Parkway Drive light up The Theater at Virgin Hotel!

October 5, 2023  – Parkway Drive brought their Monsters of Oz tour to The Theater inside the Virgin Hotel. This tour is a special one, as the entire lineup hails from Australia. How cool is that? Opening up the night we saw performances from Make them Suffer, Northlane, and The Amity Affliction. 

First up was Make them Suffer. This band really kicked the night off right with their high energy right out of the gate. These guys are currently a Sharptone Records band, which I highly suggest checking that label out. Their last full length record was released in 2020 on Rise Records. They’ve had two singles released this year titled “Ghost of Me” and “Doomswitch”, which according to recent setlists are both part of their current live song rotation. Other than the new releases from this year, these guys seem to be another one of those bands relentlessly touring to make up for 2020. 

It definitely standed out at the end of their set, when their keyboard player could be seen playing in a similar fashion to her guitarist and bassist bandmates. What do they call that? A key-tar? Or something. At any rate, I thought that was really cool. 

Second to hit the stage is Northlane. Of all of the bands on this lineup I’d argue that they were the most contrasting with their sound, mixing elements of metal and post hardcore, along with some tinges of progressive/industrial sounds. This could be seen in real time off on stage left as Jon Deiley could be seen alternating between playing guitar and operating a drum pad/programmer. An interesting touch for sure. Another thing that stands out? They don’t have a bass player. 

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Next up was The Amity Affliction. I was probably most excited to see these guys perform again after 5 years. This cycle of touring is mainly for their latest release, Not Without My Ghost which was released earlier this year on Pure Noise Records. This album includes all of the elements these guys are known for and what makes them special. Joel Birch’s intense unclean vocals contrast so perfectly with bassist Ahren Stringer’s beautiful clean vocal tones. These special elements are not absent in their live performances at all, and I love that about them. 

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Right about now I have to point out my one big disappointment with this night… the lighting rig for the opening bands. This venue in particular has beautiful lighting on its own, and I understand the desire for dramatic light shows, but the strobes behind and in front of the band left me blinded after leaving the photo pit. It was overkill, and not really needed for bands of this nature, playing a venue like this. This was only an issue during the openers, by the time Parkway Drive came on, the lighting switched from difficult to damn near perfect. 

Which leads me to our headliner for the evening, Parkway Drive. You know, it’s crazy. These guys are yet another landmark in the scene that is now two whole decades old. I’m only in my thirties and I feel old as fuck because of that, but it doesn’t stop me from continuing to go out and enjoy these bands that I fell in love with back in the early 2000’s. The last time I saw these guys here in Vegas was in 2018 during their Reverence run, on the much smaller House of Blues stage. The overall set up and production that went into this run easily blows the smaller venues/shows I’ve seen them play out of the water. 

High standards in production is nothing new for Parkway Drive though. I had heard even back then that when they had the stage room and capability that they would use fire and put drummer Ben Gordon in a fixture that turns him and his kit upside down Tommy Lee style. (This ended up being exactly what happened on this date, and it was unbelievable.) On the first song “Glitch”, we were blown away by an elaborate fire show, and that was just a quickie teaser of what was left to come the rest of the night. 

The whole set was filled with gorgeous lighting and bursts of fire throughout the highs of the evening that left fans new and old alike breathless. I was ultra grateful to the security guard who let me walk down behind the soundboard that sits in the center of the room to take in these lights and the intense energy from the crowd. I took a few photos, smiled, and walked back up and finished watching the band tear up the stage. 

My ultimate conclusion with Parkway Drive… they literally should not ever be playing small or midsize venues… This tour production shows that these guys are MADE for elaborate and overall BIG stage themes and I cannot wait to see what they have in store the next time around. In short… you don’t want to miss this band when they hit your city. They BRING IT, and it’s worth every penny, and every moment spent. 

Setlist

1. Glitch
2. Prey
3. Idols and Anchors
4. Carrion
5. The Void
6. Dedicated
7. Vice Grip
8. Sleepwalker
9. Karma
10. Darker Still
11. Bottom Feeder
12. Chronos
13. Drum Solo
14. Crushed
15. Wild Eyes

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Live photos by Courtney Ware for ZrockR Magazine 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.