much of their brilliant early material and they did it with absolute ferocity. I have avoided seeing them on the rest of their tours over the past decade and a half as I either couldn't afford to or didn't want their bloated, epic stage show to take away from the rawness of my first and only experience seeing them.

Look, I feel they're either going to totally rule (bear in mind I actually loved their American Idiot record) or be the worst thing ever and crush what's left of the hope in 14 year old Dan's eyes. I'm ready to roll that dice in 2014.

PULLED APART BY HORSES

I said they should have played last year! Come on, I only got one wish back then that you gotta let me have this one. These guys are such an incredible live band, bringing a whole bunch of fun to the hardcore genre. They're probably a little more on the 'hipster' side of things, so might not draw the biggest crowd at Soundwave, but I implore you to head along and see them if you get half a chance.

TRASH TALK

Things were pretty different for Trash Talk when they were last here for Soundwave; they still had a massive following and they drew a seriously impressive crowd, but they've been fully embraced by people from well outside the hardcore community, mainly due to their affiliation with the Odd Future dudes.

Fact is, they're a fucking great band on record but even better on the live stage. There will be crowdsurfing.

MEGADETH

They were always my third favourite Big Four band and honestly I never really cared for Megadeth all that much until I saw them playing with Slayer a few years back. They (along with the other big thrash bands, it must be said) still play with the kind of conviction and passion that makes metal such a special genre of music. While they might not get the same critical kudos and mainstream adoration as their contemporaries, they are still well worth your time.

I won't pretend that I'm a big fan of their most recent record Super Collider (2009's Endgame was pretty sweet though), but I don't think that will hinder my enjoyment seeing this legendary metal band go through their paces on the biggest heavy metal stage our country has.

BONUS INCLUSION!!!

AMON AMARTH

Okay, Amon Amarth are not my favourite band in the world. Actually I'm not that keen on them at all. But I feel the need to point out that sometimes their fans pretend they are rowing some kind of Viking boat while they play and that is some seriously messed up/awesome shit that I seriously hope happens at Soundwave.