“Pack up your shit and get out of here 2025, because it’s gonna be tough to top that”
Parkway Drive pummeled the Wembley Arena (or the OVO Arena Wembley) on Saturday night with a behemoth of a production to celebrate 20 years of the band and its discography of hits. With crushing riffs, production values and enough pyrotechnics to make Micheal Bay blush, London was treated to a celebratory setlist of 20 years of hits with many old favorites making their way into the setlist.
As both reviewer and photographer I had the privilege of shooting the entire gig and admittedly it’s going to take a few days for the adrenaline and buzz factor to leave my veins after this night.
Winston McCall (vocals), Jeff Ling (lead guitar), Ben Gordon (drums), Luke Kilpatrick (rhythm guitar) and Jia O Connor (bass) hail from Byron Bay, Australia and have been a driving force in the Metalcore scene since 2005 with the release of Killing with a Smile.
To thunderous roars, theyentered the arena at the back of the room, making their way to the stage through the crowd, flags waving, intro music swelling. It was like a scene from a Rocky movie with the contenders entering the venue towards the ring. An apt analogy as this crowd was about to go 12 rounds with a bruising sonic and visual beast.
After the two opening songs on what was called Stage B, Carrion and Prey (one of my favorites),ended, the curtain finally fell and the main stage itself was unveiled. A metal bridge submerged from the ceiling to connect the B stage to the big stage, making a catwalk that was often used throughout the set for pyro set pieces. We then kicked into Glitch from the latest album Darker Still. Winston, a commanding and energetic stage presence as always never let up from the start of the gig.
Sacred gave way to Vice Grip with Jeff Ling taking front of stage to deliver that iconic riff. Jeff’sriffs highlight how tight this band is with guitar parts from Jeff and Luke complimented by crushing bass and drums from Jia and Ben, this is a band that bleeds for its craft.
Boneyards had great fun with the support of openers band members Amity Affliction, Cemetery Bloom brought the visual theatrics. The Void from Reverence delivered as always, a classic with fireworks. Wishing Well literally rained on the situation. They also performed their popular 2006 album Killing With A Smile as a medley which really kicked the circle pits into overdrive.
Idols and Anchors had Winston join the back of the crowd to act as ringmaster to the craziest circle pit I have seen in recent years. Pure bliss.
Chronos brought a breather and an exceptional one at that with an all-female trio intro of violins and cello that then supported the rest of the song. Fantastic, and it also highlighted the range that this band has on the melodic front as well as the skull crushing riff, base and drum front. Highlighted again as we went into Darker Still from their latest album, a ciggie/phone lighter waving moment as good as any.
Bottom Feeder went nuts on the pyro and then we are into the final stretch. Ben gives us a good fashioned drum solo. Or maybe not? Surrounded by dancers his drum rig began to rotate upside down in a real “holy shit” moment, only for it and the stage to be lit aflame for Crushed. As Winston took to the sky’s, bare chested on the floating platform it erupted in flames. Jaws on the floor. “Are you not entertained” Rusty Crowe once asked.
We ended the night with Wild Eyes, a crowd favorite and perfect sing along song to bring everyone together in one final moment of musical camaraderie. As everyone spilled out of the arena into the London night, exhausted but riding high one thought kept spinning in my mind. A thought that I mentioned at the top of my review. How the hell can any gig top that for the rest of 2025? Perhaps Parkway’s final stop of the tour in Copenhagen on the 16th of November can, and I will be there to find out. Can’t bloody wait.
