Photo: Kristen Ashton

A quick entry before midday, short lines (if you aren’t hungry) and few hassles – it looks like Soundwave has things organised, let’s see how the bands go…

New York hardcore outfit This Is Hell try to tear down the Stage 4 tent early with a fast-paced set that sees a mix of new and old, though the stuff off Sundowner seems to be favoured by a crowd already in the mood for crazy fast D-beats and bursts of mosh.

Gallows are at their pissed-off best as singer Frank Carter is spends most of the set on the other side of the barrier over on Stage 5. Not content to just crowd surf, he stands in the middle of the pit, shoves people around and sticks the mic in the face of anyone who wants to sing.

Dealt a gnarly spot, the crowds do not flock to see Baroness on Stage 4. Making proverbial lemonade, the band’s set shows off their song writing prowess, tracks like Jake Leg are succinct alt rock jams, where tracks like A Horse Called Golgotha and Swollen And Halo are epic sludge dirges.

Set Your Goals have drawn a pretty decent gathering at Stage 3 given their slot and the happy campers that have turned up are rewarded accordingly. While it’s disappointing we’re not treated to The Few That Remain (given the attendance of Paramore’s Hayley Williams), the boys do cover most of the favourites from both records, as well as a few decent summer anthems from their latest This Will Be The Death Of Us – a win in anyone’s book

With a raging lion backdrop, Taking Back Sunday are seemingly uninhibited by the tense humidity as they open with Cut From The Team much to the adoration of fans gathered at Stage 1. Flawlessly running through classic emo anthems to their newer rock orientated material, the band are obvious favourites of the early crowd.

For their first time in Australia, the UK’s You Me At Six certainly seem to be soaking up the atmosphere on Stage 6 [How appropriate – Ed]. Their accents make every sentence endearing – from their numerous expressions of patriotic love to their excessive cursing. The set is kicking as they play predominately from Hold Me Down, and there is no better way to top it off than with a heavy rendition of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face. Everyone celebrates.

If a hypothetical knife could cut the humid afternoon air at the Showgrounds, Emarosa’s heavy onslaught would be synonymous with a sledgehammer. We are awakened from our stupor at Stage 5 by Kentucky’s dearly loved metalcore outfit and their barrage of sound. As is predicted, Ex-Dance Gavin Dance frontman Jonny Craig’s execution is flawless – as is particularly evident in I Am Waves and Relativity.

Over on Stage 3 Motion City Soundtrack battle ongoing equipment issues, which takes the shine off the new tracks from their latest My Dinosaur Life. Redemption however comes in the form of a swag of their older moog-heavy tracks off Even If It Kills Me and I Am The Movie, which have the packed crowd gyrating splendidly.

With a recent beat-down failing to dampen his dancing, Jesse Hughes pilots his Eagles Of Death Metal through one of the most fun sets of the day at Stage 2. Bolstered by a superb touring band, Hughes takes time out from pandering to the crowd to play groovy dance rock numbers like English Girl and Speakin’ In Tongues.

Alexisonfire hammer straight into an unexpectedly Crisis-heavy set that’s clearly the result of a decision to blast through the most high-energy selection from their growing repertoire. Armed with a new vocal dynamic in George Pettit’s recently more intelligible rantings and, as always, anchored by Dallas Green’s flawless melodic contributions, the Toronto five-piece leave little to be desired on Stage 1.

A handful of people gather at Stage 3 to witness post-hardcore legends Glassjaw playing for the first time in Australia. Their nine-song set is banter-free and made up mostly of tracks from Worship & Tribute; Daryl Palumbo switching from a croon into a screaming fit just one of the highlights of a fantastic set that unfortunately many missed.

Dare it be said, Canadian metal does not get any better than Comeback Kid. Their heavy yet melodic sound is refreshing and distinctive amongst Soundwave’s delightful smorgasbord of core. The band is a well-oiled live outfit and deliver the beloved Wake The Dead and Broadcasting to an audience that does nothing but joyfully throw down at Stage 5.

In front of a sea of crimson-topped copycats, Paramore waste no time in showing exactly why they are pop-rock royalty on Stage 2. Touching on tracks from Riot! and Brand New Eyes, a leopard-printed Hayley Williams entrances the mostly female crowd with a stellar vocal delivery, a bucketload of stage presence and energy to burn.

The afternoon sun is shining on the faces of the crowd at Stage 6 as UK’s Architects make their presence known; their sped-up versions of Follow The Water and Numbers Count For Nothing far more energetic than what you’d expect from bunch of guys that just got off a long-haul flight.

When most of today’s acts are sweating it out in denim, Reel Big Fish’s trumpeter Scott Klopfenstein is rocking a pair of snug, royal blue pleated shorts on Stage 3. Fetching and practical, they see Klopfenstein co-pilot the ska jokers in style through Metallica’s Enter Sandman and their own classics, like Sell Out and Beer.

The Get Up Kids give no indication, bar their perfect performance, that the genre of true emo would have been lost without them. Blustering through a set of seminal tracks from Four Minute Mile, Something To Write Home About and a cover of The Cure’s Close To Me, there isn’t one fan not singing along at Stage 3, and hoping that this is not the last time the band grace these shores.

Jimmy Eat World’s late inclusion was never going to disappoint. Starting and finishing with the best songs from their seminal Bleed American, the boys move through a set that spans their entire catalogue with all the class you’d expect over at Stage 2. Perhaps the tightest set of the day, Jimmy Eat World’s is an hour jam-packed with the best from every record, including a faultless rendition of Hear You Me and big finish in the eponymous track from Bleed American – first class.

They are proving to be worthy of more than just the title of ‘side project’ to the much-beloved Underoath, and deservedly so. This is blatantly obvious as The Almost play their debut Soundwave appearance on Stage 6 to a swarm of devoted revelers willing to soak up the musical maestro that is Aaron Gillespie. Highlights include Hands and all things Southern Weather. There is much rejoicing.

A Lionel Ritchie cover on an album titled Angel Dust is ironic, but when the pastel-suit-clad men of Faith No More play Easy tonight, it’s perversely reminiscent of watching a dodgy wedding band on Stage 1. Nevertheless, Mike Patton is the subject of reverent exaltation during Midlife Crisis, Evidence, even Lady Gaga’s Poker Face goes down a treat (for the second time today) [who knew ‘core’ kids loved pop so much? – Live Ed].

Florida’s A Day To Remember mightn’t have surprised anyone by starting with The Downfall Of Us All, but the sub that’s anchoring every downbeat of that track is dropping like a tonne of bricks on a capacity big-top at Stage 4. With enough melody and enough mosh to satisfy most punters, the watertight performance from the kings of melodic hardcore even indulges a request to play Show ‘Em The Ropes from Rave’s own Scotty Harms, even though he doesn’t get the credit for it!

When the final notes are played, the last minute line-up changes and controversies that plagued the day seem like distant memories. Another Soundwave has proven a roaring success.

SCOTT HARMS, SALLY LATTER, CHRIS DRIVER, PAT PERRIER & TOM HERSEY

CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS FROM SOUNDWAVE 2010 HERE

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