Parkway Drive Deep Blue Tour

2 concerts in 2 weeks. Man, my studies are being neglected. I have an assignment due in 2 weeks. I'm way behind my work and at this rate, I'm not gonna be ready for my finals. Oh well.

Parkway Drive Deep Blue Tour, Royal Theater National Convention Centre, Canberra, 25 September 2010.

Went alone, since I don't know anyone who is into any of the bands. Bought some merch. Got in the hall. Tried to find a nice spot. There were a lot of kids. I would peg them as being around 15-17. They looked pretty bad. After the concert, I saw many of them smoking outside the building, like it's no biggie. I guess it isn't for them. You see kids walking around with smokes here in Australia. Anyway I felt a little intimidated by the crowd. Felt very out of place.

Anyway I managed to find a spot, one or 2 people behind the barrier on the righter side of the stage.

The lineup for the night was: 50 Lions, The Ghost Inside, The Devil Wears Prada, Parkway Drive.

First up was the 50 Lions. Hardcore band. They're ok. I kinda liked their Self Titled 7" but their set was kinda forgetable.

Frontman Jonathan Vigil

Guitarist Aaron Brooks

Next was The Ghost Inside. They set up their own gear, which I thought was quite humble and respectable. They opened with "Unspoken" which is a song I quite like. Other songs which I remember on the top of my head was "Faith or Forgiveness" and "Chrono". They weren't as popular among the crowd, but was cool that some of the crowd knew the words. The guitarist Aaron Brooks kinda looked like Owen from Grey's Anatomy. All in all, a good set, felt a bit short though.

The Devil Wears Prada.


Guitarist Jeremy DePoyster singing the girly part clean vocals.

After The Ghost Inside were The Devil Wears Prada. There were girls standing in front of me and they were like mad crazy. They were like shouting and screaming, and reaching out to the stage when guitarist Jeremy DePoyster and bassist Andy Trick got to the right side of the stage. DWP was more interactive with the crowd as compared to TGI. Guitarist Jeremy DePoyster shouted something and pointed at the girls in front of me, and Keys James Baney climbed onto the barricade and reached out to the fans. Songs played were "Danger: Wildman", " Assistant To The Regional Manager" and "Outnumbered" just to name a few. Mike Hranica was wild screaming out throughout the set, not lacking in energy and enthusiasm. All in all, good show, but fangirl-ism was a bit annoying. Oh and they also said how they're Christians and they're there doing what they do because of Jesus, which was kinda cool, I guess. Didn't really see the point though as I don't know what that would achieve. Oh well, props for their faith and openess.

This is where I sat.


Parkway Drive


The sea of people.

Last band to play were Parkway Drive. By then, being a short Asian, I decided to move back to the seats and just chill and watch the show from the back. The hall is split into 2, with the floor standing area in the front, and a seperate elevated seating area. Asshole bouncer didn't let me go through, when there were like so many other people sitting in the seated area. But got a nice tip from a friendly dude, I just had to just use another entrance which was not guarded. Thank you random dude. Anyway Thank God I did get to the seats. When PWD played, the crowd just turned into animals. Circle pits. Wall of death. I wouldn't have made it out in one piece. Parkway Drive definitely have a God-like status here in Australia, and I guess Aussies have a lot of pride for their home-grown culture. The PWD set was pretty cool, with fake coconut trees on stage and weird guy with jew-fro crowd surfing on a inflatable boat and mosh camera attached on helmet. Towards the end of the set, the jew-fro clown mooned to crowd. Dispense of free merch by making the crowd scramble for a AFL ball as they did the Wall. Making them reach for free tee by dangling a it from a fishing line. The sea of people jumping up and down like a rough night with waves crashing and water churning. It was wild. PWD played a good mix of oldies and new ones, "Idols and Anchors", "Sleepwalker", "Unrest", "Smoke'em If You've Got'em", "Carrion".

Was tempted to get a PWD shirt that said "What The Fuck Have I Become", a line from their new song "Unrest" but thought it not wise. Instead I got a DWP tee instead.

All in all a good night.

Oh and Matt, if you're reading this, got you a white DWP tee. You like white right