I didn't do a post last week because I was in Sydney, working at the Soundwave festival.
My job was to bring the bands their drinks and food to their dressing rooms. The drinks and food is called the bands rider.
In the interest of the fact I want to work in the industry I will not divulge anything I think needs to be kept private or the operations of Soundwave festival but I can tell you I had a great time.
Highlights of Sydney include, meeting Dez from Devil Driver and discovering he is as nice as everyone says. I liked the band before and now I love them, the shameful thing is that I didn't get to see them perform.
I watched Bullet For My Valentine play in Sydney and the crowd went off! Would have loved to have been in the mosh but I needed to look presentable for my shift back stage. The lead singer had a sore throat so he had the singer of Rise To Remain sing a few songs but it did not take any of the energy from the crowd. It was awesome to finally see them live, then meet them back stage and discover they are also very nice lads. Bonus was I got a plectrum from the band!
Murderdolls were also a very charming band. They were very polite and kind to me and my friends (who were working with me) and I fell in love with them.
We went to the Stone Sour and Coheed and Cambria sideshow in Sydney on the Monday night and it was awesome! Coheed and Cambria were great live, I just wish they could have been on stage longer.
Stone Sour were even better at their sideshow then at Soundwave, I think they may have felt more comfortable with a dedicated audience, played all the favourites and got us into the mosh for a few songs.
Tuesday and Wednesday consisted of real life. I gave my niece her birthday present for her first birthday on Tuesday (which she didn't like at the time, but I'm told she is no longer afraid of it).
Wednesday was a day of school and work, which isn't really notable except my exhaustion was apparent and I look forward to my boss changing my shifts so I no longer work Wednesday nights.
Thursday was the Rob Zombie and Murderdolls sidewave and it was an awesome show. Murderdolls were really great, I was really glad I made it in time to see them and didn't even care if Rob Zombie was good or not. However, Rob Zombie blew me away. The entire stage show combined with the energy from the band and Rob Zombie himself was beyond words. Three encores and finishing on a crowd sing along to Dragula left me very pumped and not looking forward to bed, I was in the mood to party!!
That was until I got home at 1am to discover I needed to be at the showgrounds around 7.30am. So two hours sleep later, a drive to my friends house and a ride from her dad, landed me at Soundwave Melbourne.
My roles were more varied from Sydney, I led the gate volunteers to the gate, helped with guest lists, of course delivered riders, drove the trolleys and helped out in the signing tent. I felt a lot more comfortable to offer a hand in Melbourne as I was more familiar with the supervisors. I felt that I made a better impression in Melbourne too. I WORKED MY BUTT OFF!! Which also coincidentally included me falling on my butt if front of a bunch of bands.
On the TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms) front, I did manage to catch up with Chris and Jason in Sydney, we hung with them for a bit and got photos taken. I wish we could've spent more time with them but we were very busy with our shifts. Which meant no picking their brains about internships but I do feel like they know me better now.
This has been somewhat of a scattered post in my eyes but the outcome of Soundwave has definately been a reinforcement of my love for everything music! I want to continue working with live music and rock music in all forms. I was worried I would be disillusioned but I'm anything but. Looking forward to my next adventure. I have to find an internship for later in the year, to pass school, so here's hoping I get something awesome.
Thanks for reading.
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