Soundwave (Australian music festival)


Soundwave was an annual music festival held in major cities around Australia. The festival originated in Perth, Western Australia, and began travelling to the other Australian capital cities in 2007. It features a number of international and Australian music acts, from various genres including rock, metal and punk. The festival has been headlined by Deftones, The Offspring, Incubus, Alice in Chains, Bloodhound Gang, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Jimmy Eat World, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age, The Smashing Pumpkins, System of a Down, Slipknot, Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, Blink-182 and Metallica. The festival was run and promoted by Soundwave Touring, who also run Harvest Festival and promote tours for bands and musicians each year.
On 17 December 2015, the Soundwave founder, music promoter AJ Maddah, announced that the 2016 Soundwave festival was cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

History

The Soundwave festival originated in Perth, as a smaller festival known as Gravity Soundwave within the Gravity Games. The Gravity Games were held in South Perth along the Swan River, being based mainly on water-based and action sports. The event was sponsored by Vodafone in its first year, with the company reportedly committing one million dollars to the event. Gravity Soundwave provided the music side of the festival, which took place at McCallum Park alongside the Swan River.
Gravity Soundwave was first introduced in the festival's first year, which was held on 14 and 15 October 2004. American pop punk band Good Charlotte effectively became the first headline act of Soundwave, when they performed in the festival's first night along with Gyroscope and One Dollar Short. The following night featured Unwritten Law, Regurgitator, MxPx, Lagwagon and Last Year's Hero.
The 2005 festival was again presented by Vodafone, being held on the night of 8 October. Gravity Soundwave was headlined by Grinspoon, with it also featuring American acts Unwritten Law, Reel Big Fish, and Goldfinger.
The third and final year of the Gravity Games festival in Perth was moved to December 2006, instead of October. Gravity Soundwave featured American act Aiden, local Australian bands Gyroscope, Kisschasy, Parkway Drive, The Getaway Plan and New Zealanders Goodnight Nurse.

2007

In 2007 the festival expanded to include Sydney and Brisbane, and increased the number of bands performing. A number of the artists featured in the 2007 Festival had previously played at the Soundwave Festival in Perth, including Unwritten Law, MxPx and Parkway Drive.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Perth
Notes
*A Parkway Drive did not appear in Perth
*B As Tall as Lions replaced The Format

2008

The 2008 Soundwave festival was headlined by The Offspring, along with Incubus and Killswitch Engage and was expanded to include dates in Melbourne and Adelaide, increasing the number of dates from three to five. The expanded Festival featured five stages compared to three the previous year.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Notes
*A Alexisonfire replaced Coheed and Cambria, who withdrew from the lineup to support Linkin Park on their US tour
*B Thursday replaced Chiodos, who also withdrew from the lineup to support Linkin Park on their US tour
*C Infectious Grooves replaced Social Distortion, who withdrew from the lineup for unspecified reasons
*D From Autumn to Ashes and Still Remains did not appear in Brisbane or Sydney
*E City and Colour replaced Ace Enders, who withdrew from the lineup for unspecified reasons

2009

The lineup for the 2009 festival was announced on 24 September 2008, the headliners were Nine Inch Nails and sub-headliners were Alice in Chains and Bloodhound Gang.
Presenters of British reality stunt TV show Dirty Sanchez and Finnish stuntmen The Dudesons were masters of ceremonies at Soundwave 2009.
This festival featured 55 acts across six stages.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Notes
*A The Dillinger Escape Plan replaced Scars on Broadway
*B Less Than Jake did not appear in Brisbane due to flight delays.
*C Acts were made public in a third announcement and only appeared in Sydney.

2010

The first lineup announcement for the 2010 festival was made on 13 August 2009, the headliners were Faith No More, Jane's Addiction and Placebo, the lineup also featured Paramore, AFI, Jimmy Eat World and HIM.
This festival featured 46 acts across six stages.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Notes
*A Architects replaced The Devil Wears Prada, who withdrew from the lineup so they could support Killswitch Engage on their US tour
*B This Is Hell replaced Maximum the Hormone, who withdrew from the lineup due to drummer Nao being hospitalized
*C Jimmy Eat World replaced My Chemical Romance, who withdrew from the lineup due to lead singer Gerard Way suffering from severe vocal problems
*D Closure in Moscow were removed from the line up with no explanation or replacement act.

2011

The first lineup announcement for the 2011 festival was made on 5 August 2010, the headliners were Iron Maiden and Queens Of The Stone Age. The lineup also included The Starting Line, who reunited for the festival.
This festival featured 71 acts across eight stages.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Notes
*A Slayer pulled out of the Sydney show at the last minute due to Tom Araya being admitted to hospital
*B Avenged Sevenfold withdrew due to a disagreement with promoters over their allocated timeslot
*C Sum 41 only performed in Brisbane and Sydney due to Deryck Whibley's hospitalisation with severe pneumonia. Replaced by International Superheroes of Hardcore
*D Saxon withdrew due to album commitments and family illness
*E Polar Bear Club replaced Alesana, who withdrew from the lineup for unknown reasons
*F Blessthefall replaced A Skylit Drive, who withdrew from the lineup for unknown reasons
*G This Town Needs Guns were added as a bonus band after the two dropouts
*H International Superheroes of Hardcore did not appear in Perth

2012

The lineup for the 2012 festival was first announced on 7 October 2011. The 2012 Soundwave lineup featured System of a Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and Marilyn Manson.
This was the first time Limp Bizkit had toured Australia in eleven years. Their previous tour was the 2001 Big Day Out festival, which was marred by the death of 16-year-old Jessica Michalik during their performance at the Sydney show. Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst paid tribute to Michalik at each Soundwave date and openly criticised Big Day Out organisers.
The festival also featured a reunited Coal Chamber, who played their first shows since 2003, and also marked the final shows of emo group Thursday.
This festival featured 95 acts across eleven stages.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Notes
*A Bush replaced Hole, who withdrew from the lineup because lead singer Courtney Love did not approve of Limp Bizkit being included on the lineup
*B Paradise Lost and Switchfoot replaced DragonForce, who withdrew from the lineup due to "recording delays"
*C These Kids Wear Crowns did not play in Brisbane due to being double-booked for a sold-out arena show with Simple Plan in Canada
*D Mission In Motion did not appear in Melbourne
*E Black Tide withdrew from the lineup at the last minute due to a family emergency
*F Switchfoot withdrew from the Adelaide and Perth shows due to a family emergency

2013

The lineup for the 2013 Soundwave Festival was first announced on 8 August 2012. featuring headliners Metallica, Linkin Park and Blink-182, along with sub headliners A Perfect Circle, The Offspring, Garbage, Paramore, Tomahawk, Cypress Hill and Killswitch Engage
This edition of Soundwave was noted for its "drummers' curse", where several bands lost members in the week leading up to the festival:
There was also controversy regarding bands such as Pierce the Veil and The Amity Affliction having their sets cut short in Perth due to complaints from local residents - after this Maddah doubted the festival's future in Western Australia.
This festival featured 72 acts across nine stages.

Locations

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Notes
*A Garbage were unable to perform in Sydney as the truck carrying their equipment from Brisbane to Sydney was caught up in floods in northern New South Wales
*B Flogging Molly did not appear in Perth
*C Mindless Self Indulgence did not perform in Melbourne as their gear and luggage was lost in transit
*D Six Feet Under were forced to withdraw from the lineup after drummer Kevin Talley was injured in a dirtbike accident
*E Blood On The Dance Floor withdrew from the lineup as they were recording an album during the festival
*F Dr. Acula broke up in October 2012 and were subsequently removed from the lineup
*G Living With Lions and Mark Tremonti were added to the lineup on 30 October 2012, but Tremonti pulled out the next day due to clashing tour commitments.
*H Puscifer only played in Sydney and Adelaide, they were originally listed as "Special Guests".
*I Malakyte only played in Brisbane, they were originally listed as "Special Guests"
*J The winners of the Triple J Unearthed competition for Perth, In League, were not able to perform due to time constraints alongside Soundwave's conflict with the Claremont Council

2014

The lineup for the 2014 festival was first announced on 23 August 2013. The lineup containing 94 bands, featured Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Korn and Alice In Chains
The Perth festival was relocated from Claremont Showground to Arena Joondalup, 25 km north of Perth, two weeks before the beginning of the festival due to Soundwave's ongoing conflict with the Claremont Council. Following a similar situation at the Perth leg of Big Day Out in January of that year, which was also relocated from Claremont Showground to Arena Joondalup, AJ Maddah confirmed that 2014 would be the last Soundwave held in Perth, where the festival originated.

Locations

Local acts

Notes
*A The Living End replaced Stone Temple Pilots, who withdrew from the lineup due to scheduling conflicts.
*B Megadeth withdrew from the lineup due to a dispute with Soundwave promoters after they were accused of dropping Newsted from supporting their sideshows.
*C Newsted withdrew from the lineup days before the festival's start due to unspecified reasons.
*D Filter replaced Sevendust, who withdrew from the lineup due to a dispute with Soundwave promoters over wanting more money.
*E Desaparecidos withdrew from the lineup due to personal issues.
*F Dir En Grey did not appear in Perth.
*G Volbeat withdrew from the Adelaide and Perth shows due to a family emergency. Their timeslot was filled up by local acts.
*H Whitechapel withdrew from the lineup days before the festival's start due to the death of an immediate family member.
*I Hardcore Superstar were removed from the lineup days before the festival's start due to a dispute with promoters over their allocated timeslot.

2015

On 28 June 2014, Soundwave announced that it will become a two-day festival, held over two consecutive weekends, with half the bands announced playing day one and the other half playing day two, criss-crossing between Adelaide and Melbourne, then Sydney and Brisbane. AJ Maddah stated on Twitter "Putting the line-up across days enables us to minimise clashes; give bands longer sets, better staging, production infrastructure. I am also hoping that this will give fans better value for money and a less stressful day." AJ Maddah later confirmed that 2015 was the last Soundwave for Adelaide in the foreseeable future as it made a $300,000 loss in 2014, but with the $1,400,000 loss in 2015 due to lackluster ticket sales being to large to subsidise out of the other cities.

Locations

Day One Lineup
Day Two Lineup

Local acts

Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Notes
*A Rival Sons withdrew from the lineup due to personal reasons.
*B The Treatment did not appear in Adelaide.
*C Evergreen Terrace withdrew from the lineup due to drummer Brad Moxey suffering serious injuries in an accident.

Proposed 2016 lineup and cancellation

On 20 March 2015, AJ Maddah stated that Soundwave 2016 would return to the one-day format and would be held in January instead of the usual late February/early March dates. He also later stated that the 2016 lineup would be announced via "drip-feeding" and would also be smaller in order to achieve longer set times for bands.
Bullet for My Valentine was announced as the first act of Soundwave 2016 via the band's social media accounts and the official Soundwave website on 14 August 2015, and over the next four months, Disturbed was announced as the headliner and 24 other bands were added for a total of 26 bands.
On 15 December 2015, Maddah tweeted that 2016 would be the final ever Soundwave, stating it was due to "stress and haters", and two days later he tweeted that the festival had been officially cancelled.
Various problems contributed to its cancellation, including:
Notes
*A L7 withdrew from the lineup due to unspecified reasons.
*B On 14 December 2015, Bring Me the Horizon claimed on Twitter that they had not been officially confirmed to play at the festival despite being announced in September 2015.

Compilation albums

Official compilation CDs featuring artists who performed at the festival were released through Shock Records.