Did you see a helicopter above the Sydney Opera House this morning? That was Parkway Drive…
The metal titans made history with the dramatic aerial stunt today, with lead singer Winston McCall rappelling from a helicopter straight onto the venue’s famous sails. The stunt took place at dawn, with McCall landing on a 60-centimetre platform, 65-metres high.
The stunt follows Parkway Drive’s career-defining Opera House show in June, where they played alongside a full symphonic orchestra for the one-night-only event.
Both the show and helicopter stunt will feature in the band’s forthcoming concert feature film, HOME, produced by Hype Republic and directed by Allan Hardy and Macario De Souza. The film is expected to be released in theatres nationwide next year.
McCall discussed their concert film in an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, revealing that recording the concert was a key factor in booking the iconic venue.
“We wanted to build something which was a reconceptualisation of what Parkway Drive is in a place that’s very iconically Australian and create a very iconically Australian show,” he told us.
“It was all seated, black tie, played on grass with a full symphonic orchestra backing, a flipped-up set list from what you’re used to, everyone is in ball gowns and suits. It was the exact opposite of what you’d expect. And that was kind of what we wanted to do. We wanted to make something worthy of the moment.”
He continued: “It was literally the loudest show that the Opera House has ever had before… you’re confined to seats. There’s no crowd surfers, there’s no barrier.”
The band’s 2022 album, Darker Still, came in at ninth on Rolling Stone AU/NZ’s 100 Best Australian Albums of the 2020s So Far list. The album helped cement the band as not only Australia’s biggest metalcore act, but also one of the country’s biggest bands, period.
