Now that the dust has settled over the fact that
Danny Worsnop is back in Asking Alexandria
lets see if they’ve managed to improve as a live
band after being ropey since the beginning. They
slow walk onto stage to a throng of arms in the
air and piercing girlish screams which sets the
tone for the bands set. All smiles and playfulness
are the order of the day as Ben Bruce fools about
with his fellow musicians and at one point Danny
even has his arm around Ben and all looks well
in the AA camp. However the band are still not
a great live band, its half arsed, trite, phoned in
bullshit. Maybe its the hysteria in the crowd that
carries them through or maybe they’ve improved
a little bit, but one things for sure, if they want to
be a great live band and take the next step up then
they have a loooong way to go.
A drum cage, pyro, fire works, Parkway Drive’s
production has looked incredible on this tour…
unfortunately we are not treated to any of those
aspects tonight as The Great Hall is possibly
one of the smaller venues on this jaunt. Once
lead guitarist Jeff Ling rings out the opening to
Wild Eyes then theres no need for any sort of
production, the crowd more than make up for
any showy lights or blasts of pyro. All you need to
survive in this day and age is a solid plethora of
hits to choose from, and Parkway Drive have them
in spades. Boneyards and Idols & Anchors are
aired tonight off of breakthrough record Horizons,
an album that is 10 years old now, even Carrion
possibly their biggest song is aired second tonight!
But this is still a part of the Ire touring cycle and the
likes of Dedicated, Crushed and the colossal and
quite frankly neck snappingly good Bottom Feeder
get the biggest reactions. The former closing out
the night with confetti canon bursts and tens of
sweaty dudes and dudettes going over the barrier
more times than this reviewer could keep a count
of. Parkway Drive are the real deal, production or
not this band SHOULD be moving into bigger
venues still, moving up the festival bills. A band
with such broad ambitions and the fact that they
can pull off anything and everything they try is
frankly embarrassing to their peers. What the guys
do next is anyones guess, but rest assured we will
be there with them every step of the way.
Words & photos by Joshua Clarke
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