There is a tour making its way across the globe consisting of 4 delightfully heavy metal bands, all of which come from Australia. They have dubbed this tour “The Monsters is Oz” and I truly feel like there is not a more fitting name that could be found. This tour has just finished making its way across the US and im here to tell you about my experience. The first band of the night was Make Them Suffer. The house lights went dark and they ran on stage and jumped directly into their first song “Ghost of Me”. They definitely have some explosive energy. Not a single member was standing around. Even their keyboardist, Booka Nile, was taking breaks away from the keyboard to headbang and rock out. I loved the vocals provided by their keyboardist as her beautiful voice added an amazing melodic quality to their performance. Not to mention the ethereal feel those keys provide when accompanying that heaviness. This band is a blend of hard and heartfelt. Music you can really lose yourself in and get pumped at the same time. Their extreme vocalist – Alex Reade – does such a great job at making sure everyone is having a good time, it’s truly hard not like enjoy their performance. The crowd was definitely feeling their vibe and getting into the groove of things early, which I always love to see. Their music is a well chosen brand to be opening for bands like The Amity Affliction and Parkway Drive. They played a fairly short set of about 7 songs and took off backstage.
When the Northlane hit the stage just vocalist Marcus Bridge came out and started singing a low and slow melodic build up on the mic. After a few seconds the song kicked in and the rest of the band came out and the energy went from 0-100! They kicked their set into overdrive and the crowd went nuts! Bridge has such a phenomenal voice. Between his clean and extreme vocals, the mix of edm bits and heavy metal, and their overall energy this band really brought everything to the table. This band was yet another perfect choice for this tour. Everything about them really helped set the tone for what was to come. During the last song guitarist Josh Smith jumped off stage and crowd surfed while playing. The crowd always loves interaction from the bands and this was no different. This is how you make memories, this is how you make sure nobody forgets your band. I see a lot bands these days that don’t even bother engaging with their fans or giving their fans the time of day. I think it’s important to remember that they’d be absolutely nothing without their fans. I truly love and appreciate bands that reciprocate the love and care that their fans show them, and Northlane did a great job putting their appreciation on display.
The Amity Affliction is a band that has been special to me for years. Their lyrics that focus on struggles with anxiety, depression, and loss have helped me immensely over the years and whenever I go to a TAA show, I am reminded that I’m not alone. They opened their set with a song that is very special to me, “Deaths Hand”. There is a part in this song, right before the breakdown, where Joel screams “you’re the one that kept me going, I owe you this much. You have me the strength to say: ‘Hey Death! GET FUCKED!’” And I swear it is extremely difficult to not get a little emotional when you see the entire crowd with middle fingers in the air screaming along with that part. TAA played a phenomenal set packed with amazing songs like “Don’t Lean on Me”, “Drag the Lake”,”Pittsburgh”, and “Soak Me in Bleach”. This band has helped so many in their struggles and it is always such a beautiful experience being able to see people lose themselves in such meaningful music. The Amity Affliction closed out their set with “” and let the crowd raring and ready to go for Parkway Drive.
While all of these bands are Monsters of Oz, Parkway truly is the biggest beast present. This band has been around for over 20 years and has toured the world over and over again. This tour is bigger and better than ever and they quite literally bring the heat. There was a ton of pyro at this show and I love it, especially because it makes for amazing photos. Parkway Drive is probably one the tightest sounding bands I’ve ever seen live. I have seen them quite a few times and every single time they are flawless. Winston’s vocals are spot on, Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick were fire on those strings, Jila O’Conner has that bass hitting hard the entire show, and Ben Gordon kept the brutality beating out of that rotating drum kit from beginning to end. Parkway Drives ability to put on an outstanding show is only a small part of what makes these dudes special. Their lyrics range from deeply emotional, touching on mental health and struggles of life, to politics, to societal woes. This band truly has everything to offer. They opened their set with 2022 single “Glitch”. The final chorus of this song was accompanied by some pretty wild pyrotechnics! From there on out it was pure and wild energy. The crowd never stopped moving and there was over 2,000 people in attendance. They played a huge set of 15 songs that included their biggest hits like “The Void”, “Vice Grip”, and “Prey”. Winston’s energy is truly endless, he kept the crowd deeply enthralled in the show until the moment they’re done just closed out their set with “Wild Eyes” off their 2012 album Atlas.
This group of monsters have ended their rampage across the U.S. with their sights set on other countries across the globe. They are currently headed back to the Land of Oz, but that doesn’t mean that any of us are safe. This tour will continue on for the next couple months and it’s difficult to tell where exactly they’ll be next. Keep an eye out on these bands socials for updates as to where they’ll be spreading their carnage from down-under. This is a tour you definitely do
