Friday 20 September

Supports: I Prevail, The Ghost Inside, Void of Vision

2024’s biggest metal event of the year was no doubt the 20 Year anniversary for Parkway Drive. Joining the Byron Bay juggernauts for the celebrations included well-loved US acts in heavy music and need no introduction to Australian fans, I Prevail and The Ghost Inside. Melbourne’s Void of Vision brought in opening duties on the week of their release of album #4, What I’ll Leave Behind. With such a stacked lineup, this was going to be a top tier gig.

Being a Friday night show and having to drive out to Boondall straight from work, I didn’t expect the first band to kick off so early (5:30pm), so unfortunately didn’t catch Void of Vision on this occasion. I have no doubt though that they would have crushed opening duties. Arriving just in time to catch LA metalcore boys The Ghost Inside definitely had me excited though, as it had been some time since seeing them live. Kicking in with Searching For Solace’s ‘Death Grip’, frontman Johnathan Vigil kicked things off in epitomous fashion.

While ‘Earn It‘ kept the circle pit enthusiasts busy, it was experiencing tracks like ‘Wash It Away‘ that reminded me why this band deliver some of the slickest, heaviest sounds in metalcore today. They’re fully living out their rebirth era and getting to revisit classics like ‘Dark Horse‘ and ‘Engine 45‘ once more instilled my faith in the band further.

Following a lengthy intermission that allowed punters to attend the beer lines, the Entertainment Centre quickly absorbed its capacity and by the time the lights dimmed and transitioned an eerie red hue, you could tell I Prevail fans were armed at the ready for whatever was to come. Being a huge fan of the boys myself, I wasn’t too sure what to expect as being in a venue of this size, this would be the biggest I Prevail show I’ve been amongst thus far. Following the AI-inspired grim reaper intro, the opening bars of ‘There’s Fear in Letting Go’ played out and the band shifted gears into True Power.

Straight from those first notes, the band kicked things into full velocity proving how important their Aussie fans have become to them. Continuing effortlessly into ‘Body Bag‘, hardcore vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe seemingly took the reins tonight with their stadium-worthy sound of metalcore. Seamless transitions kept the pit momentum going through ‘Bad Things’ and the band’s take on ‘Blank Space‘ before taking us back down the iconic Trauma days with fan favs ‘Hurricane‘ and ‘Bow Down‘.

You could say that the Michigan boys brought the fury to the evening with finale ‘Gasoline‘, but no one was ready for what Parkway Drive were about to bring. As the lights dimmed, the spotlight shone down and led all eyes down towards the back of Entertainment Centre. Adorned in a white hoodie, frontman Winston McCall led the rest of the band through the pit and onto the centre stage podium. Amidst the cheers, they kicked things off with ‘Carrion‘ and this was a performance quite uncomparable to anything I have ever witnessed.

Having previously only witnessed the band in a festival setting (Knight & Day, Good Things Festival), Parkway Drive gave us an absolute gripping performance that had everyone from the vibrant moshpit to the nosebleeds above on their feet. ‘Vice Grip‘ was a memorable standout as they demonstrated their success over the years before lunging into ‘Boneyards‘ where Winston was joined on stage by I Killed the Prom Queen’s Michael Crafter.

For this 20-year Anniversary show, many were anticipating how many almost-forgotten throwbacks were going to be included in the setlist and let me tell you, no one was disappointed at all. Following the live return of ‘Horizons‘, the Byron Bay rockstars ignited fury in the pit with a medley of their Killing With A Smile LP. Featuring ‘Gimme A D’, ‘Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got Em’ and ‘Romance is Dead‘, this had everyone in a chokehold.

Lead guitarist Jeff Ling is an absolute shredding machine, but for a band like Parkway Drive, each member shines just as bright individually as they do as a collective. Following the band logo lowering from the ceiling and bursting into flames, drummer Ben Gordon’s 360-degree drumkit also didn’t go amiss during the epic finale of ‘Crushed‘. If you’ve never witnessed Parkway live before, you’d come to find that these guys enjoy setting things alight and the pyrotechnics added to this spectacular show.

From the moving catwalk stage to the dancers to the pyros, this is a tour that goes down in Australian live music history. As the country’s most successful metal exports, Parkway Drive are absolute icons and the energy witnessed is unmatched. Thanks for the last twenty years boys, and here’s to twenty more of kicking ass for Aussie metal. Viva the Underdogs.

Review by Tamara May

Photos by Reece Trudgen