Melbourne Soundwave had been inked in to my mental calendar for almost a year. The excitement brewed as I pulled myself from the comfort of bed and into the shower, fighting a hangover from the previous night’s exploits. I hit the ground running, trying to make it to the festival in time for one of my fave bands Steel Panther.
Despite the long queues to get in to the venue, and early start times for the bands I actually made it in time to catch some of their set. Between the high Kicks, hair flicks and amazing stand-up comedy they had the crowd jumping. They played songs from both “Feel the steel” and their latest album “Balls out”. Definite crowd faves being “Community property” and “Death to all but metal”, with which they closed the show with. Towards the end of the set, Michael Starr threw his microphone into the air and failed in his attempt to catch it, determined not to fail he continued his new game until he finally caught it on the third go. To end the show he left his audience with these words of wisdom, ”Be safe and remember drugs are good!”
Hungry and still feeling the hangover creeping up on me, I made a beeline for the food stalls where I purchased some cardboard flavored chicken sticks and hot chips with tomato sauce. I decided to brave getting hit by spew from the overhead vomitron and sit at a table.
As I made my way over to stage 4 to see Finnish battle metal band Turisas, the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds bringing up the heat. If outside the tent was hot, walking into the tent was like walking into an oven. As I arrived “Dream on Dreamer” were playing their set however all you could hear was the amped up war painted Turisas fans screaming out for their favorite band. “Dream on Dreamer” finished, and Turisas began. Singer Warlord demanded that the audience who had completely filled their side of the tent have a good time, even though they only had a 30 minute time slot. They opened with “The march of the Varangian Guard” and “The great escape” which are from their latest album ”Stand up and fight.” A cover of the Bony M classic “Rasputin” sent the crowd in to frenzy and had me regretting being stuck in the photo area and not being amongst the craziness in the mosh pit. They closed with “Battle Metal” and I made my way backstage to check things out.
Upon my arrival backstage, first thing I see is Michael Starr (Steel Panther) playing ping pong and Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) posing for a photo. I run in to Frank from Hatebreed and I am invited in for a drink. We sit and enjoy a Corona and I finally have a chance to relax. The dressing room was fitted out with couches, a table and fun amounts of booze including Coronas, a bottle of Jäger and a bottle of Captain Morgan spiced gold. Frank and I get down to business drinking beer and coloring in a picture of a pirate ship. I colored the sails to match my outfit (pink and purple leopard print). We grab some beers and jump in a shuttle bound for stage 4.
Upon arrival I settle in side stage to watch Biohazard. They put on a wonderfully energetic performance. I was shocked and amused when during a song singer Billy Graziadei jumped off the stage and on to the front rail where he was held up by security and fans and continued to play to the excited audience.
Next on stage were Hatebreed who despite playing the same timeslot as Marilyn Manson and Slipknot still attracted a crowd that filled the entire stifling hot tent. During the show the band had the audience participate in a circle pit that went all the way around the back of the sound booth.
Back to the dressing room and into the Captain Morgan my drunkenness escalates and my boobs manage to ”accidently” slip out of my top a few times much to the delight of people passing by.
We catch a bus back to the hotel where I say goodbye and make my way home to pack for my stupidly early flight to Adelaide where I plan on more fun shenanigans and bad behavior.
Adelaide Soundwave here I come!
