Summer of Loud: Sweat, Fire, and Full-Blown Mayhem

Summer of Loud wasn’t just a fest name…it was a promise, and Houston showed up ready to make it loud, rain or shine. Held at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, TX on Saturday, June 28th, the one-day festival featured a stacked lineup of eight bands and was a rare treat for Houston’s heavy and alternative music scene. Rain fell steadily in the lead-up to the event but almost magically cleared just as the first band took the stage, never returning for the rest of the night. A lucky break that set the tone for a high-energy day full of booming sets, long merch lines, and fans already screaming lyrics before the sun even came back out. The lineup for the day included Beartooth, I Prevail, Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive, The Devil Wears Prada, The Amity Affliction, Alpha Wolf, and TX2.

TX2 hit the Summer of Loud stage early in the day…but you wouldn’t have known it by the way they lit that place up. Frontman Evan Thomas literally came out swinging, immediately pulling the crowd into his chaos and charisma. The pit didn’t even need warming up… as they were already stoked just being there. Evan even jumped off the stage and into the crowd to open up the pit more himself, later making his way to the barrier to sing along with a fan, totally getting the crowd hyped up for what was yet to come. The band matched his intensity beat for beat, with riffs that hit you in the face and breakdowns that rattled the Pavilion. They powered through tracks like “Vendetta” and “HOSTAGE,” and closed out their set with the explosive fan-favorite “I Would Hate Me Too.”

Alpha Wolf hit the stage shortly after and wasted zero time diving into headbangs. Lochie Keogh stalked the stage, spitting guttural vocals while the band delivered punishing breakdowns that shook the Pavilion even more. The pit went off instantly, with moshing, headbanging, and even a few brave crowd surfers…despite the venue rules of no crowd surfing. One guy got kicked out for it, which felt insane… it’s Summer of Loud, not summer of chill? Anyways…Their set ripped through fan favorites like “Akudama,” “Pretty Boy,” and “Haunter,” with “Mangekyō” igniting the crowd into a frenzy.

The Amity Affliction stormed the stage next with a tidal wave of emotion and energy, and I swear, the second Joel Birch walked out grinning from ear to ear, I was done for (tiny crush officially confirmed). There was this undeniable joy on his face just being up there…and that alone was contagious. When they launched into “Pittsburgh,” I legit geeked out. That was the moment I finally snapped out of “work mode” and went full “hell yeah” mode. Their set was a heavy-hitting emotional rollercoaster, stacked with fan favorites like “Death’s Hand,” “Drag the Lake”, “Soak Me in Bleach,” and “Like Love.” Every lyric hit deeper live, and the fans echoed with voices screaming along. It was perfect. It was brutal. It was everything.

Then came The Devil Wears Prada…and holy hell, things started to really get wild. I’ve been listening to these guys since I was a teenager, so yeah… I was already geeking out hard getting to cover and photograph them. It’s always a blast shooting their shows, but this one? With this stacked lineup and energy was a next level for me in a way. Even with a shorter set and none of my favorite songs in the mix (sad Krystie), the performance was absolutely mind-blowing. The energy these dudes still deliver each show is mind blowing. So far, in my opinion it was the most electrifying set of the day, hands down. From the moment they hit the stage, it was pure chaos in the best way. The pit went off, the crowd was unhinged, and every riff felt like it was ripping through the Texas humid heat. Even after all these years, TDWP still brings that unmatched intensity. Their short Setlist included songs like,”Salt,” “Broken,“ “Ritual,” and more.

Then Parkway Drive hit, and y’all, the heat didn’t just rise… it skyrocketed. I’ve never seen them live before so I clearly had no idea what I was getting into. Lead vocalist Winston McCall was absolutely thriving, pacing back and forth with this huge grin, totally owning the stage and firing up the crowd like a boss. But let me tell you, the real showstopper was that drum riser. I’ve never seen anything like it… pure insanity. I even had to send a video to my drummer dad mid-set when Ben “Gaz” Gordon’s drum kit started rotating and caught fire, with him hanging upside down in the flames, still smashing that kit like a legend… Dad was just as blown away as I was. So much fire, leading up to an actual fire show. Parkway Drive brought their signature metalcore madness, gassing up the Pavilion with fireballs and perfectly timed lighting that made every moment feel massive. They ripped through hits like “Bottom Feeder,” “Sacred,” “Vice Grip,” and “Wild Eyes.” The crowd went nuts, with fans still not caring and crowd surfing all the way to the barricade. When they closed with “Crushed,” that flaming, rotating drum set was the perfect explosive finale… an epic sight that had everyone’s jaws on the floor.

Following Parkway Drive was my most anticipated moment…Killswitch Engage. I’ve been a fan since I was a teen, covered them a bunch, and honestly, every time I see them, I walk away loving them even more. Jesse Leach is one of the best performers I’ve ever witnessed…there’s just this raw emotion he brings that always hits me right in the feels. During the second song, “All In Due Time” (my forever favorite), I couldn’t even keep my camera steady… screaming along and headbanging myself. Jesse actually noticed and came right over to me, dropping a killer posed shot that I’ll treasure forever. Riffs after riffs, Killswitch Engage absolutely crushed it, delivering a masterclass in melodic metalcore that everyone locked in from start to finish. Jesse Leach’s vocals sliced through the air with razor-sharp intensity, and Adam Dutkiewicz kept the energy soaring, cracking jokes and shredding solos that fired up the crowd nonstop. But honestly, I’m always quietly obsessed with Mike D’Antonio on bass…there’s something about the way he performs with that precision and power that never fails to impress me every single time. They continued to lean into pure nostalgia, hitting all the right notes without missing a beat. When “The Single Fire,” “The Curse”, “The End of Heartache,” and “My Last Serenade” everyone within the pavilion grounds was screaming along. Killswitch Engage reminded everyone exactly why they’re the best of the best of their genre as they ended their set with cover song “Holy Diver.”

When I Prevail took the stage, the same energy didn’t just continue…it changed. After a day of blinding lights and nonstop motion, it finally got dark. Like, moody dark. And it set the perfect tone for the rest of the night. You could feel the shift in the crowd..less festival chaos, more intensity and anticipation. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect without Brian. His voice brings something special to their sound, and yeah, he was definitely missed. But Eric Vanlerberghe and Dylan Bowman stepped up hard. Eric commanded the stage with more fire and full force, while Dylan brought that clean vocal edge that held everything together. The chemistry was still there, just in a different form. Their set hit hard in all the right places…heavy, slick, emotional. “Bow Down” snapped necks, “Hurricane” hit us in the gut, and when “Self-Destruction” dropped, the entire Pavilion erupted. It wasn’t the same I Prevail I’ve seen before..but it was still a damn good one.

By the time Beartooth was up, I was running on fumes…but I was so ready to end the night with a bang. And that’s literally what happened the second they hit the stage. I’d never seen them live before, and holy hell…what an intro. The stage setup was insane, with a massive snake stretching across the entire floor, fire cannons shooting off like it was the apocalypse, and enough pyro to light up half of Texas. (Seriously though, pyro guy needs a raise.) They wasted zero time launching into a full-blown assault of sound and flames. From the very first note, it felt like a jolt of electricity hit my soul. The entire sound was echoing throughout the stage, and honestly, for a band I’ve only listened to on Spotify until now…I was completely blown away. They tore through a stacked setlist including “The Past Is Dead,” “Disease,” “Might Love Myself,” and “You Never Know,” before closing the night with a massive, emotional punch in “In Between.” It was the perfect finale to a wild day of fiery loud madness.

Walking out of that pavilion, ears ringing, a new Killswitch Engage shirt, and my camera full of crazy photos, I couldn’t help but cheese as I was walking to my car. Summer of Loud lived up to the name…chaotic, sweaty, loud, and packed with some of the most solid performances I’ve seen in a hot minute. From singing my lungs out to Killswitch, to nearly catching my brows on fire during Parkway, to screaming through I Prevail’s set like I wasn’t completely wrecked already…it was everything I could’ve hoped for and more.