Our favourite Parkway Drive Moments

With a career spanning over 15 years, Parkway Drive have dominated the heavy metal scene on a global scale... and they’ve done it "Parkway Drive style".

In contrast to their brutal music, these wave-riding Byron Bay locals have a cheeky light hearted charm which you can’t help but love. In the lead up to their “Reverence” Tour we’ve rounded up some of our favourite Parkway Drive moments: 

The on-going street sign saga 
Parkway Drive took their name from the street where the band would practice - the family home of drummer Ben Gordon. Since their eruption onto the scene the Parkway Drive street sign has become a popular tourist attraction for fans to have their photo taken. The Australian metal head's version of the Abbey Road cross walk.

But Parkway Drive residents are fed up as the street sign has gone from a photo opportunity to a take-home memento for some brazen fans. Usually only lasting about two weeks, the street sign has been stolen and replaced so many times that the local council has resorted to painting the street name on the road. This was after the council trialled renaming the street to “Parkway Street” and even welding the sign to the post – which were still stolen.

Touring in a wheelchair 
Guitarist Luke Kilpatrick performed out of a wheelchair after breaking his leg the day before a large international tour. Despite being in a wheelchair, Kilpatrick looks back on that tour as one of his favourites because he could “sit and shred”, unfortunately this memorable tour wasn't one of the events Perth saw. In true Parkway Drive style his broken leg was the result of a surfing injury.

 

 
They hired their "merch guy" to play bass
The sudden exit of the original bass player opened up an opportunity for "merch guy" and long term friend of the band Jia “Pie” O’Connor to join his buddies on stage.  Not really knowing how to play bass at the time, Jia had just 3 days to learn the songs before playing to sold-out international audiences in the UK and Europe.

Sky diving for the Vice Grip video clip
In a mini documentary by Moshcam singer Winston McCall jokes the band’s genre has been titled “extreme sports" metal. And it seems the band has really embraced the genre – the video for Vice Grips features the thrill-seeking band member’s sky diving over California. Rather than using stunt doubles each band member underwent the necessary training to sky dive unassisted. Check out behind the scene footage: 



The fan-named Tour
When the band was "kind of stuck for names" for their 2016 Australian tour they took to social media and asked their fans for help. They were overwhelmed with the number of responses - and settled on the All Aussie Adventure Tour. What really gave this entry the winning edge was the bands love for Russel Coight. Other favourites included Toury McTourface.

Parkway Drive play HBF Stadium on Tuesday 6 November with support from metal-core giants Killswitch Engage and Thy Art Is Murder. This tour promises to be one of the most monumental heavy metal events Perth will see in a long time.

Tickets & event info