15 & 16 August 2026 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
Twenty three years ago, no more than two hours drive from the venue these shows are going to be performed in, the legend of Parkway Drive was born. The kids from the unassuming surfer town of Byron Bay, who became some of the most iconic and well known musicians inside of metalcore, are touring Australia right now, playing the first two records in full, that helped position them at the peak of metalcore. And we were so lucky and fortunate to be invited to both shows, to cover the monumental debut record Killing with a Smile and the equally incredible sophomore record Horizons, to celebrate the legacy of the band and albums alike.
VIRTUES
Opening both nights of the Killing Horizons shows in Brisbane, is probably one of the very best in deathcore in Brisbane right night, Virtues. There are five bands I put at the tippy top of the best bands coming out of Brisbane, and doing insane work. And these would be one of them. From the outset, you could tell how much the lads were soaking it in and taking in every breath of Parkways audience, as they blitzed through seven of their very best songs. They played every song from their debut EP, ODE, with tracks like ‘Nosebleed’ and ‘This Too Shall Pass’.
Virtues – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
We got some newer ones like ‘Grave Eater’ and the latest song ‘Iron & Fire’, before completing the remaining ODE songs, with ‘The Wolf Remains’, ‘Blasphemer’, and ‘Absolute Death’. A core tenet of both shows, was vocalist Wade Felsch speaking about how humongously grateful the band were to have this opportunity to open for such monumental shows, and were a high tone setter from the jump for both nights. A band that is quickly on the rise, and could be in a few years, headlining this very building with the strong and loyal fanbase they have already accrued. I consider myself part of that fanbase.
KING PARROT
Out next both nights was Melbourne’s hardcore punkers, King Parrot. Melding mixes of extreme metal with thrash and punk, the boys from King Parrot are a visually chaotic band that are still fun to watch. Walking out to ‘Absolute Cunt of a Day’ by Kevin Bloody Wilson, They immediately cracked into a nine song set both nights, playing the best tracks from their four album discography. We got early songs like ‘Bozo’ and ‘Shit on the Liver’, to more recent songs from the 2025 record A Young Person’s Guide to King Parrot, like ‘Target Pig Elite’ and ‘It’s a Rort’. The pace did not let up once for the 30 minutes they had on stage.
King Parrot – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Vocalist Matt Young shouted out the band members on ‘Psychotherapy and Valium’, which included Derek Engemann, who at first I didn’t recognise until after the set, when I found out he is also the bass player for Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals. King Parrot is also Anselmo’s favorite band, having been seen sporting King Parrot merch at shows all the time. So seeing Engemann join the lads on stage was a cool full circle kind of moment. Young did barrier runs with the fans on ‘Home Is Where The Gutter Is’, before closing out on ‘Fuck You and the Horse You Rode In On’ to close out the sets, as the band got photos with the crowd before leaving the stage.
PARKWAY DRIVE
Night One – Killing with a Smile
As the lights dimmed at 9:25pm, the entire main room of the Fortitude Music Hall went totally black. Then, with an explosion of light and noise, we are immediately hit with the wall of sound that Jeff Ling’s opening guitar riff of ‘Gimme a D’. Without hesitation, Brisbane threw up the old school spirit fingers to play along to the riff as vocalist Winston McCall ran the stage like a man that was thrown back to the old days of the Byron Bay High School gym, two stepping and throwing his body around like it was 2005 all over again. ‘Anasasis (Xenophontis)’ was immediately up next, and the energy was crazy high for this song. Being only two in already, this was going to be one of the sickest nights of my life.
Parkway Drive – night 1 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
“What’s up Brissy” McCall said to a loud and ferocious crowd. He mentioned how it’s good to be in the tropics again, saying “even the concrete can sweat up here”. McCall then announced the schedule for the night. Killing with a Smile, back to back, with some extras at the end. He spoke about how this was always written as a mosh record, so he expected to see heaps of moshing in the midst of the carnage that would be the pit tonight, as ‘Pandora’ kicked in. Brisbane didn’t disappoint with the moshing, or the carnage. And the “Burn” line, huge yell from the crowd for that line.
A common theme of the two nights was McCall talking about the three most important things that need to be kept in mind for the next two nights. Breathing, oxygen, and hydration. A common thread he would always remind the crowd to make sure they’re doing all three to keep everyone safe. He asked everyone to get sweaty, take some bumps, and make some memories, before ‘Romance is Dead’ got one of the biggest reactions of the weekend. It’s been a shame this track has been removed from the rotation, as before the shows in 2024, it hadn’t been played in Brisbane since 2014. But every time it plays, it is the biggest song of the set. Hopefully this means a full time addition back into the setlists. Winston even acknowledged the mayhem, before ‘Guns for Show, Knives for a Pro’, which was just as loud with the “Yippee Ki Yay Motherfucker” line getting the biggest single lyric shout for the weekend.
Parkway Drive – night 1 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
McCall checked in on the crowd again, and laughed about how he hasn’t had the flexibility he needs to do the stuff he’s doing on stage. He also made a joke about the rowdiness of the crowd, and that “you don’t see this shit at the Ekka”, which was happening just a kilometer away from the show. Shout out to drummer Ben Gordon on ‘Blackout’ as well. I damn near felt my heart rhythm change a few times with how insane the bass drumming kicks were going. ‘Picture, Perfect, Pathetic’ had the crowd so energized, that they came in SUPER early on the “lifeless” shout at the breakdown.
McCall gave another shoutout for breathing, oxygen, and hydration, as he talked about how we’re about to get a melodic break in the set with “the nice song” as ‘It’s Hard to Speak Without a Tongue’ kicked it. And they even did the straight bleed into ‘Mutiny’ like on the record, which I was hoping for so badly. ‘Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em’ was up next, and Winston mentioned how this song specifically pre-dates Killing with a Smile, and is maybe the sixth or seventh song they ever wrote. They even shouted out the Mary St show days, moshing out over there and screaming broken, which got a laugh. And with the words “The finaliser. This is how it ends. A Cold Day in Hell.”, we got the album closer ‘A Cold Day in Hell’ to cap the full playthrough of “Killing with a Smile”
Parkway Drive – night 1 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Night Two – Horizons
The lights dimmed again Ling, Gordon, Kilpatrick, and O’Connor played the instrumental opener ‘Begin’, as McCall walked on stage to a loud pop from the crowd as ‘The Sirens’ Song’ opened a hellmouth straight into Brisbane. From the jump, the most difference between night one and night two was immediate, as bodies flew over the barricade and people were getting pulled out of the pit. There was an energy shift tonight, and it felt like a completely different show. McCall screamed “feed em to the fucking pigs” as ‘Feed Them to the Pigs’ kicked in, and the crowd got even more intense.
Parkway Drive – night 2 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Winston checked in with the crowd that came in last night to make sure everyone pulled up okay, and said he was pumped for round two in Brisbane. He set the same agenda as last night. Horizons, back to back, with some extras at the end. He talked about how mental last night was, and how tonight, he was excited for the set, plus the big hitter, like what was next, as we went straight into ‘Carrion’. ‘Five Months’ was dedicated to McCall’s wife, and McCall got the night two crowd focused on breathing, oxygen, and hydration.
After a couple of love you’s to the crowd, McCall talked about the next song being the “super accessible single from the record that is easy to get into”, as the album’s heaviest song, ‘Boneyards’ kicked in. The breakdown shout outs on this track “always sinking” and “there’s blood in the water” were loud as shit, but not as loud for the melody sing along that came for the next song ‘Idols & Anchors’. If I had to pick one song from the catalog that should never be taken out of the setlist, this is the track. The singalongs on this track every time give me goosebumps. And they were huge tonight.
Parkway Drive – night 2 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
After the quickie that is ‘Moments in Oblivion’, McCall shouted out that we’ve hit the breaking point, as ‘Breaking Point’ absolutely fucking crushed live. Damn this song is so good. McCall asked all those reporting for mosh duty hit the center of the venue for ‘Dead Man’s Chest’, and the “all hell breaks loose” line, chaos when it dropped. McCall mentioned how they were playing the soundtrack to Brisbane’s insanity as ‘Frostbite’ started, and the set closed out brilliantly on the band’s most underrated track, ‘Horizons’. A song that I had no idea was McCalls favorite song he’s ever written, and he doesn’t think he can top what the band did on it. Which honestly, I kind of agree. This track rules. And just like that, Horizons is done.
The Hits
To close out the album playthroughs on both nights, Parkways hit a selection of the classics from the catalog to send fans home happy, and celebrate the long history that is Parkway Drive. Both nights had some of the same songs, like ‘Prey’ and ‘Vice Grip’, with the latter getting a shout out on night one as being the song where sometimes, you don’t need heavy, you just need an anthem to sing along with your mates. Which is why I love the song so much. Hearing the Music Hall filled with “Yeah, yeah yeah” as loud as I’ve ever heard it, made me very happy.
Parkway Drive – night 1 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Night one saw them rip out ‘Dedicated’ and ‘Carrion’ as a tease for night two, but they also ripped out my favourite track, ‘Sleepwalker’. A lot of people might not realize it, but the video for ‘Sleepwalker’ was only filmed one street over from this venue. So it was cool to see it on the setlist, knowing that kind of history to the track. Night two saw ‘Karma’ and ‘Dark Days’ played, with McCall joking around about how stacking them next to each other was an intentional choice, because it was a reason for everyone to beat the shit out of each other for eight minutes. We also got a final chance to scream out to ‘Romance is Dead’ one more time before the encore.
Parkway Drive – night 2 – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Both nights saw the same encore, of ‘Bottom Feeder’ and ‘Wild Eyes’ to close out these historic shows. Two songs that show just how heavy, and how varied, the bands sound is. If you didn’t get to make it to one of these shows, you missed a hell of a night. There has been a lot of discourse around the band, and if they could even play like this anymore. Parkway Drive have taken all of that doubt, and shown that the 2005 era of the band still lives strong and deep within them, and proved to all the skeptics that they can still go as hard, even though they might be feeling it a little more the next day than 20 years ago.
