Author: Troy Culpan

Rob Zombie, Korn & Mushroomhead – the Big Top Luna Park, Sydney – February 24, 2014

Rob Zombie, Korn & Mushroomhead – the Big Top Luna Park, Sydney – February 24, 2014

Tonight is going to be fun! I arrive what I thought was early, but find Mushroomhead already halfway through their set, but in watching this band, they are the perfect choice to open tonight’s show and as per their set at Soundwave they are getting the crowd going early and are heavy as all hell. This almost rap rock metal is […]

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Soundwave – Olympic Park, Sydney – February 23, 2014

Soundwave – Olympic Park, Sydney – February 23, 2014

Welcome to day two, I just flew in from Brisbane and boy are my arms tired… thank you, I’ll be here all week, try the veal… but here we are, Sydney Olympic Park for a much more familiar vibe for me. Thought I’d change it up a little today and check out some different bands today (besides a couple of […]

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Soundwave – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane – February 22, 2014

Soundwave – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane – February 22, 2014

This year I wanted to try something different, expand my Soundwave experience and see what it was like in a different city, so why not stop in on the first show of the tour, Brisbane… An unfamiliar lay out to me, but once in and with a map handy, it didn’t take long before I knew my way around and […]

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John Reis (Speedo) of Rocket From The Crypt

John Reis (Speedo) of Rocket From The Crypt

“… I think the thing we’re kind of talking about right now is we’re just so into having fun, we’re having a good time playing and we’re still getting better as a band, we’re still although musically we fell right back in, but as far as finding an identity as to who we are, we’re kind of different people now […]

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Jake Taylor of In Hearts Wake

Jake Taylor of In Hearts Wake

“The set will be very alive, we’re definitely eager to play for you people and we’re not taking it for granted, so we will give it everything we’ve got, we always do, we’re not there to slack off, we’re not there to be cool, we’re there to have fun, enjoy it and spread a message.” From Bio: INHEARTSWAKE began in […]

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Alex Wade of Whitechapel

Alex Wade of Whitechapel

“… Australia is just a beautiful country to begin with and a great place to be, and the shows are just so massive and it’s just a tonne of fun being there with so many great bands, and being able to say that we’re on the Soundwave line-up as well.” From Bio: Having spent several years lauded as one of […]

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Ville Valo of HIM

Ville Valo of HIM

“…when we came the first time we didn’t have any idea whatsoever and all of a sudden the clubs and a few other places were sold out and we didn’t know why and we were like kids in a candy store, we were so giddy about it, and that’s the cool thing about music, you never know how it’s going […]

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Zach Lind of Jimmy Eat World

Zach Lind of Jimmy Eat World

“… I think Jim is an authentic, honest front man who isn’t full of shit and he gives off a lot of energy and I think it starts with him and everyone in the band just wants to play the best show possible and I think it’s just the mentality of wanting to play the best show that we can.” […]

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Sarah McLeod & Jeff Martin – The Basement, Sydney – February 6, 2014

Sarah McLeod & Jeff Martin – The Basement, Sydney – February 6, 2014

There are certain pairings in the world that just work, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Hall and Oates, Samson and Delilah, Batman and Robin and tonight, I’m hoping that Sarah McLeod and Jeff Martin can be added to that, as on paper this sounds just devine… Simon Meli is here to kick off the night and for those that have followed […]

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The Big Day Out – Olympic Park, Sydney – January 26, 2014

The Big Day Out – Olympic Park, Sydney – January 26, 2014

My how quickly these come around! It feels like only a few months ago I was on the way out to Olympic Park for this event and now 1, 2 skip a few, BDO 2014 is upon us. This year sees Pearl Jam headlining the show and I can’t wait… It’s an early start today as I head out as […]

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Robert Westerholt of Within Temptation

Robert Westerholt of Within Temptation

“It’s a monster in the way that you have to face your own being and face your own fears and a lot of songs are about go for your dreams, don’t be afraid because life is too short but in getting there you can face your fears and go ahead and go for it. So that’s what also lies behind […]

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Jeff Martin

Jeff Martin

“Consider it almost like a dark rock and roll take on The Eurythmics, Annie Lennox and this beautiful voice that was always at the forefront, but Dave Stewart was always sitting back producing all the music around it, right? That’s how I want to approach this project…” Jeff Martin is a man that most would know from his work as […]

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Chris Miller of You Me At Six

Chris Miller of You Me At Six

“I think the overall sound of the record is very positive and uplifting and carefree, so for us ‘Cavalier Youth’ and the meaning we take from that is kind of carefree youth so to speak, so I think it’s just describes the sound and the songs perfectly, just nothing else matters really, just positive music…” The last few months of […]

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Ceres

Ceres

“It means a whole bunch I think. It’s our first show back and it’s humble to be listed with a lot of bands that we really admire and are friends with and stuff like that. So to be asked to play along with the bands is amazing, and really to help and support in our tiny little way which is […]

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Sarah McLeod of The Superjesus

Sarah McLeod of The Superjesus

“…we’ve written a few songs together with an aim to release something but we’ve given ourselves no deadlines, no agenda or pressure, everyone’s still got a lot on and separate lives, so we’re just trying to keep it really fun and natural and when we get ideas we execute them and when we want to play, we play, it’s pretty […]

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Tiffany Britchford & The Reckless Abandon

Tiffany Britchford & The Reckless Abandon

“We are thrilled! Playing Big Day Out is a dream come true! We’ll be playing songs from our new EP and as always, deliver a high quality live show. We pride ourselves on being an excellent live band who can recreate what you hear on our record live. We’ll give great music, played well, with lots of energy. Playing live […]

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Valentino Arteaga of Of Mice & Men

Valentino Arteaga of Of Mice & Men

“With this album we really wanted to take the time, we took almost nine months of the year out from touring to really put emphasis on this record, and this was the first time that we’d had this amount of time, so getting all our ideas together, and wanting to do something different was definitely at the top of our […]

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Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan

Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan

“…we love Australia and we love coming and playing in Australia and I think particularly because it’s so far away, it’s a whole other world, it’s completely different environment yet culturally it’s so comfortable and it feels so much like home.” From Bio:  The Dillinger Escape Plan’s creative energy and unwavering artistic commitment has reverberated through underground subculture and in […]

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Stavros Yiannoukas (Stav) of Bluejuice

Stavros Yiannoukas (Stav) of Bluejuice

“…the first time we played Big Day Out was insane and this was before we did a tour, the show just went completely to pieces, the PA broke down, we couldn’t hear each other on stage, our bass player busted his bass, he had to borrow a bass from this Japanese band playing after us.” From Bio: Consisting of Jake […]

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Paramore - photo by Annette Geneva

Paramore – Allphones Arena, Sydney – January 11, 2014

Well, here it is, my first show of the year, so there are expectations on this one to start the year with a bang, thankfully from all accounts this tour has been a monster and now my hopes are set high… Twenty One Pilots are up first to get the crowd warmed up with their interesting mix of pop rock […]

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Brant Bjork of Vista Chino

Brant Bjork of Vista Chino

“…even being in this age of information it’s very difficult to change the name, to rebrand as they would say I guess, it’s very difficult to do that. As much as we sometimes would not like to believe there’s not a lot of weight in a name, for a lot of people there is.” When Kyuss Lives! were forced to […]

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Chris Dangerous of The Hives

Chris Dangerous of The Hives

“A Hives show is always different from any other Hives show, it’s always worth checking out as if you’ve seen us before, you haven’t seen this one, so we’re coming back, in full speed and very ready to convince even more Australians that they should love The Hives forever and ever…” Back in 2002 The Hives told us all that […]

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Muse – Allphones Arena, Sydney – December 13, 2013

Muse – Allphones Arena, Sydney – December 13, 2013

Muse are back in Australia, tonight Sydney, and I’ve only seen Muse once before and it was at the Big Day Out back in 2007. I was so far back that all I saw were little dots on stage and lasers, even then I was hooked, they sounded tight and some six now close to seven years on since then […]

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Steel Panther – The Hordern Pavilion, Sydney – December 7, 2013

Steel Panther – The Hordern Pavilion, Sydney – December 7, 2013

Tonight is going to be fun, plain and simple… Fozzy who take the award for the creepiest intro music ever with a version of ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ that would give anyone nightmares but those nightmares turn into a dream as the always energetic band make their way to the stage and instantly make out like they’re playing in front of […]

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Jamey Jasta and Frank Novinec of Hatebreed

Jamey Jasta and Frank Novinec of Hatebreed

“I don’t know… the record industry is really fucked up right now, and luckily we don’t have to do a record, I mean we could feasibly tour forever and never have to do another record but the creative bug will bite you and that’s when you’ve got to give in. For me there’s no succumbing to it…” From Bio: Relentless […]

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Sébastien Lefebvre and Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan

Sébastien Lefebvre and Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan

“…we’re going to challenge ourselves, there’s a lot of songs already there, but we don’t have a record yet, so it could go in to a lot of different directions. I think the intention is to just push the boundaries of what we think Simple Plan is and what our fans want, and still at the same time keep our […]

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Vans Warped Tour – Barangaroo, Sydney – December 1, 2013

Vans Warped Tour – Barangaroo, Sydney – December 1, 2013

Vans Warped Tour has returned to Australia after twelve years away and those here have come in droves, some for the first time and some who are revisiting the brand once again, yet my plan of arriving early was thwarted by the thousands of punters who had the same idea as me on this balmy summer morning. The line to […]

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Oderus Urungus of GWAR

Oderus Urungus of GWAR

“All I want to say is great job keeping the pressure on Australia, one run through your country was not enough, we’ve only begun to infect your minds, and Gwar is returning for the next Soundwave festival, get ready for the biggest show in rock and roll history, get ready for GWAR!” From Bio: 2013 is a packed year for […]

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Kevin Skaff of A Day To Remember

Kevin Skaff of A Day To Remember

“The album as a whole, I don’t know, we all just get in the studio and do our own thing, and whatever comes naturally comes out and we don’t really go in to change anything when it comes to albums, we do what we do best and that’s just work off each other for every song, and it’s what we […]

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High Tension

High Tension

“I guess we’re all coming from different places and now people checking in and starting to be more aware of what we do sound like, I guess I don’t know how to describe what our sound is, it’s a bit rock, it’s a bit noisy, it’s a little bit metal in places, it’s bloody confusing.” From Bio: In early 2013 […]

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