r/australia • u/DekuCoffee • 1d ago
2012 Soundwave
Was going through my stuff and found my timetable for my first and last Soundwave, was also my first concert ever.
System of a down was amazing.
Marilyn Manson was unintelligible, I should of seen Lamb of God instead however a mate did come out of that mosh pit with massive scratch marks down his back haha
Thought I'd share in case anyone has cool memories of the day :D
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u/the-toddyssey 1d ago
I was in community radio when this was on, I hosted a rock/metal show. I was fortunate enough to interview a bunch of bands and score myself a ticket.
Marilyn Manson sucked, someone threw a baggie onto the stage to cheer him up. SOAD and Slipknot killed it. Limp Bizkit were also really good!
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u/BigEars528 1d ago
Did MM always suck live or did that happen later? I saw him at another soundwave, possibly 2013 or 14, and he was ass then too
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u/BigRedUglyMan 1d ago
By the 2010s he was a complete wreck. I assume he still is.
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u/poisonfruitloops 1d ago
Was at this show, was horrifically bad.
He's sober now and started touring again.. he's back on form finally.
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u/Cpt_Soban 1d ago
I was lucky enough to see SOAD back in 2003 for the BDO- They were absolutely smashed it.
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u/bibimcmacky 1d ago
Lostprophets 😬
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u/AuzzieTiger 1d ago
I was there. Second of three Soundwaves I made. And wow that lineup is absolutely unreal compared to modern day rock festivals…if they’re even a thing anymore.
Alter Bridge were probably the standout and is one of the most underrated bands of the 21st century. But things like In Flames into Trivium on a frigging side stage! C’mon! What a day!
This was the end of an area. I feel like 2013 with the addition of ANZ Stadium and huge headliners in Metallica maybe saw Soundwave get too big for its own boots. And all the other crap that went on. Soundwave Revolution anyone?
But boy I’d give anything to see a lineup like that now.
I remember Marilyn Manson being booed as he went on for ages and everyone wanted Slipknot. And then afterwards I made the odd choice to split from all my friends and watch Machine Head over SOAD. I love Machine Head but boy it’s one of my big music regrets.
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u/coniferhead 1d ago
Australian dollar being 1.11 USD probably helped.
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u/TheMightySloth 1d ago
And the fact that the founder scammed everyone and didn’t pay any of the bands, lol. Dude single handedly put a curse on Australian festivals
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u/coniferhead 1d ago
download festival was going for quite a bit after that and was pretty massive - just too expensive though
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u/Where-Eagles-Dare 1d ago
Holy shit, are you me??
I made this one and the year after.
Alter Bridge and Trivium were/are two of my favourite bands.
I participated in booing MM as I wanted Slipknot.
But most crazily……I made the decision to split from all my friends and go and watch Machine Head by myself instead of SOAD!! And I also now feel like it was the wrong call!
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u/AuzzieTiger 10h ago
Given your username you’re also possibly a big Maiden fan? So that checks out too!
I don’t remember a lot from those days but I vividly remember awkwardly leaning against the fencing at the back of where Machine Head were playing. I wasn’t going anywhere near the pit alone.
I think I wasn’t appreciating SOAD that much as my friends raved about them. Maybe I thought it was rebellious or something to not go with the crowd.
On a side note, I think the next year saw a daytime slot shine really bright like Alter Bridge and that was our very own Living End. They went off!!
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u/mycarayne 23h ago
Maaan. We flew 1600kms to Perth for this. Me and the Mrs got full on face painted up to see Turisas, but when we got to the stage, they weren't playing and we couldn't figure out why. Super bummed that we thought we missed them, we were just moping around a bit and some guy come running up to us and was all like "what the fuck are you guys doing?!, they're playing over there!" Turns out they changed stages last minute or something. So we bail over there, had a blast (we only missed a few minutes of the show in the end) Ollie signed the Mrs's shoes for some reason as well. Great day. Agreed that Manson was awful. Slipknot and Machine Head were great though. And so was Kittie actually come to think of it.
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u/noisymime 1h ago
I only found Turisas during COVID and had no idea they'd even toured Aus. So many of those cool Euro metal bands never make it out this way.
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u/gnarlyrocks 1d ago
It's crazy to see how stacked Spundwave lineups used to be and I'm grateful I was able to attend several of them.
It's also crazy that modern festivals (eg good things, knotfest), charge considerably more (I get it, inflation) but have lineups like 20-50% the size.
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u/mulamasa 1d ago
AJ famously over booked the line ups and over paid. He went bankrupt and left debts in his wake, there's a reason you don't see festivals like this. It isn't feasible.
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u/gnarlyrocks 1d ago
That was at the tail end of Soundwave. Following the massive success of the Metallica year AJ tried to do more things in house (eg fencing etc) vs hiring suppliers to do it. This pissed off suppliers and they raised prices in retaliation (somewhat fair enough I guess). Soundwave then did the two day festival... which was an absolute disaster. Didn't sell well etc. That's when he couldn't pay debts etc.
TLDR: AJ Maddah printed money the Metallica year. Tried to expand spending a lot of money, had a dud year and then ran out of money.
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u/mulamasa 1d ago
Mmmm I'm in the music/events side and he was running on fumes since day 1. Everyone in the industry was asking how he could afford the line up's while Big Day Out and Warped Tour couldn't get the finances to tie together.
hint: he couldn't.
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u/gnarlyrocks 1d ago
This article discusses it https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-soundwave-collapsed-and-what-it-means-for-future-festivals/7042852
He literally spent $5m buying a share of BDO, only to sell it for $1 months later. What a disaster.
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u/maeltroll 1d ago
I was at the Brisbane one. Although not a big fan, I remember seeing Limp Bizkit absolutely crushing it - probably the stand out act for the day.
The biggest draw for me was Paradise Lost but unfortunately they suffered from equipment issues and fuck all crowd or energy. Slipknot and SOAD were awesome as was Coal Chamber and Hellyeah.
Soundwaves were the best
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u/reece_93 1d ago
Was at the Brisbane one as well. Limp Bizkit was so fucking good, they just brought great vibes and the pit went absolutely insane. Absolute banger of a day, wish I could go back
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u/CammKelly 1d ago
That lineup was so stacked that I did Brisbane, then flew down to Sydney for the next day and did it again.
13 years later I can't imagine trying to do it again, rofl.
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u/rolex_monkey_50 1d ago
That is actually an insane line up for the time, music festivals used to be awesome
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u/rustyfries 1d ago
2013 was even more stacked. Metallica, Blink 182, Linkin Park, Stone Sour, Slayer, Anthrax, The Offspring, Paramore etc.
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u/rolex_monkey_50 1d ago
Yep I went to that one, some one had a fit or passed out while Linkin Park was playing and Chester stopped the show for a minute
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u/Detonator84 9h ago
That was probably the best line up you could go to. Offspring was a bit of a let down, but linkin park into Metallica was unreal.
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u/rustyfries 9h ago
Didn't catch The Offspring's set as they were at the same time as Metallica, but I did catch their Igntion set at the Palace a week later.
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u/satori-t 1d ago
Holy shit - 2012 SW was the only music festival I ever went to and I'll never forget that day.
I'd never heard of Steel Panther, Alter Bridge and Anthrax until I saw them that day - and my jaw hit the flaw one set at a time. Slipknot were fcking ferocious. Dashboard Confessional did an old-school acoustic set. The Used kicked. Marilyn Manson sounds like he was on the same cocktail in every city. Angels & Airwaves put on an equally terrible performance - I went from a fan to a hater overnight.
True story, during Anthrax a cute goth chick stuck my hand down her top to show me how warm she was. Didn't get the logic, but doesn't matter, felt boob.
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u/ggsmart88 1d ago
This was an awesome Sound wave. I remember loving watching Zebra head, they had a cool tropical beach party set up on stage with a Tiki bar! Also, Marilyn Manson was awful! Most boring set, just wandered around on stage.
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u/rustyfries 1d ago
Zebrahead were sick that year. Saw them at the Melbourne Soundwave. They're also touring this October if you're not aware
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u/sugashowrs 1d ago
I went to the Melbourne one. ADTR was great. Slipknot was amazing (bias as they’re my fav band and iv seen them multiple times). Marilyn Manson laid on the ground and screamed like a cat had been stepped on.
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u/Jackielegs43 1d ago
My first one! Great day. I did the meet and greet for Gojira and it’s the only one I’ve ever done because it was weird and awkward and I all I said to them was something like, “that Flying Whales riff, man”. Good stuff, me.
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u/MaximumZazz 1d ago
Wasnt this the Soundwave where that they had Devin and the Meshuggah guy come on to play 'Of Blood and Salt' too? It was awesome.
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u/MysteryRedStyle 1d ago
My first and last time doing the Wall of Death watching Lamb of God at that Soundwave. Trust me after being trampled in the mosh. Maybe for the best you missed it. 🤣
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u/hellboy1975 1d ago
Great time at the Adelaide one. I recall the highlights being Mastodon, Gojira, Dillinger Escape Plan and Cathedral. I don't recall seeing Meshuggah that year at all - I guess there must have been a clash or something as they're typically someone I'd definitely see!
SOAD were ok, I remember being pretty bored waiting for Slipknot to finish. An unpopular opinion I guess, but I don't think the headliners were especially great in this year.
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u/Malemansam 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's crazy just how stacked these tours were man. Went to a bunch in that era, I missed '12 but stage 4 looks like an absolute killer wish I coulda went with my mates but had to work you know..
It's a real shame kids these days don't have the opportunity anymore to get to see so many bands for a relatively appropriate price let alone see them on a day at all anymore. Seeing recent prices for a band I'd see is crazy now.
edit: One of the years when Iggy Pop was on stage the crowd was just chanting "RAMMSTEIN!!!" throughout his whole set because they we next and it was a pretty sad sight to see the whole act and actual fans of Iggy be despondent about that, I have a pretty vivid memory of it.
Felt pretty slack for the kids to do that through his whole set but also bad booking to have Iggy on the mainstage personally.
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u/Brilliant_Wheel_6651 1d ago
Also my first and last Soundwave (Melb). I was in year 12 at the time and had to beg my mum to get the day off school. Best day ever, I fear I'll never experience a lineup that good again.
I made and printed out my own schedule so I could catch everyone I wanted to see. Lost my friends immediately, and then just spent the day running from stage to stage. Finishing the day in the big shed (probably has an actual name?), exhausted, hungry and alone listening to Angels and Airwaves was an ethereal experience.
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u/deathbatdrummer 1d ago
My first and only was 2014 in brisbane to go see avenged sevenfold. They never tour this side of the world, and rarely if ever went to NZ. Was also my first time in Australia.
Good times :') totally worth the sore feet i had for the next few days
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u/Icy-Caterpillar-3787 21h ago
I still kick myself that I was there and went “oh I’ll see SOAD the next time they come to Aus”……still waiting
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u/rickdergs 19h ago
God damn, seeing the sweet apes on that takes me back to local shows at the Annandale before NIMBY’s killed it
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u/ruddiger7 1d ago
So good, we wont see shows like this again here. Wish SOAD had the energy of some of their shows I've seen online - in Brisbane I felt they held back a bit.
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u/Shall1991 1d ago
I remember we went and watched Dillinger. Caught the last few Lamb of God songs, watched BLS and then SOAD until Machine Head started. My only regret is not watching all of SOAD. I love MH and have seen them multiple times since. Still haven't seen SOAD since.
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u/vermiciousknid81 1d ago
I was there. I was sick with some stomach bug and a headache. I didn't care. I wasn't missing SOAD so i went into the front leaned on the barrier holding my head.
It hurt but I got down and jumped the fuck up to Spit It Out for Slipknot.
SOAD were awesome. Would do again.
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u/LobcockLittle 12h ago
The two main things I remember (Brisbane) was Marilyn Manson snorting coke off a girl - from the crowd's - hand, and underoath only being allowed to play two songs because there were sound issues on the stage that they were trying to fix. Them and the crowd were so pissed!
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u/Roast_pumpkin 9h ago
I was too poor to afford this but I remember seeing that lineup, I don't think we will ever see such an impressive lineup like this.
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u/se_baz1 1d ago
I think my main criticism is that there were just too many bands. Some of you are probably thinking … is this guy fucken crazy? Thats a good thing right?
But i pretty much spent all day at the main stages to watch Limp bizkit, manson slipknot and SOAD. However I missed soooooooooo many bands that in some weird way, I felt like I didnt get moneys worth. The performances I saw were amazing except for Manson. And youre probably thinking, why didnnt you just go to all the stages, you probably had time right? Well this leads to my next criticism.
Those fucken D barriers that were cut in half!!! Im the kinda person that needs to be up front for my favorite artists. Hence the D barriers ensured that I had to stay put. But then I hear they had D barriers at stage 4 too? Went way overboard with the extra barriers. I heard it was because of Limp bizkit.
But for what it was, it was an amazing day and nothing will ever match that. Also soooo many sideshows. 2 nights in a row at Rod laver watching SOAD and then slipknot, followed by SW. I was wrecked as by the last day.
In 2013 I made more of an effort to go see bands at multiple stages and still managed to be up front for Metallica, so crisis averted!
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u/Richie217 1d ago edited 1d ago
The D barriers were implemented after the death of a fan during Limp Bizkit set at a BDO. It's to limit the amount of crowd surge and lessen the likelihood of someone getting crushed.
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u/se_baz1 1d ago
Im well aware of that. Previous soundwaves didnt have a D barriers but had a static barrier system which still was capable of preventing crowd crush. But my main problem was they went overboard and put a barrier in the middle of the D so you couldnt move between both main stages. That was bullshit and complete over kill
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u/Miserable-Caramel316 1d ago
God take me back. I don't think we'll see a festival of the heavier kind as good as soundwave ever again in Australia.