With the crowd slowly settling in Thy Art Is Murder, another Australian band who’re just as much veterans in this game as the rest if line up, kick things off hastily. A brief walk through the crowd and you’re swallowed up into what feels like an intimate club vibe as a favourable sized hardcore pit opens up driven by vocalist Chris whose care-free approach and looming vocals crush the venues overwhelming size. “This side, go look at that wall if you know what I mean…” is quite frankly the best way I’ve see a band tackle a wall of death without the legalities of the aftermath. No matter where they play or who they play with Thy Art Is Murder are a band always true to themselves and their fans.
Another tour for Killswitch Engage as main support and thankfully they get the set time they truly deserve. End Of Heartache gets an early push in the set and provokes the crowd early on to get involved. It doesn’t take long for Adam to get ahold of the mic and thank us for inviting them to our fucking freezing city – to be fair it had been snowing and we’re just.grateful the show still went ahead. You have to respect the opposite ways in which singer Jesse and Adam handle the crowd – like a bad cop good cop scenario as one teases the crowd with jokes and the other presses serious matters. Killswitch always have that panache about them onstage and never fail to deliver a show that doesn’t have people talking afterwards. My Last Serenade was bound to receive the best reception and for that short sweet moment it was precious to hear the crowd sing it before Jesse so proud and passionately. 2019 sees Killswitch celebrate twenty years as band and hopefully back on our shores soon for a headline tour.
Honestly, we’re still reeling over Parkway Drive‘s last performance (even if we weren’t treated to a spinning drum kits and fire). It’s been incredible to see their hard work paying off – the last year has seen a lot of reunions and classic tours fill out these spaces so it’s a welcome change to see younger bands take the reins and prove metal is still alive and welcome. As fire booms from the sound desk Parkway Drive do the most dramatic stage entrance we’ve seen in years as they walk straight through the crowd lit by fire torches and admired by those around. Not usually a common sight tonight sees many parents around the venue with children on shoulders from five to ten years old – a welcome sight and hope that the next generation will continue to fill out arenas.
Knowing the crowd can give more Winston constantly push and pushes the crowd to match their level of vitality. It’s an impressively thought out show, almost theatrical, and ready for those festival headline slots. The little touches such as bringing out a handful of orchestra musicians for Writings On The Wall really solidified why they should be at this level. “I can’t believe it’s come to this” Winston humbly notes before thanking the Welsh crowd and recalls a show they played in Merthyr Tydfil to about 10 people many years go. In a moment that’d make the magic circle proud Winston appears at the sound desk in a matter of seconds to sing The Colour Of Leaving, an eerie and hard hitting end before they reemerge for the encore and end the night with Crushed and Bottom Feeder. As the Parkway Drive logo hangs and a fire barrage encapsulates the stage we can’t wait to see what theatrics they’ll bring next time.
10/10
