Soundwave: A photographer's journey

I went to Soundwave to take photos for Bombshellzine.com. There have been many negative reviews about the festival, especially in Sydney, so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. This will not be too negative.
Sunday morning started for me at 7am as I was desperately hungry to get some breakfast inside of me. I couldn’t find any cereal or bread, so I quickly showered and headed to Enmore Rd. I slowly ate half of my Country Eggs and bacon. After it I still felt hungry but couldn’t take another bite.
I headed to King St to find my friends house. A few failed attempts meant walking up and down King St. I eventually found the place and locked myself outside in the alleyway.
When I was rescued by my friend Mark I rested on his couch with his tiny kitten on my lap. I was there to sign and pick up my photo release form. I read through it shaking my head at the ridiculously strict rules but signed it anyway.
We went to Aaron’s house to have a few drinks, while listening to Thursday. If only that chilled out moment could lasted all day. But after checking the clock on my phone I thought it time to head to the festival site. I was told it was about 10seconds away.
There were a lot of kids walking around, so I decided to follow them. It was easy enough to find. We came to a lot of construction, but then I saw a ‘box office this way’ sign and followed it. It looked like it was pointing up a path, but I decided against that thought. It took a long time to walk but I eventually found the lineup. There were enough people there to repopulate a small planet, or one the size of Saturn.
When gate opened people rushed to get in. I didn’t like my chances so I went to security to let me go straight to the box office. Nicole, the photographer from The Dwarf was there so it all went pretty smoothly.
I ran from stage to stage trying to find stage 2. It was all very confusing. I didn’t print out my whole map. I thought I had a pretty photographic memory of it, but that hope was soon shattered as I frantically looked around for what stage Trial Kennedy will be performing on.
When I thought I found the stage I waited to see who would set up, but then from the left I could hear faint sounds which were that of Trial Kennedy. I ran at full speed to the main stage standing area. Yes, it was surely them. I flashed my photo pass to security and got instant access. I wasn’t sure if I missed my 3 songs but didn’t care. These guys were the local band, so it shouldn’t apply. Or so I thought.
When I was done taking photos of them security takes me aside and says I have no access to the photo pit. So, I show them my photo pass and VIP wristband. But that still wasn’t enough. So, I left and was once again joined by Nicole, who said we should complain at the front desk. As we walk I call Bomber and leave a voice message.
At the office we are told to talk to some people and those people tell us to talk to more people. So I am waiting at a gate, constantly check my clock so that I don’t miss The Fall of Troy. Then I spot Matt Booy (Triple J photographer), who assured me that these things always happen at festivals. And according to my friend Kylie the exact same thing happened at the Brisbane Soundwave.
It did eventually all work out for us, so as Matt and Nicole make their way to Halifax I quickly make my way to The Fall of Troy, still unsure of what stage it was at.
I make it just in time for them. Security lets me into the photo pit and say that they don’t even know what the photo passes are supposed to look like, so he shows the other guys my pass saying this is who we let in. I only stayed for a couple of songs then I check who else I should photograph. On my list it says All Time Low, so now I had to look for stage 5.
I found it but some kid said it was stage 4. Hardly anyone knew where they were at. I get into the photo pit and find shelter from the sun in the form of a very tall speaker.
All Time Low were a very energetic band with a fan base of screaming girls. I stayed for my usual 3 songs and went to leave but security were busy holding the crowd back, so I was directed to go left. I walk left but the path is still going without any way of knowing how to get back outside. So, I ended up in an area with a lot of tour vans, and then I realized I had ventured backstage.
I decided to eat and get a drink before I shot anymore bands. My body was giving up on me. Water was easy to get, no lines. A bit expensive but I’m used to paying a lot of money for drinks. Sprite is usually $3.40 a bottle so $4 for water is no biggie.
My next artist to shoot is City and Colour. I meet another photographer shooting for Drum Media. The barrier is pushed right up against the stage. We both had nervous looks on our faces. Oh great, we were about to be thrown into the crowd. And this was an unusually rowdy crowd for the calm and soothing music of Dallas Green. We both stayed to shoot one song and left. I used my LCD screen in manual mode to get a good shot of Dallas. My Drum Media friend was pushed right to the front. After we escaped the pit we were both very annoyed and said our goodbyes and that we might bump into each other soon.
It was time to rest. I sat down with a corn on the cob (I’m on a diet and will not eat unhealthy meat pies or any of the other festival food) and another bottle of water, while Cartel set up. I could have photographed them but my energy was running low.
As I sit and munch on my corn I hear through the trees the faint but soothing sound of The Plain White T’s playing “Hey there Deliah.” I so wanted to be there to take photos or just watch them but I was waiting for Mae. Getting to point A and B was a very time consuming task. I had made it up in my mind not the go to stage 4 again.
While I was resting I was offering kids info about what stage was what, who was playing where that huge crowd was formed and who was playing next. At least I wasn’t completely useless sitting there eating corn.
I shot Mae and met Kane Hibberd, a photographer that I’ve known about for a long time but never said anything to him. I was glad I did. Such a nice guy.
Mae were good, but I think I prefer them on cd more. I only shot three songs so it was hard to get into them.
Then I left stage 3 to go the main stage. I would remain there for Thursday, Motion City Soundtrack, Alexisonfire, Incubus and Offspring. Thursday and Alexisonfire were by far the greatest bands of the whole tour for me.
After Offspring I left the main stage to take photos of The Matches, but I had time to get a few songs worth of Socratic.
The mood changed from the minute I saw them. It was like I ventured away from Soundwave festival and into Annandale Hotel on a local Indie band night. It was beautiful. I wanted that moment to last, but I had one more band to shoot.
The Matches played to half the crowd that the main stage bands played to. But this was so much better. They had their true fans there supporting them and singing along to every song. They were full of so much energy. They moved faster then any band I saw that day.
I did the usual 3 songs, contemplated seeing Killswitch Engage but dreaded walking down the hill, through the bridge, through the merch stand and up another hill. So I stayed for The Matches whole set and began to sing along to the songs that have been playing on my iTunes for so long.

The walk home through the long entry was long and hard. Someone had knocked over the gates so half the chore was done. But the walk back to Enmore Rd was most exhausting, but not as exhausting as going through my photos from Soundwave and sending them to Bombshellzine.