[Live Review] PARKWAY DRIVE (Byron Bay)

Parkway Drive Byron - credit Sam Paquette 10

YAC, Byron Bay
Saturday September 28, 2013 :

What can I say about a Parkway Drive gig that hasn’t already been said? In the case of a home show at the Byron YAC, plenty! These shows are nothing short of demented! Never before have I seen such a willing crowd of ratbags consistently engage a live event as respectfully anarchistically, it’s as if an unsaid rule of chaos permeates the nature of the performance for months leading up to the evening. Simply put, a Parkway show in Byron will always ‘BE SICK’. Of my top ten craziest live show crowds ever witnessed; Parkway in Byron can claim two of them and they are both the smallest on the list by some measure.

The evening I belatedly discovered began in the afternoon, catching me by surprise.  Hawthorn were still in champagne soaked jerseys when the YAC gates were opened, a quick double check and a frantic bag pack had me hauling to the show in time to catch a bristling set of metalcore from the evergreen Michael Crafter’s project, Confession.

As confronting and affable as ever, the charismatic frontman delivered a plethora of well received favourites new and old with plenty of bodies churning in the front and screaming lyrics knowingly towards the stage. Entertaining the crowd between songs with varied tales of tours with and more notably time spent ‘back in the day’ hanging with the Parkway crew and praising the McCall’s hospitality when he “used to drag chicks back to Winston’s place” (read family home). Seemingly all too soon the final notes were reverberating from Confession’s hefty performance and the faithful were commanding another tirade.

10 years of Parkway was the tour’s theme and I couldn’t help but notice the wave of fresh young faces at this show, mentally noting that it has been the same every time. The older crew still showing up as ever whilst the PWD army ranks swell every year with another battalion of willing troops. No punter barrier had me seeking a suitable vantage point from which to capture the show whilst avoiding the guaranteed onslaught of violent celebration that traditionally meets the first few minutes of any Parkway set.

As Jeff emerged from backstage sporting his signature grin followed closely by the rest of Australias international juggernaught electricity rippled through the 1000+ strong crowd in concert with a roar of expectance. A matter of seconds and Winston was welcoming the home crowd like old friends and the band opened up proceedings with EP rerelease ‘I Watched’ much to the visceral delight of the faithful.

What followed was 90 minutes of pure metal glory, a relentless set of favourites from across their entire catalogue. Showcasing melodic musings through to sheer brutality the crowd was always engaged (albeit at times through a veil of delirium). ‘Smoke em’, ‘Boneyards’, ‘Sirens’, ‘Deliver Me’, ‘Swing’ to name a few and each delivered with a prowess that has led to demand throughout the globe.

Hilarity at times ensued as Winston implored the crowd to ‘open up the pit’ which seemed to also result in a constant stream of grommets invading the stage for a chance to scream some lyrics, give their mates ‘the horns’ and proceed to launch themselves upon them. This it appears has not lost favour with the band as they laugh at the endless supply of moments gifted by their eager swathe of converts.

Enter Cookie monster and Mario, stage diving and moshing in those suits on a balmy spring Byron evening was true dedication. Deftly playing bass and singing through the headpieces was bordering on the miraculous. At this point the show had lost all semblance of any possible formality as the band in stark contrast to the insanity that abound managed to careen expertly through a bunch more songs, each of which being met by an insatiable crowd keen to voice their appreciation for the indulgences afforded by their hometown’s favourite sons.

As the band returned for encore, I was reminded that we were in fact nestled in behind a strip of seriously unaffordable real estate when Winston mentioned the 9pm noise curfew. Little mattered as moments later as they launched into ‘Carrion’, perhaps one of the most recognisable opening riffs of the past 20 years and sending the crowd into a fist pumping cavorting frenzy. Many could be heard screaming the lyrics and many more mouthing the words beneath sated smiles.

This was another of those moments amidst a show rich in them. Subsequently I don’t know why I was surprised as the stage became swamped with dozens and dozens of sweaty frothing kids to the extent that the band simply disappeared in the throng that soon filled every spare inch on the stage.

I heard it said recently that the crowd is as an essential element of a performance as any component and to this end such a performance could not hope to be a grander example. Simply Parkway Drive own Byron Bay performances and as such Byron Bay loves owning Parkway.

Reviewer / Photographer: Quenched

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