Making Waves

Thats RIGHT everyone, guess who's back, spreading opinionated rants, not listening to what you say and maybe even asking your mum over for coffee and constantly chucking in random caps lock - its JAVID. Where have I been these past few... months? Fighting off Vampires in Romania? Juggling cats on the streets of St Petersburg? Forcing peasant women into human pyramids for the entertainment of the wealthy in Budapest? Or just working/studying/playing in bands? Maybe a little bit of all of these, put possibly none. You'll never know. What you can know is that I'm BACK now. Whether thats a good thing or not we'll find out later.


Last Wednesday someone working for the people at Soundwave decided to release the lineup before it was announced officially. I'm not entirely sure about the intent here. You have to remain anonymous, and leaking something ONE day before it comes out is kind of.. pointless anyway. Oh well, each to their own. The announcement has been made and all someone like me has to say is - HOLY SHIT.

This is the one of the BIGGEST lineups in Australian festival history. Considering its a one-day event and has only been going a few years, to have the resources to pull the likes Iron Maiden, Slayer, Primus (omfg), QOTSA, Rob Zombie and so many, many more is no mean feat. Not only that, there still remains a third announcement to come which promises another act of headline quality.

Now is where I want to do what Dave does best and throw away the naysayers. You can state that some of these bands have been to the country before, often (in the case of Slayer and QOTSA) many times. True. But I mean i'd rather have these guys than people that keep coming back in the form of.. say.. the Vines (even though they're FROM here), or Richard Ashcroft even. You can also try and state that this is all shit music but by doing that you show just how narrow minded, uneducated and shallow your tastes in music are. You don't have to like these bands but they should command your damn respect. There's a reason Iron Maiden are still going, have their own jet and can fill out arena shows ALL OVER THE WORLD (OK maybe not in Africa or Antarctica). Just by LOOKING at these guys you see how old they are. Thats not the point. You WISH your Dad was this cool


Slayer will bring more of the same, with slightly less theatrics. But the big coup to me is getting PRIMUS. These guys havent beeen out since... 1994 (i believe). I had the pleasure of seeing Les Claypool last year but with Herb and Ler behind him.. jesus. You have no idea. Also a major coup in the securing of Rob Zombie for what I believe is his first trip out here, after many years. Its just a pity his latest album is his most disappointing. That being said I wouldnt miss him.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be going through some of these acts that have been announced. Primarily the ones I like, but if you're lucky I might even write a post or two about the ones I dont (they wont be pleasant - watch out 30 seconds to Mars).

Ultimately this lineup tells me 2 things.
1) That these festival organisers DO have the power to bring truly world class lineups to our shores. Yes you could even say the lineup is unaustralian in its relative lack of local acts. But to be honest, in these genres, I dont think you'll find too many complaints.
2) That the Big Day Out is going to have to pull out all the stops for 2011. Its about to lose its throne as 'the biggest travelling festival in the Southern Hemisphere'. Heres hoping they do, though.

I leave you with some Mad Caddies - but you'll be hearing from my lawyers soon.... as I get them..



Soundwave rolls into town:
SATURDAY FEB 26 BRISBANE, RNA SHOWGROUNDS
SUNDAY FEB 27 SYDNEY, EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY
FRIDAY MAR 4 MELBOURNE, SHOWGROUNDS
SATURDAY MAR 5 ADELAIDE, BONYTHON PARK
MONDAY MAR 7 PERTH, STEEL BLUE OVAL

And tickets are on sale from the website, ticketek and even OUTLETS (how good is that!?)on August 26. Im certain they'll be snapped up quickly so get in while you can! Javid out.