Summer of Loud Ends with a Blaze in Charlotte

Photos and writing by Dillon Reesor

The Summer of Loud Tour wrapped up in Charlotte at PNC Music Pavilion, and the name felt more accurate than ever—both for the sound and the weather. A stacked lineup, high heat, and a crowd that mostly powered through the brutal temps made for a long, loud, and overall great day. Huge props to the venue staff in my area for keeping the water coolers stocked all day—without that, a lot more people would’ve been down bad before the headliners even played.

Dark Divine kicked things off under full sun and delivered way more than you’d expect from an opener on the tail end of a long tour. Easily one of the tighter, more engaging early sets I’ve seen in a while—looked absolutely scorching on stage, but they didn’t let it slow them down.

Alpha Wolf followed with a set that probably felt great in the pit but didn’t do much visually. No complaints with the sound, there just wasn’t much to catch the eye or capture attention if you weren’t throwing elbows.

The Amity Affliction ran into the same issue. Sounded great—no complaints there—but not much energy coming off the stage. Hard to fault them too much; Joel Birch had his leg in a cast, which explains the limited movement. Still, with a crowd that was already cooking, it wasn’t quite enough to pull folks back in.

Things picked up when The Devil Wears Prada hit the stage. They sounded excellent and managed to get some momentum going again. Nothing too flashy, just a solid set that got people moving and helped push us into the (slightly) cooler part of the day.

I Prevail took things up a notch with a high-energy, tightly executed set that felt built for a stage this size. They’ve got their live show dialed in—sharp transitions, strong crowd work, and a pace that didn’t really let up. Everything hit how it was supposed to, and while nothing felt especially surprising, it was one of the more consistently solid sets of the night. While some in the crowd (namely me) may have questioned the use of pyro in 100 degree weather, there’s no denying that it looked awesome.

Killswitch Engage came out swinging. The whole band sounded great and Jesse Leach didn’t stay put—he was out in the crowd, at the rail, working the whole front section. It gave the whole set this weirdly intimate feel, like the venue shrunk around the band. For such a big stage, they made it feel personal.

Parkway Drive was the high point for me. From the moment they stepped on stage, the energy shifted. Great sound, commanding stage presence, and the crowd was locked in the whole time. They ended the set with “Crushed,” and it honestly felt like the venue cracked open a bit. Peak moment.

Beartooth closed things out. Strong set, tight sound, good energy considering how cooked everyone was at that point. One of the more wholesome moments of the night came when Caleb Shomo brought his nephew out—his first Beartooth show—and sang to him on the stage. A cool personal note to close out a loud, sweaty day.