a fast and furious Sonic Boom Six headline Hevy's opening day

The sun is locked upon us as we begin to queue on Friday afternoon, and it stays scorchingly hot for the majority of the weekend. In the queue, we inch forward. There are tales of three hour waits to get in as security scour bags for contraband and aerosols. They get thrown into fires by idiots and explode, apparently. Our bags are checked out, and then we're in. The main arena is the smallest I've seen at a festival, slightly smaller than Offset. Inside are many clothing retailers with Johnny Cupcakes and Etnies having the pick of the merch.

The food stalls are very limited due to the size of the arena, so if you were here over the full duration of the event, you'd likely try something from all five of them. The Chinese stall selling tempura and spring rolls offered the best value, but like the others left my arteries yearning for a healthier option. A few more options in general would have been welcomed. There's no clearly marked standpipe inside the main arena, and you couldn't bring any drinks in from the campsite. So as the heat beats down, you're forced to buy them.

There are four stages, two tents (Macbeth and the larger Etnies), the small Red Bull Bedroom Jam and Jagermeister stages. Quizzically, the two outdoor stages are placed next to each other. They run schedules that alternate, so there shouldn't be a problem with overlap. But more on that later. Sound quality from all the stages is generally excellent. In terms of lighting design, there is more to be said. The budget has obviously been squeezed here, and the execution of lighting changes is generally mediocre until the larger bands bring in their own lighting guys. Smaller bands just tend to have everything thrown at them, and there's a heavy leaning towards red lighting. This is not a photographer's paradise.

After settling in, we head to the Macbeth tent for Straight Lines. They have a Springsteen meets Hardcore vibe to them, and just like the Boss have expansive lyrical themes. This is the kind of stuff America eats for lunch. Their set is the one instance where sound isn't perfect, but they battle against it gamely. It's also difficult to fault their choice in T-shirts. The drummer is wearing a choice Police number, while the guitarist sports an Aerosmith Pump T-shirt. I'm judging them on the wrong criteria, but this is a very emo festival. Everything matters, and everything counts. Sea Of Red are next on, and they are obviously a step up in quality, with Jane's Addiction bizarrely springing to mind. They don't look or act anything like JA, but the vocal delivery is similar, and they have the same depth of soundscape to them. In all other aspects they are emo-licious, and they are very impressive.

The evening's headliners are Sonic Boom Six, a band I've previously ignored. But if we were going to have a conversation about which band could cross over from Hevy to the mainstream it would only be them. Their assault on the senses is fast and furious, and they italicize their pop credentials by adding Price Tag to the end of one of their own numbers. They remind me of a pop Senser with a bit of ska thrown in, as mindwarping as that sounds. When they throw in a 'Wall of death' at the end of their set, half the crowd is mystified, the other half launches itself against the opposing side of a created, artificial gap in their midst at the drop of an arm. We try and get into the Etnies tent for the Lower Than Atlantis, and Tek-One sets, but as it is the only game in town, the tent is already very full. We call it a night.

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