Local band headlines major festival

By Jed Smith
From Waverley Bowling Club to the Big Day Out and sell out shows at the Enmore, the rise of Bondi’s Cog has been meteoric.

And it is set to continue when they headline the Badlands music festival premiering on Sunday September 21 at Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar.

Bringing together the cream of the crop in Australian punk, rock and metal including headbanging heavyweights Karnivool, Mammal, Hersell Common, After the Fall, Kisschasy and Sleep Parade as well as Cog and many more, the Badlands festival is sure to test out the structural durability of the Manning Bar.

That promoters have broken the trend in hip hop and dance-influenced festivals is, according to Cog bassist Luke Gower, a sure sign of the resurgence of a healthy and diverse rock/punk scene in the Australian music landscape.
‘It’s growing at the moment,’ says Gower. ‘There’s heaps of good bands out there that are coming through and I reckon it’s a healthy thing. It seems a lot of people are getting out there and going to check out bands as opposed to, you know going to see DJs.’

Cog has been at the forefront of the rock/punk/metal revival; at the Badlands they will be leading the best of the best in the Australian scene.
‘It’s an honour. It feels great. It’s a pleasure to be playing with bands like that. To be playing anywhere next to ’em, above ’em, beside ’em, doesn’t matter I’m just stoked to be playing with them,’ says Gower.

If the events web page is anything to go by, Badlands will be a true ear-splitting treat, one in which to ‘expect smashed guitars, stage invasions and raining plastic bottles and cups’.
‘That’s pretty standard,’ shrugs Gower, ‘You’ve just gotta go with the flow.’

Predictably the event is restricted to over 18s, though if you have a family history of heart disease, osteoporosis or hearing difficulty you should also consider skipping this one.