What a total arsefuck of a line-up... first one in a while that I won't be bothering with unless the lineup changes significantly.
Its a strong string of diverse metal though, and a very positive thing for Australia, especially considering how bollocks the BDO lineup is. Five years ago this is the kind of thing metal fans dreamed of to happen in Aus, and now that its here there is still room to complain. Silly. I'll be rocking out for The Sisters Of Mercy, everything else is a bonus.
Look, I'm sorry but it just doesn't do much for me. Should I be excited about seeing a bunch of bands I have no interest in? I'm not going to force myself to be enthused just because it's better than we could have hoped for years ago. I'll probably still go because I want to see System of a Down and Steel Panther. This year I only went for Maiden and Slash and enjoyed myself for the most part.
I looked at part of the line up and wondered if we had gone back in time. Same with the BDO and now we have this Rewind festival that is nothing but has been bands (from the list that was posted up of who is confirmed so far). For me it's not about not liking the bands but justifying the costs involved of going up to Sydney or down to Melbourne for only two or so acts that I really want to see. More trouble for SW is the still unresolved cluster fuck of this year which many punters and promoters are still bitter about and that will leave a lot of people buying tickets at the last moment to avoid the bullshit of what happened before. But the rub with that is if people do that they are more likely to cancel again due to low sales and such.
DTP, DEP, BLS, Machine Head, Chimaira, Turisas, Watain, Kvelertak, Sisters of Mercy, Mastodon, Gojira, Hellyeah, Times of Grace. That's enough for me. I'd also watch Slipknot. Limp Bizkit is the only band there that I would seriously avoid.
It is pretty underwhelming, and certainly not adventurous. I'd be seriously pumped to see Steel Panther, and there are lots of other bands I'd like to check out, but not much that gives an OMFGCarcassAtTheGatesandMaidenallontheonelineupI'vegottagettoWacken kind of reaction. Some more European metal would have been welcome. Is Meshuggah the only European band on the lineup, or am I missing someone?
Gojira is from France and Turisas are Euros as well. am guessing Watain are European but have never heard of them before.
Also, you kinda have to book who is available and touring at the time. Priest is one of the only big name obvious choices out touring at the moment that I can think would have been a good choice, but hey they had Maiden this year, so having Priest or Ozzy or something woulda been more obvious than a reformed SOAD really.
The line-up itself isn't so bad as the way it's presented, and from that I infer how it's scheduled. I'll love the first half of the day and probably not want to see any bands after around 3pm. I expect lots of clashes within those bands as well because of how they're all clustered around the bottom half.
http://www.loudmag.com.au/content/watain-death-black-metal-and-the-lawless http://www.loudmag.com.au/content/kvelertak-sultans-of-satan http://www.loudmag.com.au/content/gojira-blood-salt-and-metal
eh.... will hope for a steel panther sidewave, and would probably check out alter bridge if they do one too. everything else is a big fat meh for me.
Tickets reserved. The first few times I saw Mastodon the live vocals were weak and they suffered from an average mix, but this past June I saw them and they were fantastic. Same deal with Slipknot, so hopefully both bring it. I'm still mostly in it for The Sisters Of Mercy though. Hoping that they side show also.
