There are over 20 Sidewaves this year to compliment the Soundwave Festival run, and one which Sydneysiders got treated to was a brutal mix of Miss May I, Cancer Bats, and Bullet for My Valentine.
As the over 18s shuffled in to and filled up the small venue downstairs and began drinking away, and the unfortunate under 18s were forced upstairs, Miss May I came on.
Clearly they weren’t one of the main bands people came to see, as punters stayed relatively still for their set, though their was a few fist pumps and random circle pits on Levi Benton’s request.
Despite a lack of energy and movement Miss May I still delivered a strong set, playing tracks including ‘Forgive and Forget’ and ‘Hey Mister’. Though most didn’t know the words, everyone was happy to scream out ‘yeah!’ when prompted.
There was plenty of head banging and hair flying around on stage, as Benton never lacked in energy and determination to get the crowd going.
I think its safe to say there will be a few people going home from that night and googling Miss May I.
Speaking of unknowns, when the Cancer Bats took to the stage, Liam Cormier wholly embraced the fact some people might not have known who they were, mentioning it several times, even though probably two-thirds of the venue seemed to have a clue.
Another extremely energetic frontman, Cormier seemed to never cease running back and forth across the stage, while furiously head banging.
After playing a few tracks, including their starter ‘Bricks and Mortar’, Cormier apologised for their extended time away from the country in the only way a metal band knows how, by uniting the audience in a round of finger raising and ‘fuck yous’.
The singer also tried his hand at an Australian accent in an attempt to rip off those who didn’t know they were, and safe to say, he did a pretty decent job of it.
Doing something few bands do, Cancer Bats launched into a cover of the Beastie Boy’s ‘Sabotage’ for those you hadn’t had a chance to scream along yet, before finishing up with the songs ‘Sorceress’ and ‘Darkness Lives’ from their own collection.
The latter two drew some circle pits, a crowdsurfer or two, and a massive chant for them to return to the stage after finishing their set.
A quick aside, during the Cancer Bats set, did anyone else see the Asian man dressed in a business suit, typing away on his phone as he was led around the venue by what looked like a security guard? Not your usual sighting at a metal gig (a manger perhaps?).
As the now packed venue waited for Bullet to grace the stage, there was plenty of rounds of chanting, and screaming mistakenly at road crew as excitement grew.
After set up, the stage was left ready for around five minutes, giving a combination of anticipation and annoyance, before Bullet finally took to the stage to an eruption of screams.
They launched the show with the new track ‘Breaking Point’ before following with ‘Pleasure and Pain’.
There was a mixture of old and new tracks throughout the night, with classics such as ‘Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)’, ‘Scream Aim Fire’ and ‘4 Words (To Choke Upon)’ which was changed up with an acoustic beginning from Matthew Tuck.
They showcased some new music from their current album Temper Temper including ‘Riot’, ‘P.O.W’ and, in their first ever performance of it live, ‘Leech’.
No metal gig would be complete without a wall of death, which spilt the room during ‘Hand of Blood’.
Then the song that everybody knows and loves, ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ came on and there wasn’t a person not singing and screaming along.
Despite that usually being their closing song, it seems Bullet didn’t want to leave, choosing to play another two songs ‘Alone’ and ‘Begging for Mercy’.
It was definitely at good night at The Hi-Fi, with the metal genre being showcased at its best.
