Ok. We all know about the controversy over this event. The cancellation of Soundwave Revolution due to the unnamed second headliner pulling out. Rumours of poor ticket sales and headliner Van Halen also pulling the pin. But in a few short weeks they managed to create this mini punk festival Counter Revolution. And even though it went from over 60 bands to under 20, it's still Soundwave and it'll still be good!

And it wouldn’t be Soundwave without issues of getting people in the door. An hour after the event started I finally got inside the Big Top to catch the last few songs of The Terrible Things. Simple catchy pop punk with a mighty fine finger tapping guitar solo at the end that would’ve made Eddie Van Halen proud. If he bothered to turn up.

One band I was looking forward to seeing was The Swellers. Their new album “Good For Me” is a great record. Playing fast paced punk rock. They mixed it up with older material along with tracks of the new record, “Runaway”, “Damage Done” and “Best I Ever Had”. Sounding like a mix of Jimmy Eat World and No Use For A Name they really got the crowd pumped up and made us forget the shit fight to get in.

It would be too easy to make a instant comparison to Paramore but We Are The In Crowd are more pop punk and less commercialism. The singer, Taylor Jardine is a little pocket rocket on stage. They were entertaining enough. Alesana had more band members than you can poke a stick at it seemed as the band crowded the small area of the stage. Post hardcore/screamo which to be honest, was unpleasant to listen to. Go Radio had good sound about them but I had to miss most of it the need of food and nicotine. But definitely better than the previous band. More melodic, alternative punk.

Hellogoodbye was nerdy/geek punk at it's finest. They made you want to get up and dance to their pop centric, happy sounding songs. The band even sang the praises of Myer department stores. Reminding me a bit like a young Elvis Costello, they were fun to watch. Sadly, Make Do And Mend had a bit of a lackluster crowd, which took away how good this band really is. Almost blue collar, straight up punk rock from Boston seemed lost on the audience mid afternoon which was a shame. Playing alot of tracks of their new record “End Measured Mile”, a lot of people missed on on seeing a good band.

The Damned Things (not to be confused with The Terrible Things earlier in the day) were next up and again with three guitarists, which must be the trend! The Damned Things played melodic punk and had a huge sound. A solid little set from a band I’ll check out some more. Funeral For A Friend picked up the vibe ten fold getting the room to jump and singalong. Ten years of bashing it out live see them as tight as ever and they know how to get the blood pumping again. Perfect late afternoon pick me up as the band ran through tracks of the last few records “Welcome Home Armageddon”, “Memory And Humanity” and of course their brilliant debut record “Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation”

The room swelled for Set Your Goals. Twin vocal pop punk goodness with plenty of harmonies and energy. They reminded me why pop punk works so well. Catchy as all hell and damn good fun. Heavily promoting their new album “Burning At Both Ends”, they were impressive and left their fans happy. This Providence were next and these guys weren't too bad but seeing this was the last chance to get out for fresh air (cigarette break) before 6pm lockdown. I had to skip most their set.

Story Of The Year came out with a jab to the ribs and kept on punching. Another high energy and surprisingly heavy set from Story Of The Year. Quite impassive. On stage banter turned to talk about trying to sleep with the bass players sister and how when they last played Sydney, five years ago, they were cool!!! They somehow got in an 50 min set while everyone else had 30 but no one seemed to care.

During Face To Face, I was disappointed in the kids walking out a true punk band. It showed no respect from this long standing band that probably influenced half the acts playing today. This was my second time seeing them at a Soundwave and they still kicked ass. Straight up no bullshit melodic punk rock with balls, aggression and power. The way it should be. No screaming. No love songs. No whining. On a side note, white guitars are also the trend today.

Well weren't the kids excited by Yellowcard. They chanted them on and filled the Big Top to see them. I'll admit pop punk with violin is novel and works for them. But I've never been sold on them until tonight. They blew me away. Hi octane set with great tunes that got the crowd involved. During their set I noticed a couple slow dancing to a punk love song. It was cute to see the effect the band had on these two young lovers. The band knew what the kids wanted to hear and gave it to them with power chords and sweat and enough hooks to even land me in. My opinion has changed on Yellowcard.

I found it hard to focus on the Young Guns when two middle aged women walk in and make their way towards the front. So many questions entered my mind. Are they mothers of the band members? Maybe they just love modern punk? Do they have kids here and they are keeping an eye on them? Sadly this distracted me from the pretty cool sound coming from the stage as start to wonder if I’ll be still coming to punk shows when I’m forty and fifty.....I kind of hope so. That was changed by All Time Low who appealed to the screaming teenage girls who made me feel old! Catchy pop punk with bras on the mike stand which I don’t remember being there when they first came out. Nice! They are young and talented and I hate that! But really good live and very impressive.

D.R.U.G.S were the second headliner today and I didn't realize the bassist was doing double duty. D.R.U.G.S and Story Of The Year. They really got the crowd involved yet I expected a better live performance. I had high hopes and they failed a bit to meet them but not through lack of effort. “Sex Life” worked with Chris standing on the hands of the crowd to sing. I'm amazed he wasn't dropped. But it was clear the band lived by it's name a touch. All if not most were wasted! Rock n’ Roll decadence at it's glorious best!!

I’m not going to hide away from the fact I love Panic! At The Disco. I still maintain their first record is one of the most original albums I’ve heard in the last ten years was a breath of fresh air changing the dynamics within the punk scene yet again. Their other two albums I’m not so sold on so I was glad the set featured alot from “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out”. Songs like “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage”, “Time To Dance”, “Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Do Without Taking Her Clothes Off”, and my all time favourite “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”. Brendan is quite the front man, chatty with the crowd talking about his broken zipper in his pants and prancing around the stage a la Mick Jagger. Other tracks performed were “9 In The Afternoon”, “The Ballad Of Mona Lisa” and they opened with the catchy “Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind).

I was always thought that maybe they would be more suited to a Big Day Out line up, but the Soundwave crowd loved them and most of the bands were gathered side stage to watch them. They did put on a great show and topped off the day nicely.

The day itself, as great as it was, I felt that feeling of wanting more. Knowing all the bands originally scheduled who didn't come might've added to that feeling but I don’t think it was worth the price of admission. Even the rush job that it was, it was still poorly organized. Over an hour to get in, in the rain. Shutting doors at 6. At one point running out of hot food. It just didn't hold up to the original Soundwave.