Parkway Drive and Set Your Goals @ The Opera House (Toronto, ON) on February 24, 2011 [Show Review]

On February 24th I went to see Parkway Drive and Set Your Goals perform at the Opera House in Toronto, Canada. The show was sold out, and the entire venue was packed. The main floor and the balconies were all filled with excited concertgoers. I’ve seen countless shows at The Opera House, and I’ve only witnessed it that crowded once – in 2008 when Bring Me The Horizon played there. As soon as I saw the size of the crowd, I knew it was going to be a good night.

Set Your Goals came on at around 8:30 and played an incredible set. The entire venue was singing along to each lyric unanimously and jumping around to their pop-punk sound. This band had amazing stage presence, and hyped up the entire crowd. What I love about seeing Set Your Goals live is that they put on such a positive performance, and have great crowd interaction. The band’s infectious energy circulated around the venue; they were a very fun band to watch live and definitely prepared the crowd for the craziness Parkway Drive was about to bring.

About five minutes before Parkway Drive came onstage, the entire crowd was chanting their name impatiently. The band opened with “Unrest” and not one body in The Opera House was standing still. Parkway Drive are a very energetic band onstage and each track sounded just as good and even sometimes better than the CD. Led by their fantastic front man, Winston McCall, Parkway Drive’s set consisted of mainly material from their newest release Deep Blue, but also some old fan favourites such as “Romance Is Dead” and “Idols and Anchors.”

The band ended the night with my personal favourite song, “Carrion,” as the encore, and it was absolutely bone-chilling to hear everyone yell the chorus through the entire song. Winston said that night was one of the best shows on their entire tour, and I could see why. Toronto truly has the craziest and most wonderful Parkway Drive fans!

Check out the song “Idols And Anchors” here.