Featuring over 50 of the best international punk, hardcore, metal and rock bands that each scene has to offer, Soundwave 2010’s line-up is one of epic proportions! The alternative festival that tiptoed onto the scene a few short years ago kicked off its biggest year yet in Brisbane on a hot steamy summer day, without a doubt this festival will be the biggest event of the year for those who like to rock!

RX Bandits hit the stage with a lot to prove, and it’s quickly apparent that the strength of band is easily greater than the sum of its four members. They provide a cross section of songs from three albums, with Matt Choi chopping it up between guitar and keyboard duties effortlessly whilst still having time to headbang and get everybody moving early in the day.

San Franciscan six piece Set Your Goals deliver a blistering show littered with songs from their recent release This Will Be The Death Of Us. Look Closer, Summer Jam, Gia Bleeds, and Our Ethos: A Legacy to Pass On all feature but crowd favourites are Echoes and set closer Mutiny!, with a stage performance that set an early benchmark for the bands that followed, Set Your Goals certainly whipped the crowd into an early frenzy.

You Me At Six were plagued by all sorts of technical problems upon opening on their stage that so many bands after them would fall victim to. Despite the vocalist Josh Franchesci’s microphone not working for a good few minutes the band soldiered on determined to give the numerous punters in the crowd what they came for banging out song after song with highlights like If I Were In Your Shoes, Save It For The Bedroom and their cover of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face.

Eagles Of Death Metal jam out hip-shaking, feel-good tunes under the blistering sun at the main stage. Jesse Hughes swaggers and yelps his way around the stage and dances on speaker stacks while the rest of the band lay down the kicking Wannabe in LA and Speaking In Tongues.

Alexisonfire draw the largest crowd of the day so far. Their latest record, Old Crows / Young Cardinals is their most cohesive offering and it translates live, the band now fusing the strong melodies of Dallas Green and rough narrative of George Petit much more than their previous visits. They offer a mix of old and new favourites including This Could Be Anywhere In The World and Young Cardinals as highlights.

The large white lettered backdrop spelling Paramore is hardly necessary to advise which band the distinctive and diminutive redhead Hayley Williams is front woman for if this wasn’t a big enough indication at the site of Jeremy Davis walking out onto the stage followed by Hayley and the rest of the band the crowd opens into an immense ear popping roar. Donning leopard tights, Hayley begins to commands the thousands through a thumping pop-punk set. Misery Business gets an extended loop intro before Williams jumps around the stage while still nailing the chorus high notes with stunning accuracy.  With a set tighter than a nuns you know what and sing-a-long’s bigger than Shaq you can bet Paramore proved that they are more than worthy as a headliner of the tour.

Brighton’s Architects hit the pitifully equipped Stage 6 not long after You Me At Six and were welcomed by a sea of folk who were likely won over by the band’s recent tour with Parkway Drive. Their set focuses solely on 2008’s Hollow Crown record, but a poor mix turns many of the intricate riffs into mud. Frontman Sam Carter ’s vocals falter on more than one occasion, but his stage energy and audience support surely wins over any nay-sayers.

Mobs of screaming teenage girls surge the stage to catch a glimpse of their new favourite band All Time Low. A band that shined amongst most others proving their worth, showing they are one of the very few contempary pop punk acts that don’t need auto-tune or studio gloss to turn out a brilliant song. The charismatic Jack Barakat and Alex Gaskarth provide the crowd-pleasing antics while the rest of the band pelt out song after song,  Alex’s voice proves more than strong enough to carry the material on offer including set highlights Six Feet Under The Stars, Poppin Champagne, Dammed If I Do Ya, Dammed If I Don’t and Weightless.

Despite mics dropping in and out, Dance Gavin Dance put on a full force set, opening with the funky Carl Barker from new album Happiness. Other recent offerings are Tree Village and NASA, and former vocalist (current Emarosa frontman) Jonny Craig helps out on Surprise! I’m From Cuba, Everyone Has One Brain and Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most from the group’s previous two releases. Skyhook and Alex English send the crowd over the edge with a frenetic display of post-hardcore action.

Escape The Fate thrill the late afternoon crowd with a loud and energetic set. The Las Vegas based quintet has been on Australian soil quite recently and seem to have an ever growing fan base. They have a knack for sending the crowd wild with headbangs and sing-a-longs. Despite their attention it seems their success would lay in their controversy and sex appeal as they pelt out a very mediocre set.  Frontman Craig Mabbit peddles some entertaining stage antics – rumba dancing and wrapping the microphone cord around his neck during a set that includes The Flood and There’s No Sympathy For The Dead. 

Massachusetts five-piece Four Year Strong melds their fusion of pop-punk and hardcore into an aural party filled with whines, growls, breakdowns and beards. Much like its counterpart stage 6 too was encountered with microphone issues and poor mixing, vocals from Alan Day and Josh Lyford failed to permeate, leaving Dan O’Connor the task of keeping lyrics audible. It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now, Beatdown In The Key of Happy, Prepare To Be Digitally Manipulated and their cover of Third Eye Blind’s Semi Charmed Life are highlights in a set that doesn’t translate as well as it should never the less crowd attention was abundant here and pulled one of the largest circle pits of the day.

With their t-shirts abound and having the merch tents selling out of their shirts earlier in the day, A Day To Remember attract plenty of punters ready for a throwdown. The pop punk quintet burst into The Downfall Of Us All and continue their assault with Fast Forward To 2012, The Danger In Starting A Fire, My Life For Hire, NJ Legion Iced Tea and Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End. They finish on Plot To Bomb The Panhandle after frontman Jeremy Mckinnon offers the audience a choice between that and I’m Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of?.

With headliners being sandwiched between two of the most anticipated appearances in years and the additional pressure Jimmy Eat World had to endure in filling the void left by the My Chemical Romance to the appearance and disappearance of bands from the bill and timetable clashes for budding Soundwave goers. It never went entirely according to plan for Soundwavers and bands alike but neither can doubt the fun and experience that Soundwave 2010 had to offer and it will certainly go down as one of the greatest festivals to remember to all who attended.