Review: Parkway Drive “20 Year Anniversary” Tour ft. I Prevail

Tour: Parkway Drive “20 Year Anniversary” ft. I Prevail

Venue: John Cain Areana

Date: September 22nd, 2024

Photo: Nicole Noy

Review: Ned Tepper

We said it earlier in the year when it was announced, Parkway Drive’s 20 Year Anniversary tour had “Tour of the Year” type feels. With Void of Vision, The Ghost Inside and I Prevail announced as openers, how can you lose? That is a tour in itself, throw in the immortal Parkway Drive and it’s game over…

Unfortunately, our luck was out and due to whatever reason it was announced Void of Vision and The Ghost Inside would not be performing. To say I was disappointed was beyond an understatement, TGI have been a bucket list band for many years and our interview with Jonathan Vigil ahead of the tour was a fun one!

You can relive that here:

The Ghost Inside released a very good album in ‘Searching For Solace’ earlier in the year and our own Void Of Vision just released a monster in “What I’ll Leave Behind”. Both albums are out now and we highly recommend you give them a listen and keep those fingers crossed that The Ghost Inside will return to our shores again soon!

The Ghost Inside “Searching For Solace”: https://theghostinside.ffm.to/searchingforsolace

Void of Vision “What I’ll Leave Behind”: https://vov.lnk.to/WhatIllLeaveBehind

Detroit’s “I Prevail” have cemented themselves as a main stay in the industry and are looking down the barrel of being an arena headlining band themselves with their high energy and fan engaging sets. This one was no different with the band doing a great job of setting the tempo for the night and their new (to us anyway) background videos, which were nothing short of eerily amazing. Delving out a bunch of hits from their now 10 plus year career, including their Taylor Swift cover “Blank Space”, which was part of the reason they exploded onto the scene. They are a must see, it’s as simple as that! Plus, they love Australia, and keep coming back, which is amazing.

The scene was set for Parkway Drive to celebrate their 20 Year Anniversary and to say I was not ready for what was coming is a severe understatement. I don’t want to give too much away about the show/set list itself but I’ll say this, they went above and beyond any expectations I had. We are talking a high tech state of the art and at a metal show? Like something you’d expect to see at a big time Pop show. Parkway Drive are legitimately Australia’s biggest metal band and have earned every bit of it, vocalist Winston McCall had the crowd in the palm of his hands and seemingly effortlessly from the moment they entered the arena until they departed hours later.

At one stage there was not one or two circle pits happening, not even three but FOUR circle pits of pure chaos. One of the hardest things was having to sit back and watch from the side lines, the crowd participation was next level and with the majority being at that “Above 35” demographic. Visually the show was the best I have seen in my 20 plus years of attending concerts, again going in not expecting anything to this level. Even paying homage to past bands that helped put them on the scene, including surprise special vocalists (we don’t want to give away) and so much more.

The set list was PERFECT and only seemed to somewhat slowdown during the amazing performance of “Darker Still” which gave the crowd a brief chance to take it all in and get their breath back. Expect fire, expect nostalgia, expect intensity but whatever you do, do not miss this tour. The boys from Byron Bay are here to stay, with their best show to date. Celebrate all things Parkway Drive on their must experience 20-year anniversary tour!

Remaining Shows:

TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER – JOHN CAIN ARENA, MELBOURNE FINAL TICKETS

FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER – AEC ARENA, ADELAIDE SOLD OUT

MONDAY 30 SEPTEMBER – RAC ARENA, PERTH 90% SOLD OUT

Tickets: https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/parkway-drive