Last night I went to see Parkway Drive, supported by a load of Aussie Hardcore bands: I Killed The Prom Queen, Northlane, & Survival. IKTPQ are pretty popular on the scene, I hadn't heard much of any of them besides the headliner though.
I was at the show by myself, my mates either aren't into PWD enough to pay for tickets, or are away at work. So Mum dropped me off at the stadium (HardCore!!). And I walked into a crowd of emo kids and hardcore kids, which are different from your average metalhead as it turns out! Seeing a show on your own has that awkwardness of having no-one to talk to, but the benefit is you don't have anyone to look after either, so I got over that pretty quick.
I watched the first band from mid-way into the crowd - just at that distance where people stop bouncing and stand still and watch quietly, like well behaved patrons of the art. As you could imagine, I quickly had enough of that shit, so pushed forward and ended up about 3 tight rows from the barricade. The roadies worked well so the bands changed over fairly quickly, I watched Northlane and had a good old mosh. Apparently the kids around me had done their research and knew a couple of the songs, either way, a pretty good act, most of the band only about 18-20 I'd guess. one of them had a Batman guitar, which I guess was to match the batman voice so sought after in HC vocals!
IKTPQ were good, their obvious experience set them apart from the younger acts, and everyone else seemed to know the words. I was one row back, with a hand on the barricade at this point, so was getting good and moshy, whilst keeping an eye on the security guards to get a heads up about any crowdsurfers landing on the back of my head. That was a useful technique I picked up. I did pretty well for that, only got someone's foot above my eye which just gave me a small rub-burn, not a kick; and a couple un-expected knees to the cranium. nothing too serious!
A lot of funny shit goes on in the right kind of pit, a lot of bonding moments! This was an all-ages gig though, so I didn't risk bonding too...
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