Words by Riah Hill
Photos by Joshua Stroud
Special thanks to Live Nation
21 years of Killing With A Smile. 21 years of memories attached to that album, and
last night I got to add one more.
Parkway Drive have become a force over the last 20+ years and their West Aus’
fanbase have grown and followed them along for the ride. From little YMCA HQ shows
where they filmed Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em music video, to summer festivals down
South, to packed out arena shows. West Aus’ has loved and supported the Byron
Bay metalcore heavyweights since day 1. So, it was a bit of a special feeling to be
hosting the first stop on the Killing Horizons tour.
The line outside Metro City lapped the blocks of Northbridge, with eager fans
desperate to escape the cold and to relive their teen years. So many fans were
sporting old Parkway merch from the 2010’s which was amazing to see, it was as if
the nostalgia had started before we even walked into the venue.
First up for the night was the Perth based metalcore band Oceans & Omens. They
were fun, energetic and got the crowd warmed up ready for the big dogs. Second up
we had the Goddesses from Blush, who showed us the grunge scene from Perth
isn’t dead yet. Both were a good showcase of what Perth has to offer.
It was now time for Parkway to start their set. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them
‘toned down’ in the sense of stage theatrics. I knew we weren’t going to see any
pyrotechnics, no Winston McCall being propelled into the air, no Ben Gordon playing
the drums upside down in a ring of fire. It was going to be stripped back version of
the 5 legends on a stage, sweaty mosh pits and a whole ‘lotta fun. And it was exactly
just that.
The lads run out onto the stage, and the venue dispenses into a room shaking roar.
Holy hell. The mosh immediately sandwiches to the barriers and the whole thing
shifts, no doubt absolutely terrifying the security manning the space between the
barrier and the stage. As promised, we heard the Killing With A Smile album in
full from start to finish.
First song up was Gimme a D. It was as if no time had passed since they had
played it live, the sound was immaculate. The crowd were throwing their bodies into
it, crowd surfers immediately heading towards the front, people were overflowing in
the pit. It was insane. Everyone is a little bit older, wiser and aging like a fine wine,
(Jeff – I’m looking at you), but their sound is still solid, even though it’s grown over
the years, the foundations of their sound are so present in this album, which is one of
the reasons it is so good.
The crowd is roaring with every song. Winston is flexing that ol’ Parkway sound, Jeff
Ling on guitar is effortlessly but powerfully flying through the set. I have seen
Parkway countless times, but it never ceases to amaze me how impressive their
stage presence is, even without the theatrics, the way they command the stage is so
impressive. Winston is by far my favourite Aussie frontman. His range, his presence
and endurance is insane. Despite their worldwide success, they still bring this
homegrown wholesomeness to every gig, making the effort to connect to with the
crowd, telling them how grateful they are and it feels genuine. Even after all this time
and all their success, they still obviously love what they do, and we bloody love them
for it.
When it was time for Romance Is Dead the room erupted even more, which I didn’t
even think was possible. Winston was amongst the mosh pit, reaching out to fans
who swarmed towards him. This song is a personal fave of mine on the album, it
may even be the first Parkway song I heard – shoutout to my older brother – king of
MySpace and black hair dye, who was about 16 when this album came out – I was 11.
I got an iPod shuffle for my 12th birthday, and because we had a shared family
computer back then, whatever illegally downloaded music that was on the computer
automatically made its way to my iPod. RIP my discman. So, I was schooled on
Parkway pretty early on. And I loved it.
The lads went on excitedly to inform the venue that they were about to play
Blackout and that this was the very first time it was being played live. How damn
lucky are we.
The hits just kept coming. Picture Perfect, Pathetic and Mutiny were up and they
were so, so heavy. Straight up fire. There were shoes being flown through the mosh
pit, I could see people drowning in the crowd. One minute they were there, the next
they were gone. I haven’t seen a mosh pit so dense in years, or maybe ever. Another
first for me was seeing a punter who was wheelchair bound being surfed through the
pit – unreal. Winston had to stop and shake their hand for how damn impressive that
was.
A Cold Day in Hell wrapped up the album. A song full of power that just dominated
the set. It is my favourite riff intro of the whole album.
We were now moving onto the promised ‘extras’ of the set. I had no idea what to
expect – were we just going to get 1 or 2? Nope! We got 8. Another 40 mins of extra
hits – hell yes.
They kicked off the extras with Prey followed by my all-time favourite Parkway song
Sleepwalker. The crowd were already loving it and had already endured an hour of
the most brutal mosh pit I have seen, but the energy didn’t fade. It got better. The
whole night was a gift that just kept on giving.
The next hits up were Sacred and Vice Grip, two songs that I feel like come from
different eras of Parkway. One in the middle of their timeline and one more recent.
Both absolute hits in my eyes and welcomed additions to the set.
Dedication was next up to fill our ears – the lyrics were appropriately changed from
’12 years’ to ‘20 years’ – 20 damn years of this. Following this and closing up the set
was of course Carrion. Easily Parkway’s most recognisable song. I remember
showing my mum the Parkway mosh pit on YouTube one time and the song playing
was Carrion – She was mortified and immediately checked to see if our Health
Insurance was in place – As expected, the crowd ripped into another level of
excitement, the whole crowd knowing every word. Sweat everywhere. Arms, legs
and prosthetics in the air, a classic carry-on over Carrion.
The lads exited the stage but we knew it wasn’t over. They love what they do too
much to not spoil us with a lil encore. “One more song” roared through the venue
over and over again. The band came back out, parked up a seat and just soaked the
whole atmosphere in before Winston raised his hand and mouthed “just one more?”
and then “two??”. TWO songs for the encore. How good.
Bottomfeeder was the first up for the encore. Winston jumped into the crowd being
taken away out of site immediately. He got the crowd to lower him, everyone got to
the floor and exploded into the air on his command. I wasn’t expecting Bottomfeeder
to be the highlight that it was. By far my favourite moment of the night.
The show had to end with out full blown singalong to Wild Eyes – the way the room
hums when that song is played is iconic.
I was expecting a good show. I wasn’t expecting that. The energy was palpable from
start to finish. Thank you Parkway Drive, for the memories and the consistently epic show
you put on. Bring on night two.
GALLERY
OCEANS & OMENS
BLUSH
PARKWAY DRIVE
