PARKWAY DRIVE - Live In Melbourne
BEYOND THE HORIZEN
Monday 10th August 2026
Written by: Kelly Green
Photographed by: Steve Green
The Forum theatre is the most beautiful setting with its Greco Roman statues and blue starlight ceiling. Peaceful and tranquil until mosh metalcore mayhem explodes onto the stage.
Tonight's gig headliners are PARKWAY DRIVE. The metalcore band who originated from PARKWAY DRIVE in Byron Bay (Don't try to steal the street sign, the council have removed it and painted the street name on the road.) The anticipation in the room is palpable. My new friend standing next to me has driven 3 hours to get to this gig on a work night and told me this is better than Christmas. The majority of the crowd are men in the uniform of black band t shirts, but the punters have to wait... There are 2 support acts to perform first. Often support bands are not a great match for the main band and crowds can be polite, but not really into it. This is not the case with tonight's gig. PARKWAY DRIVE have chosen two local Melbourne acts and they are the perfect warm up.
First on stage at 7.30 is GHOSTSEEKER. They are a metalcore band headed up by two lead vocalists. Celeste Bojczuk and Daniel Breen with Tim Capey and Cory Walkaden on guitars and Daniel Gay on drums. GHOSTSEEKER plays hard, fast and heavy, overlaid on an almost ethereal backing track. Celeste's voice is like a siren/black angel leading you into the monster vocals of the devil Daniel. Celeste's clean and clear voice breaks up Daniel's vocals giving their songs depth and a theatrical quality. Instead of just being noise and how hard can we play our instruments; GHOSTSEEKER has found the perfect blend of voices and music. They played a 7-song set and closed with Wake Up (Imposter) and wake up the audience did. Great opening act, they had the crowd enchanted with their black magic music style of metalcore and even had a mini mosh pit going. If you are into metalcore with a touch of EVANESCENCE you need to check out their latest album Divergence or even better, I recommend you check out GHOSTSEEKER live.
Pictured: GHOST SEEKER
Pictured: GHOST SEEKER
Pictured: GHOST SEEKER
Pictured: GHOST SEEKER
Next on stage at 8.20 is KING PARROT, who walk out to the KEVIN BLOODY WILSON song Cunt Of A Day and I thought to myself we are going into another level of craziness here. KING PARROT is a 5-piece band consisting of Matthew Young on vocals, Ari White on guitar, Wayne Slattery on bass. Andrew Livingston-Squires on guitar and Max Danderfield on drums. I would describe their sound as a mix of grindcore, thrash metal, hardcore punk and a whole lot of insanity. Before the first note is sung the lead singer is throwing water out into the crowd. The crowd by now is close to capacity. They are pumped and ready to head bang. KING PARROT plays dirty, loud testosterone filled music. The drumming is intense and fast and the guitar riffs are heavy, aggressive and rhythmic. Listening to KING PARROT I felt I was inside the brain of an insane asylum patient and Matthew the lead singer was preaching to the cult of the insane. Every note was relentlessly fast paced and eaten up by the audience. KING PARROT was on stage for 30 minutes of we don't give a fuck music and finished with the appropriately titled song Fuck You.
Pictured: KING PARROT
Pictured: KING PARROT
Pictured: KING PARROT
Pictured: KING PARROT
Now the crowd were really ready for PARKWAY DRIVE, and at 9:23 they walked onto a smoke-filled stage to the crowd singing ooh ooh, and tension was high. Tonight's show was dedicated to the 2007 album Horizons. The whole track list was played and executed perfectly. PARKWAY DRIVE's performance was back to basics; no big stadium tricks. It was a flash, blinding light display of raw intensity. From the first note the mosh pit formed and went off, encouraged by lead singer Winston.
PARKWAY DRIVE consists of Winston McCall on vocals, Jeff Ling on lead guitar, Luke Kilpatrick on rhythm guitar, Ben Gordon on drums and Jia O'Connor on bass. PARKWAY DRIVE formed around 2003 and their influences of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, METALLICA, SLAYER, and IRON MAIDEN are evident in their sound, but they have their own interpretation. PARKWAY DRIVE play raw, chaotic breakdowns with intricate and melodic twin guitar riffs. Add in aggressive screaming vocals, and you have the recipe for a massive swirling, feet and bodies in the air mosh pit. The dedicated fans were whipped into a frenzy and I was exhausted just watching the music mayhem.
Pictured: PARKWAY DRIVE
Pictured: PARKWAY DRIVE
Pictured: PARKWAY DRIVE
Pictured: PARKWAY DRIVE
The double fast beating of the bass drum and the constant pulsating lights had Winston say to the crowd "Energy is high, Pace yourselves, but let's fuck it up!" Winston thanked the audience for "Believing is us and for taking us into your hearts". The set was powerful and non-stop, songs like Feed'em To The Pigs and Dead Men's Chest were the mosh pits favourites, but songs like Vice Grip had the crowd singing out loud and clear. PARKWAY DRIVE played 12 songs off Horizons, and then launched into another 5 songs and a two-song encore (see set list below). The most over worked people of the night were the stage front bouncers. Those men earned their keep by passing flailing bodies over the barrier and releasing them to do it again. My new friend disappeared into the mosh to return later and tell me as a die hard fan that this night exceeded expectations, and the big sweaty smile on his face said it all. Limited tickets are still available for the remaining gigs and if you love metalcore, this is a must see.
Ozgreeny Photography and myself would like to thank Live Nation, PARKWAY DRIVE, KING PARROT, GHOSTSEEKER, Sense Music Media, and The Forum for the wonderful media access
Set list - Begin, Siren, Feed'em To The Pigs, Carrion, Five Months, Boneyards, Idols And Anchors, Moments In Oblivion, Breaking Point, Dead Man's Chest, Frostbite, Horizons, Prey, Karma, Dark Days, Vice Grip, Romance, Bottom Feeder, Wild Eyes
Pictured: PARKWAY DRIVE
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
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