Progress and Metalcore

Anyone that loves live music has that one band that they will see at every opportunity because that is how impressive or intense the band's live show is. For me, one of those bands is Parkway Drive. Every single time I see them, they impress me. They are a band full of charisma, intensity, sincerity and, most of all, is the fact that they make it incredibly apparent that they love what they do. The recent run of shows they did sold out almost every venue. In fact, their Roundhouse show I attended actually saw Parkway enter the history books as the first Australian act to sell out the venue. With all this hype my expectations were set high, however, Parkway Drive lived up to every single one of them.

Supported by some of the best local hardcore acts (Sydney's No Apologies and Melbourne's Her Nightmare) as well as US band The Warriors, Parkway Drive's shows was always set to be intense, fun, tough, rough and just downright hardcore. All three of the support bands put their spin on what hardcore should sound like: No Apologies had an old-school approach, while Her Nightmare chose to be much heavier, much more punishing and with a slightly metallic edge.

The Warriors, however, intrigue me. They are well and truly hardcore, but have a tinge to them that I would swear smacks of "nu-metal". Don't hold this against them though, because they are a band of accomplished musicians, and just downright nice guys. This was the band from California's first time to Australia and though a fair portion of the crowd were familiar with them, we clearly were in the minority. Despite all this, their technical skill and sheer energy won over the crowd. During the breakdowns of the set there were points where four or five separate circle pits would open up on the floor. What also impressed me was the equal allocation of time The Warriors gave to performing their older material as they did to their newer material. Although pushing a newly released record, still many songs from War Is Hell were played, with the kids having all the appropriate reactions: opening up pits, screaming along to the lyrics and making desperate scrambles for the mike grabs.

Even though props definately need to be given to the support bands it was clear throughout the night that everyone was there to see Parkway Drive. Once the opening bars of 'Begin' started playing, people ran from the bars and smoking areas straight to the floor. Once 'The Siren's Song' began, all hell broke loose!

Throughout the entire set, the whole floor was constantly moving, especially under the guidance of Parkway's charismatic frontman, Winston McCall. His powerful scream (which has certainly gotten stronger since the last time I saw them) and demeanour on stage (namely the way he stalks across it while stopping to glare at the crowd at all the key points to perfectly accentuate his lyrics) gives him the entire crowd in the palm of his hand. His every wish is performed on the floor he watches over. He asks for a circle pit, he gets a circle pit that covers the entire lower floor level of the Roundhouse. He asks for the floor to open up, the floor opens up. He asks for kids to rush the barrier and aim for the mike grabs, and the kids rush towards the stage and make human piles of one another.

By the third or fourth song, the floor is just a seething mass of bodies. Everything and everyone is moving. This whole atmosphere of brutality and sheer enjoyment in this is precisely why I love seeing Parkway live. Everyone is there for that one singular purpose, and you can see it in the way that the kids react to the songs. All around me people are furiously screaming out the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Their first album, Killing With A Smile, is full of samples of movie quotes, and everyone knows when to cut in and shout out these quote ("Yipee Ki Yay, motherfucker"). Or when to go psycho on the floor during the breakdowns. Or when to do "spirit fingers" out of respect for an especially punishing guitar solo.

Horizons, Parkway Drive's most recent album, disappointed me. However, these new songs were given new life when played live. The songs sounded heavier, more technical (even amidst some technical problems, such as the bass being barely audible) and most importantly more punishing. Older songs sounded new, having been given small tweaks here and there with the guitar sound to make them fit in better with the material from Horizons.

The reality is that Parkway Drive are always much, much better live than they are on CD. Every single time I see them they have improved. This time around was the best that I have ever seen them. They were tighter as a whole band, more charismatic on stage, and simply more entertaining. The way Winston hypes the crowd up always make me laugh. His quote of the night occurred during the encore when he said, "You guys have about three and a half minutes to lose your fucking minds!" Which is precisely what happened - a brief fight broke out in the pit towards the end of the set.

If this is Parkway at their best, then I am perfectly happy because this was the best I have ever seen them play, and rates highly on my best live performances ever list as well. If they keep progressing as live performers in the way they have been, then I cannot wait to see them again the next time they play!

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