The humid Virginia air was thick with anticipation as the sun set, lights dimmed and headliners Parkway Drive appeared on stage. The Australian metalcore titans proved to be worthy of their main-event status, as they closed out the Summer of Loud festivities in emphatic fashion.
Because they don’t tour very often and hadn’t played in Virginia in more than seven years, many in attendance — myself included — were experiencing the powerhouse phenomenon for the first time. Fortunately for everyone involved, Parkway Drive absolutely lived up to the heightened expectations.
Immediate first impression: Frontman Winston McCall struck an imposing figure, stomping and stalking the stage as if he was a gladiator impatiently awaiting his next overmatched opponent. The stage erupted with strobes as the menacing McCall growled the opening notes of “Glitch” with ferocious energy, and we were officially underway.
The mood intensified once again as the band shifted into “Sacred,” a wrecking ball of an anthem that was highly enjoyable to experience in person. The sheer heaviness of the song translated perfectly in a live setting, and Winston encouraged the chaos, grinning as he watched the floor churn like a storm. It was at this exact moment I said to myself, “Parkway Drive has arrived and this place belongs to them.”
While their set had many memorable moments, “Crushed” easily stood out as the most transcendent moment of the evening. That’s because, when one of the premier live metal acts of the modern era breaks out a production spectacle that leaves fans completely speechless, you know you’re witnessing something special. To that end, Parkway Drive finished off the night with a spinning flaming drum cage that can best be described as a hamster wheel of death.
As the drum kit inverted, it was difficult to tell if Ben Gordon was playing the drums or training with NASA. When the cage was lit on fire, I began to suspect Gordon was preparing to be the first drummer in history to play on the sun. As a professional photographer who has been covering concerts for decades, it’s not often you see something so completely unique and different, but Parkway Drive absolutely created an epic visual to cap off a magnificent evening of live music.
