REVIEW: Soundwave Melbourne 2012 - System Of A Down Chop Suey'd The Crowd!

03 March 2012

You may be reading this review surprised to find that Take 40 covered an alternative music festival. Sure, our name is generally about the biggest pop artists in the biz, but this year, we decided to send one lonely reporter (me) out into the other side of music, the dark side, the Soundwave side.

And I sure had a real good time!

That said, I had no idea what the day would hold for me. My first impressions of the crowd was that they looked a lot cooler than me, and there was an all-round laid back, down to earth vibe. Sure, there were definitely more septum piercings and pleather corsets than I'm used to seeing in a festival crowd, but there were also way less topless men and bottom cheek exposing high waisted shorts, which was a mercy in itself!

PHOTOS: Check out all the action from Melbourne Soundwave here!

I started my day at Steel Panther, which would probably be considered entry-level intensity in the Soundwave side of things. They were hilarious, and hilariously awesome. Think hair metal, think glam rock... and spandex, so much spandex. Plenty of 'lols' there!

We kept things mellow with You, Me At Six who charmed us with their pop punk tunes like Loverboy before venturing to the harder A Day To Remember who I thought I was just 'not getting' until I heard another punter comment 'These guys should really only be appreciated on CD.' Tough but fair perhaps?

We then moved on to 90s icons Bush who rocked out their new track Sound Of Winter and of course their most beloved Glycerine which sent the crowd on the main stage into overdrive.

Canadian kids These Kids Wear Crowns' stage was populated with what felt like a lot of tweens (including the small population of high waisted shorts), and they took us back to the pop side of life with Jumpstart, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (RIP Whitney!) and a surprising but not altogether unwelcome cover of Beyonce's Single Ladies.

Staying with pop we heard out Take 40 faves Cobra Starship, who were really enjoyable, and at one point incorporated what felt like a Reggaeton beat in between their hits like Good Girls Go Bad and You Make Me Feel which featured a Duck Sauce introduction, where the words Barbra Streisand were replaced with 'Cobra Starship.' Points for innovation!

My friend warned me before Enter Shikari that I should prepare to be acoustically assaulted... and assaulted I was. Their 30 minute set included exciting fat beats breaching both dub-step and drum n bass vibes, and even inspired spontaneous circle pits to erupt in the middle of the crowd, peppered with hardcore dancing which didn't really speak to my soul, but I definitely enjoyed watching!

If you are unfamiliar with this type of dancing, refer to the clip below. So agile, so vulnerable.



PHOTOS: Check out all the action from Melbourne Soundwave here!

We swanned by Pretty Reckless at this stage, really only to see Taylor Momsen if I'm going to be honest, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear her belt out a killer quality vocal, and play guitar with the best of them. I feel bad that her Little J Gossip Girl persona might have obscured what is a genuine rock talent! I will take her seriously from now on.

The Used proved to be a festival highlight, with their amazing track All That I've Got which involved a short excerpt of Adele's over covered Rolling In The Deep as well!

We stopped past Marilyn Manson, who I respect as an artist and person, but to be honest I think he's a little bit beyond the age where wearing a leather T-shirt and garish make-up is necessary. I kind of felt like I was watching my dad scream out Beautiful People and Sweet Dreams... and unsurprisingly it felt a bit awkward.

System Of A Down were who I came to see at Soundwave, and they definitely didn't disappoint. You might think my 'chop suey'd the crowd' review title was a clever play on words, but unfortunately it was quite literal. At one point as I sang the colourful lyrics 'my tapeworm tells me what to do' I felt my feet lifted off the ground by the boisterous crowd and my torso chop suey'd (witty huh?) in three different directions. While it sounds like the Take 40 reporter was suddenly game to get into the mosh pit, I was actually about a kilometre from the front of the stage. So is the power of SOAD.

Serj Tankian surprised me a little by emerging in a white collared shirt, blue jean ensemble, but as soon as he opened his mouth he whimsied me away through the 90 minute set. I seemed to know every track SOAD played, and predictably Chop Suey from album Toxicity was a big crowd favourite, with even the burliest of men belting out 'why have you forsaken me?' I loved it!

Each song was delivered with their signature quirky style and humour, and as always I enjoyed the lilting Armenian melodic patterns that lend themselves to Serj's pleading voice. The paired back Lost in Hollywood sung by Daron Malakian was another highlight.

Like every good music festival, I was left exhausted and dehydrated by the end of Soundwave 2012. Ears bleeding ever so slightly, I tottered off home, to calmly dream of aggressive and tyrannical tapeworms.

I give Soundwave festival 2012, 8 anchor tattoos out of 10. Expect to see Take 40 back every year!

Reviewer: Tanya Chaves

PHOTOS: Check out all the action from Melbourne Soundwave here!