Aggie Theatre hosted the Unbreakable Tour last month with metalcore legends Parkway Drive. They began their North American tour in Fort Collins with support from fellow metalcore bands: We Came As Romans and Counterparts. This particular show sold out about a week prior to the concert, and Parkway Drive’s performance reflected the reason why there was an endless line of people waiting in line outside of the Aggie before their show. This intimate show at the Aggie was special because the last time Parkway Drive performed in Colorado, they played at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, which is significantly larger than the Aggie Theatre.
Music is a very important aspect of a college student’s life, so it would be a great idea to have more bands like Parkway Drive and We Came As Romans play shows in Fort Collins. Not every college student listens to EDM, rap and pop music. Some people enjoy listening to hard rock, metal and heavier music.
Grant Stein, a fourth year computer science major at CSU, said that the concert was incredible.
“I had never heard of Parkway Drive before the show, but now I listen to them nonstop.” Stein said.
Stein went to the concert to support We Came As Romans, and he left with a new favorite band. He would go to other concerts, but he never sees them advertised. Stein got his Parkway Drive ticket from a booth the Aggie set up for the first week of school and their recommendation helped Stein leave the show pumped up.
Fort Collins has a wide variety of music venues such as the Aggie Theatre, the Downtown Artery, Avogadro’s Number and Hodi’s Half Note. There are multiple possibilities for more bands like Parkway Drive to play in front of an excited crowd. Going to live shows is popular now because people want to witness the raw passion and the theatricality of the bands and artists performing live to get that different sense of feeling that you do not get listening to the record in your dorm.
The problem with having the majority of concerts in Denver is that not every college student owns a car, it’s a hassle to find a ride to and from a concert and there seems to be a popular demand for more hard rock and heavy metal for college students in Fort Collins after that show.
The reality of the situation is most college students are broke, so it is an endeavor to find a ride to Denver if you don’t own a car, and then there is unnecessary money spent on gas, parking and dinner when you could just walk to the Aggie for a concert and entertaining night.
“The hardest part of going to concerts in Denver is traveling solo because finding people to go with to the live shows is difficult,” Stein said.
“I’m glad Parkway Drive played the Aggie because I knew the guys in the local band that opened the show and it was a great opportunity for them,” said Tyler Felske, a first year undeclared student at CSU.
Arras was the local Colorado band that had the chance to open for Parkway Drive. Having more metal bands play in Fort Collins would give smaller, local bands and metal bands formed at Colorado State the opportunity to perform for a larger crowd than usual. Felske would like to see heavier bands like Wage War, Hundredth and Capsize play shows in Fort Collins soon.
Seeing Parkway Drive on the list of artists that were playing at the Aggie was surprising because they are not the typical band to perform in front of a college town with regards to both their popularity and genre, but we would like to change that stereotype to fulfill the needs of fellow metal heads in the Fort Collins area. Bands like The Story So Far and Reel Big Fish have played the Aggie, but now there is a demand for heavier bands to play venues like the Aggie. Stein would like to see bands like Atreyu, Chevelle, Hands Like Houses, Killswitch Engage and Underoath take the stage in Fort Collins.
“That concert got me hooked on live music” Stein said.
Venues in Fort Collins need to continue to surprise students with bigger named bands because the Aggie set the bar high for the local rock and metal enthusiasts.
