The Summer of Loud Festival Came in Like a Wrecking Ball Through the Chicagoland Area

BY: Rick Lancaster

​The Summer of Loud Festival came in like a wrecking ball through the Chicagoland area this past Sunday July 13th via The Credit One Union Amphitheatre in Tinley,Park,IL. I feel it's the hottest summer festival(literally with all the pyro) featuring Parkway Drive(Australia), I Prevail(Michigan), Beartooth(Ohio), Killswitch Engage(Massachusetts) as the four headliners who rotated their slots every night. The tour also featured The Devil Wears Prada(Ohio), The Almighty Affliction(Australia), Alpha Wolf(Australia), and Kingdom of Giants(California).

Due to a mix up at the Will Call ticket office I unfortunately missed the first three bands. I did however get to catch The Devil Wears Prada and the energy was excellent. They pumped up the crowd and  rocked out their songs "Watchtower","Salt" and "Rituals". Next up was the mighty metalcore titans Killswitch Engage. Their fierce set opened with "Rose of Sharyn" and the hits kept on coming with "My Curse", "The End of Heartache", "My Last Serenade". They ended their blistering set with a cover of the classic Dio song "Holy Diver". On to Beartooth whom, I really wasn't familiar with but their high energy set won me over. They crushed songs such as "Sunshine!", "I Was Alive" and "Riptide". Now it's time for the moshing to get going in full swing with I Prevail. They had the crowd getting amped up and into a frenzy with their songs: "Body Bag", "Violent Nature", "Hurricane" and a cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space"

The moment we were all waiting for was finally here: Parkway Drive attacked the stage opening with "Glitch". Then all of a sudden it got hot cause of all the pyro. Don't get me wrong the other bands had pyro as well but it just wasn't
on this level! The Australian metalers blasted through "Vice Grip" and "Bottom Feeder". They closed their set with "Crushed".

If this tour is coming anywhere near you please do yourself a favor and go catch a show. You won't regret spending a day hanging out with like minded people and listening to some killer live music!!!! Remaining dates are listed below.

Tickets and all available information at Livenation.com

​7/18- MANSFIELD, OH
7/19- YORK, PA
7/20- WANTAGH, NY
7/22- MANSFIELD, MA
7/23- CAMDEN, NJ
7/24- HOLMDEL, NJ
7/26- BRISTOW, VA
7/27- CHARLOTTE, NC