Back from another successful Soundwave trip. This year it was a bit more full on than usual – Wednesday night I saw Alexisonfire, Comeback Kid & Anti Flag, then Thursday night I saw Closure In Moscow, Friday was Melbourne Soundwave and Saturday was Adelaide Soundwave. Big few days, but well worth it. Here’s my (now annual) list of impressions from Soundwave:

• Best band: Emarosa. Hands down. Jonny Craig is just incredible live. The new songs sound fantastic too – can’t wait for the new record to drop in June.

• Most disappointing: Dance Gavin Dance. They were OK, but 4 lineup changes in 2 years have taken their toll. I was left wishing I’d seen them in their original incarnation. Maybe they just need time to adjust to only having one guitarist, but I’m not convinced.
• Best guilty pleasure: Paramore. Hayley has an unbelievable live voice, and a great stage presence for someone about 5 feet tall. And she’s cute. Special mention here to All Time Low, who I saw in Adelaide and were great fun.
• Best fun moment: This easily goes to Four Year Strong’s cover of the classic Third Eye Blind song “Semi Charmed Life”. The whole crowd sang and danced like their lives depended on it. “When I’m with you I feel like I could die and that would be alright”
• Best pleasant surprise: Three way tie here: Anti Flag, who were 10 times better than when I saw them about 3 years ago. Saw them 3 times over the week, and enjoyed every time. RX Bandits: knew nothing about them prior to the festival, but they were a brilliant way to start the day in Melbourne. The Get Up Kids: I knew them, but not intimately. Their set in Adelaide was amazing.
• Biggest douche: Several thousand way tie here – the older metal crowd. You don’t see punk kids getting around with t-shirts saying “I hate creepy looking old hairy guys with long shitty hair, ugly beards and shit clothes”, so why do these people feel the need to get around with shirts saying “I hate emo’s” (always with the misplaced apostrophe, BTW). Piss off to Ozzfest or something, douchebags. The festival would be much better off if it didn’t attract this crowd.
• Most enduring moment: The setting for Jimmy Eat World’s set in Adelaide. The dust had died down, the sun had gone and a full moon was out. This picture should be worth a few thousand words:

So yeah, that was my week. It was rounded out with a trip to All Japan Day (200+ photos to sort through – expect plenty of coverage on here once I’ve whittled them down!) and some general relaxation in & around Adelaide. Domo-kun even showed up at one point!